After I finished my orders, I binged on video games for four days straight, but since then I've felt weird NOT knitting. So here's what I've done since the first week of the month:
Way back in November my mom mentioned that she wanted a hat for her birthday and sent me a few pictures off of Pinterest, and then we didn't speak of it again. I was so excited to make her a matching set of hat and armwarmers, because she still talks about and uses armwarmers I made for her in 2007. Out of acrylic. When I had been knitting for only a few months. I wanted to use higher-quality yarn and show off what I can do!
The hat was quick and easy, and the armwarmers were easy and fun once I figured out that the picot edging wasn't ACTUALLY picot and was creating by hemming! The gloves turned out a bit bigger than I had hoped, which was sort of a given because the pattern called for a lighter weight yarn than I was using. But still. Gorgeous pattern.
Close-up of the picot effect and the simple lace pattern.
I just love this look.
Next, my grandma showed me some knitted handwarmers done for her by a friend and explained that she had chills and pain at night and that she wanted warm armwarmers. She was adorable because she pointed out the ribbing on a pair she had and said it was okay if I didn't "do anything fancy." I mock-scoffed and decided to find a pattern that would do her justice. This is what I came up with:
I used a cutely titled pattern called A Little Twist and made some adjustments. First, I made them longer on both the arm and the hand, and second, I didn't bind off the thumb gusset to leave a hole, but kept the stitches on a separate needle and knit partway up to help keep her thumb warm. Finally, my grandma requested TIGHT gloves, so I only used size 7 needles for the first 6 pattern repeats and then switched to size 5s for the rest.
What was really neat about this yarn (Plymouth Gina) was that the picture shows one entire skein. The yarn knit up two very different gloves from just the one skein! Perfect for my grandma. ^_^
The cabling really is nice. It adds a fancy touch with minimal work, and it breaks up the monotony of ribbing.
And finally! I bought the Spring 2014 issue of Creative Magazine because the scarf on the cover is simply divine, but I'm not monetarily ready for that kind of commitment so I paged through until I found a quick project: a set of three washcloths. What a perfect use for all my random cotton!
Front: Slip-stitch pattern using some KnitPicks yarn and Peaches & Creme. Middle: A really fun washcloth with some fancy yarn I bought from my LYS (can't remember the brand but it's luscious and soft) that has a diagonal pattern, and finally, Peaches & Creme with a cabling, which took the longest and I hated doing it about a quarter of the way through.
I ended up giving all of them to my mom because she said she loves hand-knit washcloths (no idea!) but I'm currently making another of the front washcloth because they are SO FUN.
So fun. So fancy.
Now I think you're all caught up! Happy knitting!
-Leah
