I’ve always been a “crafty” person. I just like making things, sometimes they are really nice things, sometimes… well we all have some “what was I thinking” moments.
When I was little it was legos, when I was a little older I convinced my mom to teach me to crochet. I made a really really long chain. It stopped there for some reason. Then it was the sewing machine so I could make clothes for my American Girl doll. I made a lovely ball gown for her, out of some scraps of purple satin and lace. Then by high-school it was ceramics and painting, and through all of it I drew. But one thing I wanted to learn but had no idea how to start was to knit. Continue reading →

So for the holidays this year one of our goals is to make at least 10 pairs of slippers for family members.  I taught my fiancé to knit a while back so he’s doing his best to help, but he’s still pretty new. He just learned to purl last night! We are basing them off of one of the few remaining pairs given to him by this grandma. Apparently she made hundreds and everyone on his mothers side has had a pair at some point. So I sat down counted the rows and stitches, looked very closely at the cast on wrote down some notes and got started on my first one. They are very simple as it turns out, so of-course I want to complicate my next pair. I’m not satisfied with the heel,  or how bulky they are around the arch and toes.

I’m facing a tough choice here though. This isn’t just about me and my need to knit complicated things, it’s about making something that reminds this family about a loved one. So I don’t want to change it too much. BUT, then again patterns like this where picked up somewhere, probably long forgotten, and each knitter since has added their little thing to them. I like the idea of adding a personal touch to them. It’s an abstract signature I get to leave, just like Bobby left hers.

So so far my only changes have been to add a little ribbing to the arc of the bottom section and I made the cuffs a little bigger which decreased the overall stitch count around the toe bit. I do want to change the heel, it’s basically a 90 degree angle right now. I’d just like it to curve, just a little bit. And maybe do some decreases near the toe, just so it doesn’t pucker so much. I also started with a 2-sided cast on, it was kind of hard but I didn’t have to sew up any seems so that a huge bonus. I’m not sure if this was how the original’s where done, I’m guessing not.

I think these changes won’t hurt the core of the pattern to much and help make them fit a little better. Maybe use less yarn even, right now it’s taking a ball and about a quarter of another to make a pair. That just drives me bonkers being left with just 3/4 of a ball.

So I’ve decided to post Bobby’s original pattern, and later another with my own changes. This will beat out Alison’s hat for first pattern, but oh well. I hope to finish her  version of the hat this afternoon and give it to her tonight.

I haven’t been knitting much this last week. It’s a little like after a really good workout you feel like spending the week week camped out on the couch eating potato chips and feel completely validated doing so. Because that workout was so hard and you deserve a of rest day or five. Well that describes the first few days after the mittens where done, but now it’s evolved into that huge question I assume all knitters face, “WHAT NEXT?” Continue reading →

I promised myself last night that if I can finish the Norse Raven mittens by saturday, I can start another project or two if I even if I haven’t finished anything else.

I’m finding I really like doing color work, specially in this style. With it’s pointy tips and checker patterns. (Sorry for the lousy phone pic.)

I started the 2nd one last saturday, so a mitten in a week seems doable. Even though it took me several months the finish the first. Continue reading →