Handwork and The Craft

Finishing the Blue & Rust Shawl: Another Learning Experience

I was happy enough with the results when I finished this shawl woven from Malibrigo Mechita yarn which I purchased maybe five years ago with no clear idea of what to do with it. It was sticky to weave as single ply fuzzy wool is probably not the best choice here. And I just enough if I combined all three colors to finish though it was a bit shorter than I had originally planned. Still, folded in half the long way it is a perfect and incredibly soft and cozy fit under a coat. 

Malabrigo Mechita Blue Scarf

I have had a number of skeins of Malabrigo Mechita fingering for a few years -- not sure what to do with it, but in love with the blue and purple colors of two of the skeins and the deep rusty fall colors of the third. Feeling pretty good about the dish towels, I decided to warp it on the loom. I am going carefully, however, as this is a single ply and I am hoping not to break the warp threads with too much tension. 

 

Hats of 2017

This has been a year for discovering the absolute joy of knitting hats. It's a little hard getting excited about wonderful wooly hats when I live in Tucson -- where even in the winter it is sunny and 80 degrees. But once started I really couldn't stop. They are perfect sort of project -- small enough to make in a reasonable amount of time, (and expense! ) and varied enough to learn and practice all manner of new stitches in cables, slip stitches, or just learning how to manage tension. I have three more hats to make over the next month or so -- one with a honeycomb pattern, one with a ridiculous pompom, and one colorwork (a first for me. ) 

Knitting With A Cold.

If one has to be confined to bed with a cold, there is always Vics, English tea, and knitting to keep one company. Finished hats and a new pair of socks. At least when I am well enough to get outside I will be prepared. Two more sock skeins are resting beside me like sleeping kittens. (I might a little delirious from inhaling too much Vics....)

A Nonserious Selfie and a Cranberry Hat

I had some lovely Malabrigo Rios yarn languishing in my stash and pulled it out to knit up a hat (Donnie's Hat, a free pattern at ravelry). If we spend more and more time up in the Colorado mountains, as I intend to, it has become clear I need to knit up some warm clothes for myself and husband too. I tried to make a selfie that showed the hat in action, but honestly, I am terrible at selfies and just decided to have a wee bit of fun on myself. I'm looking a Crone-ish here (a friend decried my original thought that I was looking a bit Baba Yaga-ish), something I am settling into as an opposition to the fresh beauty of my grandchildren.