Knitting – Not only socks!

Yes, I still knit, every day almost, although not as much as I would like. All sorts of paperwork (piles and piles of it), business issues, cooking and other life demands, are keeping me away from my precious needles, not to mention a very weird back/arm/wrist pain I suspect is the result of mousing (as in using the computer)/knitting, that force me to moderate my knitting time.

In Toronto I finished almost at the last minute (if I remember correctly it was the night before Christmas Eve but I am not completely sure), my Christmas present for Mary, Joe’s mother:

Look at this lovely spiral and those cables, where did they come from?

The pattern is: Smokin’ Sock by Anne Hanson the yarn is Classic Merino Sock Yarn of Fearless Fibers – I thoroughly enjoyed the combination of yarn and pattern while knitting these socks. The development of the color spiral around the sock and the appearance of those lovely little cables I didn’t really expect, kept me going, and Mary liked the socks too! what else can a knitter ask for?

Mary Smokin’ Sock

Right after finishing these I had to start another pair of socks for my niece Adi. Her birthday is in January and she lives in Israel so I need to take shipping time into consideration; So, her knitted birthday present always sort of clashes with my holidays knitting. I had a lovely Regia Silk Color yarn that I bought awhile ago in Jessica Knits . I swatched several stitch patterns but both Sam and I liked the little cables of the Smokin’ Sock the best, so I found myself knitting a second pair of this lovely pattern right away. At first I was a bit worried how the combination of cables and stripes will come out but the result pleased everybody so it was good!

Oh such happy socks

The widening of the stripes in the short rows heels and the toes pleased me to no end!

I was a bit worried the socks will be too small and Sam too gave them a suspicious look when they came off my needles (Adi is really petite), but they arrived safely and Adi says that although she too was worried they are too narrow when she took them out of the box, they fit perfectly and she loves them! I am so happy!

Oh and no, I am not knitting only socks these days; I started a new sweater for Joe while he was skiing in Vermont and all the way back from the Northeast to Arizona – more about this sweater soon.

The last couple of weeks are dedicated to a top secret project, I am very pleased with myself, I am completely monogamous with this project! and yes, I will tell you more about it sometimes in the future – be patient please.

Oh Snow

It is two weeks since we returned from our trip to the Northeast and I still didn’t find time to post, shame on me. So tonight I decided to share with you the first rule I learned the day we arrived to Boston: Don’t forget to tuck your shirt into the pants woman! Yes, a desert creature like me didn’t know this simple fact of life in the cold, amazing, no?

As you can see, I really like snow:

I am enjoyinh the snow in Toronto

How beautiful that white stuff looks!

This affection to the white stuff has to do with growing up in Jerusalem, where snow is a real treat. I will write more soon.

Going to the COLD Yay!

Tomorrow night, if the weather out there in the Northeast will permit, we are going to the cold, YAY! Oh yes, it makes me happy, even some delays in some airports will not make me change my mind, I want SNOW!

Preparing for this trip I realized that my winter wardrobe is practically non existence, no wonder considering where we live. So when I saw Anne’s new mitts pattern, I knew I must make myself a pair. I thought I didn’t have any suitable yarn but a quick visit to my stash, revealed a few candidates, I chose a yarn I bought quite a long time ago in a little place called The Creative Needle in Amherst, Massachusetts, it is Artful Yarns Virtue a 100% Cashmere I just couldn’t leave in that shop as lovely as it was :)

The next afternoon I had those:

My Lovely Cashmere Waffle Mitts I think I like these mitts Comfy Mitts, Yummy Yarn

And yes, those threads are all conspicuously weaved in by now as Anne tells us to do!

So, last evening I found myself with 2 little balls of Cashmere left (it is only 25 grams/75 yards per ball), not enough for a hat from me as I have a big head (rosh gadol tartei mashma as we say in Hebrew, yes, in more than one sense, people say,,,), really not enough for a scarf, what can a woman knit with it and quickly? I tried a few ideas, I went up a few numbers in my needles and started something in the round, at first I tried the waffle stitch but realized the other side of it is not very attractive (yes, I know, I could have checked it in the mitts,,,) but I don’t mind ripping especially with such lovely yarn! Then I remembered the Hypoteneuse and its lovely 100% reversible pattern, but the repeats in Anne’s original pattern are a bit wide and tall so I opened my excel and in a few minutes made myself a smaller version and I went knitting, this is what I made by the end of the evening:

Circular Knitted Thingie But warm I will be
Now I have a set ANother way to wear my thingie

Oh and before I started all this, I did finish my softie Hypoteneuse Scarf and I must tell you it is such a pleasure to knit, I enjoyed every minute of it. When I got to the second skein of my yarn I realized I noticed in the store that the color variation is wide but bought it anyway,,,, again, I was lucky it is a present for the wicked girl so I just continued knitting and the result is quite pleasing even if I say so myself, look:

Oh So Soft Cushiness

Inspecting the colors Same Color, Same Yarn The Color Gradient

One last thing, before I finish this post I must confess, while posing with this softie for the photos I had second thoughts about who should be the owner of this knit, I really want to keep it for myself but Joe claims that if I knitted it for Sam I have to give it to her and actually there is not much I can do with an angora scarf around this place (so what?!?) hmmm,,, I told him I will keep it and give it to Sam only at the end of the trip before we leave her in Marlboro, Vermont at her college,,,, hmmmm,,,,

Don’t worry, it will be nicely wrapped and waiting for her under the tree in Toronto, yes I placed an order for a Christmas tree and snow too! I think the tree is a sure thing, not so much the snow! and so what if I am an atheist Jew? at long last I will be able to fulfill one of my childhood dreams: In all those books I loved so much, Christmas always looked like the BEST holiday to young me.