Mittens-to-be

I received this big box of loveliness mere minutes ago:So many beautiful skeins of delicious Sunday Knits yarns. Thank you so much, Carol!

This yarn will be put to good use, of course, in the form of four new mitten patterns. One of those four will be my annual free pattern for the 2010 holidays, and another will be released as the Offical Mitten of NaKniMitMo 2011 (you may remember that Anna's Mittens were the Official Mitten of NaKniMitMo 2010.)

Time to get to work. In a scant few weeks I'm fixing to be Miss October. More details on that soon.

Acquisitions

I spent the "weekend" (in actuality, Monday and Tuesday) buzzing up to Niagara and back. The entire trip was soundtracked by Melodica, which, in my opinion is the ultimate travelling companion. Lovely, lovely stuff -- I never leave home without it.

Speaking of lovely stuff, I had the pleasure of visiting a couple of delightful yarn shops along the way. First off was Stitch in Jordan Village where I picked up a couple of delicious skeins of Malabrigo:And then I flitted on over to Stratford to pay a visit to Close Knit, a wee but very welcoming shop that's still relatively new (and will be carrying my patterns shortly!) I just had to get my hands on some of their locally-sourced, lanolin-rich sport weight yarns:I had a hard time limiting myself to two skeins each of only four colours. It wasn't easy.

And now for some Gnome gnews (sorry, I just had to) -- the socks should be out in a day or two. I promise.

Surprise!

I was at home this morning, happily spending some quality time with no less than three new socks/mittens (left to right, that's the Gnome socks, the Flamittens and Clerkenwell,)when a mail carrier knocked on my door and handed me an oversized parcel from Knit Picks. I assumed that this must be the book and needles that I had recently ordered from them, but...well, isn't this box a little too large for just one book? Hmmm...

It turns out I was right to doubt the contents of the package, because I was hardly expecting to open it to find this:Samples of each new Fall 2010 colourway of Knit Picks Palette to play with! Let me tell you, the new colours are gorgeous!

I hardly knew what to make of it! Neither did Bubo...and Schnecke (have you met Schnecke yet?) was overwhelmed, to say the least!It is all so lovely and the fact that it was a surprise makes it doubly so. Thank you so, so much, Kelley and Stacey! I will definitely put the yarn to good use.

Mail call

Yesterday was an exciting mail day around here -- just look at what turned up:That's Zen Yarn Garden's Superwash Merino in Turmeric (courtesy of Adriana as part of our thrice-annual sock yarn swap,) Noro Retro in Steel Grey (which is destined to turn into Saroyan) and my beautiful new Avi Wasserman spindle (with a gorgeous Mulberry whorl that shines like golden fish scales when light strikes it.)

As you can see, my current favourite colours are much in evidence. I can't help but think that something around here is inspiring these cravings...

Green and Stripèd

While I usually don't tend to go in for self-striping sock yarns I recently ran into one that I just could not say no to. Look at this!That's Knit Picks' Felici Self-Striping Sock Yarn in Green Veggies. I can not stop staring at it! I picked up four balls because I suspect that I'm going to want green stripèd knee socks. The best part? My Knit Picks parcel should be arriving today (I hope.)

Chicago

I spent the first part of this week in Chicago, which is rapidly rising to the top of my list of Favourite Cities. Whenever I'm there, everything just feels "right," especially when I'm riding the "L."

Of course, when one's accomodations are exquisite and several fabulous meals are consumed, it's difficult to find fault with anything. I managed to return with an even stronger love of amber glass globes and buttercream-coloured Fiestaware in addition to another few salient (and knitting-related) items.

No trip to downtown Chicago is complete (for me,) without a stop at Loopy Yarns. How can one not love a yarn store housed in an old train station?I want to marry their entire wall of Cascade 220 which, to me, is heaven. They carry every colourway. I limited myself to six choice skeins:They seem like quite a springy group, don't they? These are (probably) destined to be a felted bag that I'm currently designing.

I had the pleasure of riding the "L" over to Andersonville where I visited the Swedish American Museum's store. They had yarn on hand, as I had hoped they would. I departed, richer by four skeins of Sisu:...and a charming Dala horse bag, which turned out to be perfect for carrying yarn (which is always a good thing.) It really was a wonderful trip. Now I'm experiencing a sort of state of city-withdrawal. I hope to make it back to Chicago sometime in the summer.

What's next

This week has been a crazy one, to say the least. Firstly, I finished off the last two pairs of L'Amour et la Morte socks (Ravelled) for the Antique Beat Boutique (more on that later,) and then I received these in the mail:Beautiful yarn from White Oak Studios in Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Italian Job. The colours are super-saturated and the yardage is generous, so of course I'm in love and dreaming of mittens. With any luck, today that dreaming will turn into doing as I've got a brand new mitten pattern fresh out of the stu-gee-oh and I'm keen to cast on.

Of course I'm doing lots of dreaming these days, mainly of activities of this nature:Soon, soon...and hopefully with one of these.

And just to warn you, there are other new things on the way.

New things

New bag:Banshee, by Suede & Co. Ample and lovely and grey. Grey is currently my favourite colour.

New Scarf-in-Progress:Basic chevron pattern + random bits = Scrappy Scarfy. I still haven't decided if I'm going to keep him or if he's going to take up residence in my Etsy shop.

Other current things:

Reading: Soul Music by Terry Pratchett
Listening: Cagedbaby -- Forced

Now I'm off to invent French toast popovers.

Bunny mittens in progress

I don't think it's customary for one to be so chipper on a Tuesday morning, but here we are. I've started a new book, my iPod is replete with unplumbed music and a house full of new yarn (three big yarn-buying trips will do that.)

