A Lot of Knitting

February was a good month for knitting, because it was a slow month for working. I made lots of progress on my sock blank, and also completed two small projects - a pair of mittens, using my top-down pattern, and another Lily bath mitt.

 

I finally finished the SWS striped scarf. I alternated two colorways, Navy & Russet, inspired by Jared Flood's Noro Striped Scarf. Though it should've been a bore with endless 1x1 ribbing, the color changes continuously kept me interested. My honey likes it, too, although he has yet to wear it, but I'm not hurt, because I know he doesn't wear scarves. I was more interesting in knitting it than gifting it. Next winter, I'll make one for myself in more feminine colors.



I started an Ernie sweater for my nephew - a striped raglan, knit it pieces, so I can sew it up to perfectly match the stripes. It's based upon the construction of the pattern in Son of Stitch 'n Bitch, only much smaller. It's bigger than he is, though, and hopefully I can give it as a birthday gift, that he can wear when the weather turns cold in the fall.

For March, I will focus on finishing all UFO's before I start anything new, other than another small simple on-the-go-stuff-in-my-purse project. It keeps me sane whenever I'm out and about running errands and have to wait for something or someone.

Christmas Oven Mitts

I crocheted these in double-stranded kitchen cotton for my future Mother-in-Law.

Special Mittens

As I was babysitting one evening, I sat down with my knitting and put in a DVD for my nephew to watch. Naturally, he was more interested in what I was doing.     "You knitting for ME???"     "Sure! What would you like me to knit?"     "I want gloves!"     I cringed at the thought of those tiny fingers. "Wouldn't you like some mittens instead?"     He tilted his head to the side. "What's mittens?"     I had a copy of Ann Budd's Handy Book of Patterns, so I flipped it open to show him.     "Yes, I want mittens!"     I pulled out 2 different balls of Patons Merino. "Do you want blue or gray?"     "I want both!" Double-stranded and tiny, the mittens flew off the needles. Before I left, I nearly had one finished. The next evening, I finished the other. A week later, after the mittens were washed with lots of fabric softener and blocked, I went to visit again, and gave them to him. He promptly pulled one onto his hand, and I giggled as I watched him struggle with the other one, trying to grasp it with his mittened hand. Just as he was about to throw a fit, I finally stepped him to help. "OOOOH! These are special!" he exclaimed as he studied the mittens on his hand for a minute. I think he liked the way the heathered blue & gray wool mottled in a random pattern. He wiggled his thumbs and smiled. He ran around the home, flopping his hands about, while squealing in delight. Then he pulled them off and threw them around the living room, demanding we play a game of fetch with his new mittens.