Yarn Everywhere!

Over the past weekish I suddenly found myself with a little more time to knit, so I have things! Things to blog about! Also, I had a birthday, so of course I started new things with birthday yarn. But first, the old.

I started knitting Fiddlehead Mittens last spring and got through the shell and lining of one and an inch of the shell of the second before summer came and i didn’t want to knit mittens anymore. A month or so ago, I suddenly sat down and spent an afternoon finishing the first shell. Then it sat and sat until yesterday, when I suddenly sat down and knit the whole lining.

I work like that a lot - I knit something until I get to a stopping point, then ignore it for weeks until I want to knit it again, then do it constantly until I get to another stopping point and ignore it again.

It feels great to have these mittens done. Finally my hands will be warm when I’m outside! Finally they are done! They fit perfectly. You can tell I’m not great at colorwork yet, but they look decent.

Pattern: Fiddlehead Mittens by Adrian Bizilia

Yarn: The shell was knit with Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light (see Ravelry for colors), the lining with Rowan Kidsilk Haze single-stranded.

Needles: Knit Picks US4 circular (magic loop) for the lining, Susan Bates US4 DPN’s for the lining.

I also knit socks!

Pattern: Zigzag Socks from Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Sock Book

Yarn: Gedifra Happy Strumpf Mouliné. I got this yarn from a destash sale, and haven’t ever been able to find out anything about it. It’s pretty basic sock yarn, similar in weight to Trekking XXL, with a lot of superwash wool and a little nylon.

Needles: Knit Picks US1.5

They’re nice. I like them and they fit well. Not a big deal.

As soon as I finished those, I had to start some new socks with the beautiful Green Mountain Spinnery sock yarn I got for my birthday. This pattern is Chain Melody. I like it a lot, it’s very interesting without being too much for the variegated yarn. (Don’t judge the picture, it looks better on the foot but at this stage I can’t get it on my foot.)

The yarn was nice in the skein - pretty colors, soft, in all ways pleasant. But the fabric I’m getting (on size 2 needles) is AMAZING. Very dense and squishy and sturdy and soft, perfect for socks (which I guess is no surprise, it being sock yarn). I think it’s that this is 50% mohair, which I’ve never had in a sock yarn before. I like it a lot. More people should do that. Much nicer than nylon.

My other new birthday yarn project was started on a bit of a whim. I was picking out birthday yarn (because my parents have no confidence in their ability to choose it themselves) and I was thiiiis close to getting nice blue bulky wool for an Urban Aran cardigan. But then I bought Misti Alpaca Chunky in a dark blue-green for Versatility. It can be so many things! So exciting!

So that’s the deal for now.