I also am filled to near-bursting with design ideas. Here's the latest:Bunny mittens (Ravelry link.) Yes.

Thank yous, etc.

First off, a couple of thank yous are in order! Thanks so much to both Bertha and Jennifer for choosing me (randomly, of course,) as the winning commenter on both of their respective blogs. Both of you ladies spoiled me handsomely!Coming home to a gorgeous vintage Scandinavian mitten patterns (from Jennifer) and Koigu KPPPM (from Bertha)? I could get used to this! Now I don't know if I want to make mittens or socks! Thanks again!

Hey, I know...how about I finish that sweater? Here's my Central Park Hoodie (my first sweater, if you recall,) flopped on its belly on the floor. All it needs are a couple of button bands, crocheted button loops and (of course,) buttons (I suppose a trip to Haberman Fabrics is in order!) Oh, yeah, and then I have to finish sewing the thing up. Luckily, this isn't turning out to be as terrifying as I initally thought. Who knew that sweater-finishing could be fun?

Oh, and here's a peek at a new Something in the works. Sure, there's not much to see now, but give me a day or two and there will be more. I'm in the process of showing my new bistro table what it's going to be up against in days to come. It's doing a wonderful job of supporting yarn, patterns and knitting. I should also mention that it is unparalleled at holding up cups of tea and pastis. It's practically impractical for everything else, which is exactly what I look for in a bistro table.

I'm off to work on the Something! Pictures soon!

NaKniMitMo, pt. 8: Wurst mittens ever, among other things

Wurst is history:Look at all those happy little sausages dangling down the mitten! If you're hungry for your own pair, watch for the pattern's release the week of Sunday, 25 January 2009.

Of course, there's another pattern in the works, and this one is coming out this week:Yes, it's Bavarois (which hasn't been officially added to the Ravelry pattern library yet,) which might be my most-photographed pair of mittens ever. I just can't get enough of that colour! Here they are next to my current favourite beverage (Perrier with lime) served in my current favourite glass (from Ikea's Busig series) sitting on one of Heather's quilted coasters (I told you I used them, lady!) I can not wait to get this pattern out there -- I am still in love with these mittens!

All Bavarois aside, I don't think I could have picked a better day to finish off Wurst because look what arrived here today:It's Riihivilla's Aarni Bloom Selection -- a sort-of mitten kit meant to be combined with the Bloom Mittens. Of course, a big selling point of the yarn (for me) is that the purpley reds you see above have been dyed with cochineal. I've been mad for cochineal ever since I read Colour by Victoria Finlay, so you can imagine how excited I am to have the chance to work with this yarn. I can see this stuff becoming a...habit.

Sleepy! Ringing! New Yarn!

Work on Willistead's mate (Ravelry link) continues, albeit slowly. I cast on for him yesterday and started the cuff, but I had a show to attend, so I had to put him down for the evening. Said show was just about the loudest one I've ever seen and I did not leave unscathed. My poor ears are still ringing slightly now -- I should also mention that I was at the back of the venue. So between being sleepy and ringing, today was a particularly unproductive knitting day, as is evidenced here: I barely made it into the colourwork portion of the cuff. Rest assured, though, when this mitten starts going up it'll go up fast and be over before I know it. Round about that time (if not sooner) the pattern will be released and then anyone and everyone can make their very own pair of Willisteads (fingers crossed that this day is not too far off.)

Oh, and look what came in the mail today, courtesy of the effervescent Bertha:Right to left, that's Yarntini sock yarn in Gimlet and precious, precious Sock Hop in Magic Carpet Ride. The latter might be the only yarn I have ever encountered that I honestly do not want to knit. I mean, I will, eventually, I'm sure of it. But for now I'm leaving it be. Thanks so much, Bertha!

Bertha and I recently we did a swap where I traded her one completely knit Dream Twister sock and the rest of the yarn required to knit the mate in exchange for sock yarn. You've already met my new yarn, so Here's her new sock: This is one intense sock, and I was happy to only have to knit one of them. I think Bertha will be pleased to only have to knit one of them, too! Enjoy your sock, lady!

All over the road!

just when i (un)officially decided to lay off the socks for a while (i even went so far as to acquire this book to dissuade me,) the next thing i know i've acquired yarn to make THESE.

thank you, economical knitpicks Telemark, for having the SAME GAUGE as the Dale of Norway yarn called for in the pattern!

Thank you also for having such tempting colourways:


clockwise from the top left, these are Rosemary, Northern Green, Tangelo and Poppy.
Northern Green will be the main colour of the sock with Rosemary as the contrast. Tangelo and Poppy will be the two accent colours. i can't wait to get my hands on these colours!

also in the works are the Mega Mittens. these are still bouncing around in my brain and will most likely materialise in some form very soon. the good news is that i already have everything i'll need!

as for actually knit objects, i just grafted the toe on the first Monkey today, before i was taken out to ogle Arctic Terns (which are currently one of my new favourite birds.)

now the question is, cast on for Moneky no. 2 or start tangling with a new colourwork sock and/or mitten?

In Times of Stress...

...nothing heals like sock yarn. we won't speak of all the other sock yarns i have squirreled away here, or of all the projects i've already taken on. i just want to bask in the glow of Trekking XXL 146 'til all the stress and the stupid goes away.


with any luck my ball winder will turn up tomorrow (i hope, i hope.) that should help out as well.

Fire in every part...

clearly lacking the strength (and also the will power) of ten ordinary men, i just snapped up a skein of Fleece Artist Sea Wool in (as if you couldn't guess) the Hercules colourway. And now dinner!