Selling, socks, and sun

This July is proving to be a month of milestones for me -- a pattern to be published in the upcoming issue of Knitty and now this: The Purple Purl is now carrying SpillyJane Knits patterns in shop! This makes them the first Canadian purveyor of my patterns (other than me, of course,) so if you're in the Toronto area, stop by and say hello to my stuff. If you need another reason to pop in, all patterns by Canadian designers (including mine!) are 20% off for the entire month of July (as if you need another reason to visit a yarn store!)

Speaking of patterns, look who just needs their toes knit on:The Balearique Gentlemen's Socks are going to be finished today! Soon they'll be soaring across the ocean to their new home. I'll be working on the pattern this afternoon, as this heat wave we're having is making the even the thought of sitting on my porch unbearable. I wish I could bottle days like this and take the tiniest of swigs in the middle of a cold, grey November. That said, if you're an Achillea, you're loving this sun and heat. I, unfortunately, am not, but I'll endure it for their sake.

What's going on

New socks:These are a new pair of Bavarian (Austrian?) twisted-stitch socks. Please note that I am knitting both of them simultaneously. I have a very good reason for doing so -- and that reason is that I am simply dying to design/knit a new pair of Bavarian (Austrian??) twisted-stitch gauntlets. The fact that this has entered the house isn't helping my willpower much.Yes, it's an innocent enough (boring enough?) ball of grey yarn, but it's calling to me. Hence both sets of US 4 dpns are busily holding two socks-in-progress. No gauntlets until at least one (preferably both) socks are complete!

Of course, temtpation lurks in every gauge. I've been fending these off for quite some time:VINTAGE SELBU MITTENS. The reason I haven't dived into these yet is twofold: firstly, that I've been too busy designing and mitten pattern-writing, and finally, because it has taken me so long to settle on colours. I may have to take a cue from the sample and go with the ivory/off-white option, in the interests of matching my soon-to-be new scarf.

Ah yes, the scarf. It occurred to me this afternoon that I am beyond weary of all of the handknit scarves that I currently have in my possession, and that I simply can not bear to wear them again this season. Hence, the search for this year's Perfect Scarf is on.

As it currently stands, the Perfect Scarf is a veritable snowdrift of an accessory. I figure I'll go big and cushy (and maybe hit something close to couture? Maybe??) seeing as I have two skeins of this on hand, and no other plans for it:Yes. Now to get knitting.

NaKniMitMo, pt. 5: first one done

The first Bavarois mitten is history!This means it's time to start the second one, a prospect that is not seeming all that bad. Usually I run from second mittens, having (most likely) burnt myself out on the first one, but these ones are different. The nice stretch of plain Stockinette on the palms takes the edge off all that twisting.

Here it is flat:I was going to go with a gusset thumb but I bailed at the last minute. Going with a peasant thumb is another one of the small mercies that these mittens have to offer. They're not so bad!

If you're eyeing these hungrily, I am happy to report that I'm in the process of writing up the pattern. I mean, if anyone wants it.

NaKniMitMo, pt. 4: Bavarois!

The new mittens grew a bit today -- look!They've also acquired a name: Bavarois. Yes, that's a a dessert -- here's a recipe. Yes, I would like to try some.

Back to the mitten. I am in serious danger of actually finishing this mitten tonight! At the very least, I will polish it off tomorrow. And then...the second mitten. Wow, if there's one thing that this NaKniMitMo KAL is good for, it's getting me to actually knit the mates to my mitts. This is not a bad thing! It's nice to put a project "to bed" every once in a while!

NaKniMitMo, pt. 3: Bavarian delight

So now that the Give A Hoot mittens are behind me, I've moved on to my next pair. "Big needle mittens" won out over "little needle mittens," but as far as I'm concerned, "big" is a subjective term. To me, 3.25 mm is a BIGNEEDLEMITTEN that I can cram a crapload of pattern onto. Observe the fruit of today's labours:This is as far as I got on my new mitten pattern this afternoon. What you're looking at is the cuff of a mitten that is going to end up sporting a whole lotta Bavarian-style twisted stitches. This technique, if you're not familiar with it, features a lot of very tiny, very twisty cables which just happen to be the tiniest, twistiest, loveliest cables you can find on any side of the Black Forest (the Black Forest being where all those hams and cakes roam free.) I, for one, am impressed that I made it this far into a twisted stitch pattern this quickly, even if I was a little twitchy afterward. It's not so bad, and definitely worth the results.

And yes, for those of you who are fans of eyes on owl mittens, I dug through the button stash today. Is this better?Please note that the eyes are not actually attached to the owls, but they should be soon.