Warm Hands

I finished stitching on Saturday!

These mittens are a combination of two patterns, Simple Mittens (Worked Flat) by The Students of Subway Academy II and Photographer Mittens by Bea Aarebrot (both patterns are free). I followed the basic structure of the simple mittens, modifying the pattern slightly for my yarn and needles, then added the finger hole from the photographer mittens. In case you were wondering, they were knit on size 3 needles and made with Patons Kroy Socks Jacquards yarn in Fern Rose Jacquard.

I am pretty happy with them; they have a few flaws, but overall they turned out great. Now I need to tuck in the strings and block them and I will be able to wear them!

No real post today. I still feel like I am on vacation.

image from State Library and Archives of Florda

I did finish knitting my mittens though. You can see what they look like on Thursday. My long weekend was really nice, I am looking forward to the next one. Luckily I don't have to wait long; no work on Friday - HURRAH!!!

Does anyone have any exciting New Years plans? I am not sure exactly what I will be doing. My sister will be in town and I just found out that she invited some friends over so we should have fun.

I was so close to finishing these up Monday, but I messed up somewhere on the right mitten's decreases and had to rip it back pretty far so it wouldn't be longer than the left mitten.

Now I am have to take them with me/work on them on the plane so I can finish them over the weekend. I am pretty excited they are almost done; they are going to look great and I can't wait to wear them.

Did you notice the hole? I made a finger hole in the right mitten à la these photographer's mittens. Once they are done I will share with you the patterns I combined and modified to fit my yarn and ability as a first time 'real' knitter.

Cute Food Fabric

What should I do with this?

When I first started blogging I dared myself to use up the craft stuff that I had on hand. I haven't stuck to my dare and still have so much stuff that is just sitting in my craft room taking up storage space. This cute fabric is one/two of the 'treasures' that have been hiding away waiting for me to figure out what to make with it.

Facts about the fabric:
cotton candy friends and funny picnic food flannel fabric by Jennifer & Johnny Yanok
one yard each piece (about 40" wide)

If you have any ideas for me please leave a comment. Thanks!

I am not done with my mittens yet, but I did finish the left mitten's thumb and have started on the right mitten. Instead of just sharing photos of my not finished mittens again, I am sharing some knitting patterns that I am thinking about starting.

by flickr user queensaraknits

This blanket is perfect. I know it will take forever to knit up, but I don't think I can resist. The pattern is Moderne Log Cabin Blanket from Mason-Dixon Knitting and is available for free download here: log_cabin.pdf.

by ravelry user integerclub

This turban is great. I am particularly fond of the colors integerclub used. The pattern is Knit Yourself a Turban from the Victoria and Albert Museum and is available for free here: Two Knitted Turbans. This would be much quicker to knit up than the blanket plus it uses size 3 needles (the only needle size I have).

The other day I got the 2011 Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds' seed book and couldn't have been more excited. Now I can't stop thinking about next year's garden. I know it is really really early, but here are some garden photos. I really like the look of greenery with cement.

by flickr user ecken

from flickr user Bowstringy

by flickr user cdsessums

by flickr user inthiscorner

by flickr user justthismoment

by flickr user ojamaa9design

by flickr user mag3737

I am seriously considering putting in a raised garden this year and think cinder blocks would be an easy way to go. Cinder block walls look neat too. I need to work on the plans still to figure out what all I will need and how much it will cost, so we'll see if I actually do it.

Snow Globe Winner

It finally happened.

The random number generator picked number one and my mother is the winner!


No projects or project updates to share with you today. I haven't knit since my last post, I still need to find and watch the ssp video.

Mitten Update

I am almost done with my first mitten. Well, I messed up my decreases at the top of the mitten so if I decide not to rip it out I am almost done. It is not really noticeable and this is my first real knitting project so I think I will just leave it.

Besides, I already have a small section of purls where there should be knits at the start of the thumb that I decided to let be so this mitten wasn't going to be perfect anyway.

I haven't been devoting enough time to knitting. Hopefully they both will be finished next week. I just need to sit down, watch a video on how to do a ssp (learned how to ssk, but I think ssp is a bit different) so I can finish this mitten, and start up the next one.

Reminder: Today is the last day to enter the snow globe giveaway!

Snow Globe Giveaway!

Happy December! To celebrate the snow that blanketed the valley yesterday I am giving away this waterless snow globe I made!

Look at all the snow! This snow globe is a small canning jar and has a wire 'sculpture' of trees and lots of glitter inside. (The term sculpture is used loosely here.) Here is the detail picture:

One large pink tree and two smaller green trees live inside this glittery wonderland.

It could be yours; here's how to win:

1. Leave a comment below by  next Tuesday, December 7th 11:59pm MST.
2. Wait. The winner will be picked using a random number generator and will be announced on my Thursday December 9th post.

Note: Anyone can enter, even if they live outside the US.