A Happy Saturday

Now that's a great chair. Who can mind about the mess when the mess is made from knitting? I could spend the entire weekend happy in that chair. And I aim to try to do just that.

























The sharp-eyed brioche beret knitters among you will see the problem in this picture right away. Heck, doesn't even require sharp eyes to spot this one. It's a major ugly. Screw the prancing pony -- you could almost spot this one from outer space.






















Ah, well. The great thing about knitting is that you can always call a do-over. Or, as in this case, a do-over-and-over. This is the second time I had to rip it out. But I'm starting to grasp the logic (Ha!! logic, that's a good one) behind this stitch, so maybe the third time will be a charm on the old windmill beret.






















Thumbs up on the cashmere mittens. BIG thumbs up. Dude, look at the size of those thumbs. I will win every thumb war I declare in these mittens. With a passel of rambunctious nephews in and out of my house, that is no trivial thing. Bring 'em on.

FO Report: Cashmere Stranded Mittens

Too awesome for mere words to describe. When I am queen of the universe, everyone north of the Mason-Dixon line will get a pair of these mittens in any colors they choose. And then there will be no more wars, except for of the thumb variety, because everyone will be so happy in their cashmere mittens that the fight will go flat out of them, and also it would be really really hard to pull triggers wearing thick, warm mittens like this. Plus which you might get gun oil on the fabric, and nobody would want that.

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Pure Cashmere, appx 75 g each color (slightly more of the purple)
Pattern: Mittens from Halland from Folk Mittens
Mods: I changed the placement of the thumb on the left mitten, and it worked out just fine. By my reading, if I hadn't made that modification, I would have ended up with two right hand mittens. If I had to do it over again, I might also move the thumbholes about two rows closer to the wrists. Other than that, no modifications. It was an easy pattern.

I can't tell you how long it took to knit these. A while, several months, except that I didn't knit diligently at all. There was a crib blanket and a vest and some socks mixed in, and these mittens were something I picked up for a change of pace now and again. Working with this yarn felt like a reward -- I am absolutely in love with this yarn. Yes, the Debbie Bliss cashmeres took some PR hits a while back, but I don't care. It's spectacular to knit with.

And now there are eight....

One Good Beer and Nobody to Drink It

Yesterday will go down in history as the Best Harlot Day to Not Actually Include the Harlot. At least, we hope it will. We hope she never again has a problem like the one that kept her grounded in Toronto all day yesterday. Poor thing. Here is my fervent wish that all future Harlot Days, regardless of destination, include a safe and happy Harlot.


Trish and Cory did a great job on all the arrangements and details, and each exhibited a lot of grace as things unraveled. We're proud of you, ladies. You two are a real class act --

Despite any evidence to the contrary. Here is Cory, modeling her carefully selected outfit for the evening. She is wearing everything she has ever knit, except for one shawl and a clapotis that were on display in the shop. She has so many sweaters on that she can hardly move her arms, and she looks about four sizes larger than normal.

You can tell by the condition of the shelves behind her that this picture was taken pretty early in the day. That's because a) hordes of knitters aren't yet blocking the view, b) Cory had time to pose, and c) there is still yarn in the cubbies that hasn't be whisked out of the shop by happy stash enhancers. When I left the shop shortly after six, those cubbies looked like they'd been ransacked. Because they were! I saw lots of knitters carrying skeins of the new Noro sock yarn and the Gypsy Girl, which is one of my favorite sock yarns. Can't go wrong with Gypsy Girl.

I spent most of the day in the shop. I didn't plan to go there as early as I did, but I was like a kid on Christmas. Couldn't concentrate all morning, and finally just threw in the towel on work and went a-knittin'. I spent all afternoon at the back table with my knit posse -- except for those moments when nosy li'l me spotted some gorgeous knitwear on a harlot fan and had to go ask all the knitty questions -- ooh! pretty! What pattern, what yarn, was it a fun knit? I now am obsessed with the Tahki sweater in Dream in Color Classy with the Smooshy socks to match -- and to the fine knitter who modeled those gorgeous items, let me just thank you for so ably adding to my queue.

Special note also to the lady with the purple scarf from the knitty winter pattern who was making the stained glass blanket -- we meant what we said. Come knit with us some time!

I worked Fulmar's sleeves for about 4 rows, then the table got crowded enough that I though the straight needles should go back in my knitting bag. I switched to my cashmere mittens.




The first one is almost done now. Every time I saw someone walking around with some of this cashmere -- on sale, half price! -- I made them touch my mittens. Maybe that was the kind of thing they're talking about when they say someone is preaching to the choir?

Finally,

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee missed out on one good beer. I won't save it for her for next time (a/k/a "Yarn Harlot II: Ripped and Reknit!") because this is a fresh pour from a local brewery and it's not meant to be saved. It's meant to be consumed. Sadly, at the pace I drink beer, it may take me until her next visit to finish this thing!

The Mittens to Match

When I bought the Malabrigo for the newsboy cap and scarf, I already had two precious treasures in my stash, one 25g skein each of worsted weight cashmere in royal and teal. My original plan for these was to make either striped or stranded wristers, but as soon as I bought the Malabrigo, I knew I needed mittens to match.

So I hunted through my mitten books and picked up a bit more of the cashmere, and now the mittens are underway. My corrugated ribbing looks like crap, but other than that, I am head over heels in love with this project. The yarn feels like a dream and knits beautifully. The colors and the pattern are perfect together. (Mittens from Halland, from the Marcia Lewandowski Folk Mittens book.) I keep making everyone touch my knitting to marvel at its buttery, almost silky texture, and I keep pulling the mitten cuffs on "just to try" and then I hate to take them off. Hate. I have a feeling I'm going to want to wear these every day next winter!