I said I would

And I did. I finished the socks.

Gentlemen's Shooting Socks

from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush

Yarn: Brown Sheep Wildfoote in Camel (2.5 skeins)

Needles: US 0 dpns

Mods: None, except for foot length

These pics, unfortunately, don't really do the color justice. It really is quite camel-y. Sigh. Fresh socks right off the needles, and one Christmas present down!

Caroline's Mini Mittens

Sometimes, mittens just aren't practical. For instance, mittens are completely useless in Indonesia, which is why I designed these mini mittens for my family's exchange student, Caroline, who leaves for Indonesia today after staying here for a year. These are meant to be a reminder of the place she left, but you can make them in cold places too. Use them as Christmas decorations - in fact, with less than 2 hours invested in the pair, you can afford to whip up a couple of pairs and give them as last minute presents.

Caroline’s Mini Mittens

Materials:
Knit Picks Palette in Bark (MC) and Red (CC)
4 US1 dpns
Yarn needle

This is just what I used on my mittens. Gauge absolutely doesn’t matter here. In fact, I didn’t even make a gauge swatch, so throw caution (or your gauge swatch) to the wind and just jump in. Use whatever leftover yarn you have. You’ll only need bits and pieces here. Fingering weight will work best for tiny mittens, but heavier yarn and bigger needles will only mean your Mini Mittens aren’t quite so mini.

Ribbing
CO 18 st in CC
Arrange with 6 stitches on each needle, and join for working in the round.
Row 1: Work 1 round k1, p1 rib.
Row 2: Change to MC, knit 1 round even.
Row 3-6: k1, p1 rib.
Row 7: Knit one round even, increasing 1 st at the end of each needle (3 sts inc, 7 sts on each needle).

Thumb Gusset
Row 8: K10, inc 1, k1, inc1, k10
Row 9: K one round even
Row 10: K10, inc 1, k3, inc 1, k10
Row 11: K even
Row 12: K10, inc 1, k5, inc 1, k10
Row 13: K even

Hand
K10, place next 7 sts on waste yarn, CO1 across gap, k10
Change to CC, k3 rounds.
Change to MC, k3 rounds.

Finger Shaping
*K5, k2tog*
K one round even
*K4, k2tog*
K one round even
*K3, k2tog*
K one round even
*K2tog*
Cut yarn leaving 6 inch tail, draw up remaining stitches

Thumb
Place held stitches on needles, pick up 2 stitches. (3 sts on each needle)
K 5 rounds
*K1, k2tog*
*k2tog*
Cut yarn, draw up remaining stitches

Finishing
Weave in loose ends except for CO tail. Tie the mittens together with the leftover cast on tail and hang jauntily from a handy corner.

Good bye, and thanks for all the questions....

Dear Caroline,

Tomorrow you leave to go back to Indonesia. You've been a model exchange student, not afraid of trying anything once (including going to a Ducks Unlimited dinner and a Planning Commission meeting with my dad, a feat that none of his actual children have survived intact), and throwing yourself into two sports you've competed in before - swimming and track. You asked a thousand questions an hour, most of which were extremely hard to answer (Why is an apple round? It just is.) but most people don't ask enough questions in my opinion.

I'm glad you were here, and I hope that you come back to visit. And because I know that you won't do anything but look at the red mittens I knit you for your birthday when you're back in Indonesia, I spent a chunk of yesterday designing and knitting these for you:

Hang them from your mirror and remember winter. I will remember how you would try to leave the house in the middle of a snow storm wearing nothing but a fleece. Thank godness we were looking out for you, because we'd have sent you home with frost bite otherwise.

We'll miss you.

Playing Catch Up or Chasing my own Tail

Today has been a blur of packing, loading, saying good-bye, driving, unloading, unpacking, laundry, baking, picture sorting, and generally doing all those things that need to be done when you've been away for a while. As you might have guessed, I've been away for the past 2 weeks, at a summer festival in Indiana, where there's been a whole lot of this:

And this:
And this:
Which resulted in this:
Lots of smiling faces after our performance of the Mendlessohn Concerpiece no. 2 for 2 clarinets and piano.

Unfortunately, this means that there hasn't been a lot of knitting going on lately, but I'm planning on finishing the Gentlemen's Shooting Socks before I leave for Italy on Friday. That's right. Italy. On Friday. For 2 weeks. Which begs a really big question. Do you suppose I can get my hands on a copy of Harry Potter on my layover in Amsterdam?

Some news you might be interested in... I got a new camera! Note the impressive leap in picture taking ability. This can only mean better pictures, which means a better blog, and a happier Meggan. Proof?

I like the red ones best.....