Selfish after all

Posted on January 6, 2012 | 9 Comments

I finished these yesterday, and I love them. I love the color, I love the fit, and I love the yarn.

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These are my Hugs and Kisses OXO Cable Fingerless Mitts. I chose to knit the version with the longer cuff, shorter palm, and there’s plenty of coverage for my hands and fingers. (Sorry, no fabulous manicure.)

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They’re knit with Knitted Wit‘s DK Silk/Polwarth (15/85) blend in Beaujolais. The yarn is lovely to work with; it’s soft, and not splitty. This is one of her newer colors. When I saw her knitting a sample with it at Twisted, I wanted to make my own. This also solves my sample problem. We can use her sample at our trunk show, and I can wear these! Last night I also remembered that I have a sample in Mirasol Tupa; it’s a single mitt that I knit for Twisted, and when they stopped carrying this yarn, they gave it back to me. It wouldn’t have been worth much at the sample sale last month as a single…

It was fun to knit from my own pattern, which I hadn’t looked at for a while. I’m happy to say that it was easy to follow!

These would make a great Valentine’s Day gift. Do you want to knit some? Or give the pattern as a gift? The pattern is $1 off (20%) from now until the end of the month; that’s my gift to you. Click here to buy through Ravelry; you don’t have to be a Ravelry member to do so.

The aforementioned trunk show? Lorajean and I are having a dual trunk show on Saturday, January 21 at Kathy’s Knit Korner in Forest Grove. Stop by and see us! We’ll be there from 1-3 with lots of pretty samples, Knitted Wit yarns and PDXKnitterati patterns.

Kathy’s Knit Korner
1703 Pacific Ave.
Forest Grove, OR 97116
503-648-8525

The shop is owned by the fabulous Sharon Spence of Stitch Jones, another very talented indie hand-dyer. We’ll be rockin’ in color!

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I’m a winner!

Posted on January 5, 2012 | 6 Comments

On New Year’s Eve, Slipped Stitch Studios had a drawing for a giveaway on her Facebook page, and I was the lucky winner! Here’s the very nicely made pattern wallet.

Outside:
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Inside:
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And it also snaps inside out to stand up as an easel. (no picture, I took these this morning and now it’s too dark to do another)

When I perused her etsy store, I decided that I needed some magnetic bookmarks to help me keep my place in my pattern, so I ordered some to go in the same envelope. These coordinate perfectly with the winter theme.

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And look at this cute button she popped in! Don’t tell anyone, but for most accessories, I think it’s true. Sweaters are another story, though.

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I think I met Laura at TNNA last January and loved her stuff, but most of my patterns live in my phone. I can see how this could be more convenient, though. (Not having to unlock the phone, open iBooks, find my pattern, the page, enlarge…)

Go check out the store. There are lots of cute project bags, pattern wallets, and more. Thank you Laura!

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Selfish Knitting…fail.

Posted on January 4, 2012 | 15 Comments

I’m having a little problem with my selfish knitting. Here’s what’s on my needles right now.

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The first mitt feels great. These mitts were going to be selfish knitting, for me, but then I realized that I need them as a sample for a trunk show. Does this mean that it’s not selfish knitting? I’d really like to wear them, but I also want them to look nice later in the month. I’m seriously thinking of knitting a third mitt, so I can wear the first two and still have one to show. I’ll have to weigh my yarn and see if there’s enough for three. Or see if Lorajean has a little more left in this color!

My other selfish project was the design that I had going in my head for the Arroyo yarn . But is that no longer selfish knitting if it’s going to be design work in this yarn weight for a club instead?

And the potential gift for DH…that’s definitely not selfish knitting.

Foiled again! But it’s all enjoyable, so I guess the truly selfish knitting will have to wait. Do you have any selfish knitting going on this month?

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Out with the old, in with the new…knitting

Posted on December 31, 2011 | 7 Comments

It feels good to get a project off the needles. I just finished my panel for Leigh Radford’s Community Knitting Project. This is for a blanket; each blanket consists of nine panels.

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This looks delicious. (I’ve had too many cinnamon rolls lately…)

I picked up this project from Leigh when it looked like this, including the needles which were donated by Lantern Moon. The needles will go back to Leigh and maybe someone else will knit a panel with them. (Or do you want to? I can send them along.)

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The dark brown Lamb’s Pride stripe was just started. I went from there to here.

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It’s interesting to try to coordinate with someone else’s color palate! I had some leftover yarn from my Log Cabin Blanket, and was happy to see that some of the colors would work. This was great TV knitting, a simple ribbed pattern.

Now that the blanket panel is done, I’m planning to start January with a little selfish knitting. Fingerless mitts are in order! They’ll either be my Hugs and Kisses Fingerless Mitts that I started on the flight back from Hawaii (but didn’t get far)…

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…or a new design that’s rolling around in my head in Malabrigo Arroyo, a sport/DK weight superwash. I just picked this up at Twisted when I dropped off some patterns yesterday.

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These blues are so me! But so is the Beaujolais. Where should I start? Or maybe I should start both; the OXO mitts for when I just want to follow a pattern, and the Arroyo when I have more time to think and plan. Yeah, that’s the ticket…

I also think I’m making something for DH for his January birthday. Maybe. That’s a lot on the needles for a usually monogamous (about projects) knitter. Wish me luck!

What’s on your needles for the new year?

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Just in the nick of time

Posted on December 27, 2011 | 5 Comments

I finished this pair of Thrumbelina slippers at 3:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve. Daylight was fading, and I wanted to get a quick picture, so I put my log cabin blanket on the floor for a background.

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Some cats can’t resist things on the floor. Mookie will sit on a sheet of paper, just for the novelty value.

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A better picture of the slippers, but not quite what I was looking for.

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I finally just put the slippers on the piano. Good enough! I love how Knitted Wit‘s merino roving coordinated perfectly with the purples in the Madeline Tosh Merino. Carole called me to tell me the slippers are a perfect fit. Twice! She’s such an appreciative knit recipient, because she knows how much time and effort go into a knit gift. She’s not a knitter, but she makes beautiful things, including the necklace I wore on Christmas morning.

Did you knit gifts this year? How were your handknits received?

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Mele Kalikimaka!

Posted on December 25, 2011 | 1 Comment

I missed this picture when I was sorting last week, but somehow it’s more appropriate today.

Mele Kalikimaka! I hope Santa is getting some R&R time, somewhere. And I hope that you are having a peaceful day with friends and family.

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multiplying like rabbits…

Posted on December 24, 2011 | 7 Comments

These are addicting to knit!

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And so quick. Korknisser by Manne. There’s still time. 20 minutes a pop. You know you want to…

By the way, I blame Glenna for sending me down this road. Check out her korknisser here!

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Merry, merry Korknisse!

Posted on December 23, 2011 | 5 Comments

Looking for a personal touch to add to your gift wrap? How about this little cutie?

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My Lantern Moon size 5 ebony Sox Stix are perfect for this tiny project in worsted weight yarn. This is Korknisse, by Manne.

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So cute! It only took about 30 minutes to knit this up. This little guy is going to the Lantern Moon office party for the gift exchange.

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Gotta fly! Keep on knitting…

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Never enough Aloha

Posted on December 23, 2011 | 3 Comments

Let’s see, where was I? Oh, paradise!

Friday we went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve. The bay was formed thousands of years ago when the southeast wall of Hanauma Crater eroded away. This is a perfect gentle snorkeling experience. Shallow waters, lots of colorful fish and coral. What’s not to like? Even swimming averse me had a great time.

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I don’t have a lot of pictures from this day, because the real show was underwater!

Saturday began with a parade on Kalakaua Avenue, just below our lanai. It was the Hawaii Heroes and Veterans Parade, complete with troops and marching bands.

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We went to Chinatown at noon and found it to be…underwhelming. But I think we’re pretty jaded (hah!) because we love San Francisco’s Chinatown. It’s hard to top that one. Saturday turned into a shopping day, which was fine, and gave CollegeGrad a chance to catch up with his college buddies. Nice to have friends living in Hawaii!

Sunday started out with a double rainbow over the water. Can you see the second one to the left of the bright one?

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We chose this day to have breakfast from McDonald’s, which was just down on the corner. Portuguese sausage, spam, eggs, and rice! Is this at your local McD’s? About 25 years ago, we had Portuguese sausage and rice for breakfast at a McDonald’s in Waikiki. I guess everything is super-sized now…I saved about half of it for the next day.

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We had planned to go kayaking from Lanikai Beach, but our energy level wasn’t quite up to it, so we planned another hike instead. Our destination? Makapu’u Point, the easternmost point of the island. The trail is 1.75 miles long, and is hot and dry, and really windy on the eastern side of the point! I guess that’s why they call it the windward side of the island. The lighthouse at the point is stunningly beautiful, but it’s off limits to the public.

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You look down at the lighthouse from the viewpoint at the end of the trail.

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We saw a hang glider while we were at the viewpoint. He had a good time showing off for us.

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On the way back down, we saw a rainbow, skimming over the water towards us. I love the little rain shower under the arc of the rainbow. It was a three rainbow day!

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I thoroughly enjoyed this trip. It was just what this empty nester needed, face time with my family. I suppose we could have been anywhere, as long as it was away (too many distractions and comings and goings at home), but this was perfect.

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Mele Kalikimaka! And I knit all the way home…

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Aloha, Oahu!

Posted on December 22, 2011 | 5 Comments

It’s been an interesting year. Youngest son went off to college across the country, and DH does a fair amount of travel in his work. My nest is pretty empty sometimes! When CollegeGuy left, I planned a trip for his winter break return. I knew we’d all need some face time. Last week we traveled to Honolulu for some fun in the sun.

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The Occupy Portland camp may be shut down, but there’s still an Occupy Honolulu.

Our first night’s sunset was spectacular, but then they all were. We were in a 12th floor condo in Waikiki, facing west.

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The next day we hiked to the top of Diamond Head (760 ft at the summit), the volcanic crater that overlooks Waikiki. You can see the hotels in the background. The views were spectacular all the way around.

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The boys (young men?) took advantage of this old winch to pose for one of their “vacation murder” shots. Someday I’ll post the collection…

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And that afternoon, we played on the beach at Waikiki and looked back up to where we had been.

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Thursday we paid our respects at the USS Arizona Memorial. The Arizona was sunk in the raid on Pearl Harbor in 1941 that drew the US into World War II. The memorial is a simple white structure which spans the submerged hull of the ship, where 1102 sailors are still entombed. It’s a stark, somber place, beautiful in its simplicity. The ship itself still leaks oil from its tanks; it bubbles up and spreads across the water. There is an estimated 500,000 gallons of oil aboard the ship, which is monitored for environmental hazard.

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We also toured the USS Missouri, which is berthed next to the Arizona. The Missouri was the site of the signing of the Formal Instrument of Surrender that ended World War II, so the ships are bookends of the war. The end of our visit found us looking at the Arizona Memorial, the guns of the Missouri, and…a rainbow. Somehow fitting, I thought.

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I did have time for some knitting on this trip; I took Thrumbelina with me. This is the Madeline Tosh Merino yarn that I showed you a few posts ago. It’s dreamy to knit with, but easier to split with my needle than the Malabrigo Worsted.

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It wasn’t too warm on the lanai to knit with thrums!
More vacation in the next post…

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