In real life I'm almost finished with glove one...but I'm behind on taking photos as well. On a positive note, I'm pleased with how the design is coming together!

halló! I am glovely.

If I can finish them in the next week he can wear them for a few days before he goes to L.A. for a month. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that it will not be glove-wearing weather in California, and that when he comes back in April it'll be too warm to wear them. *Sigh* Am a failure as a wife and knitter.

In other news, I guest-blogged over at Made by Rae yesterday. My assignment was to do a summary of boy's knitting projects for Man Month (she's calling it "Celebrate The Boy"). I managed to work in a couple photos of us a kids...because I could. What's the use of being sisters if I can't embarrass her in her own digital living room?

Here's the second installment in Elli Designs Yet More Mittens! If you missed yesterday's post, the quick summary is that I have two new mitten designs in 60 Quick Knits: 20 Hats, 20 Scarves, 20 Mittens in Cascade 220, which will be out in April. Yesterday was superwash kid's mittens, today I have some classic 220 ladies' mittens to show you!

clearly there are never enough knitted birds in my life.*

I don't know if I've ever mentioned much about my design process on the blog but, for me, the easiest part of every project is designing the main theme for the front of the mitten. Once the idea is approved I then spend (what feels like) forever trying to come up with the perfect palm pattern. When I FINALLY get that sorted out, I spend just as long trying to find a good thumb to tie the whole thing together.

Which then explains why, even though I'm generally quite fond of all my mitten fronts, I feel disproportionally proud of the palms. And, of course, books and magazines rarely show that side! You're lucky if you get a glimpse of a coy palm peeking out from under the other mitten. The above photo is remarkable in that you can see almost all of the palm, even if it is (what I think of as) upside-down.

Here's the full palm shot so you can drink it in:

ah, that's better!

The palms are patterned to evoke trailing branches and tall grass. In my imagination it's early morning and it's a little misty, and there is dew dripping from the branches. The little bird is glancing over his shoulder and considering flitting over to check out the situation in the trees..but he's uncertain, because it looks a little damp.

go for it, little dude!

Yarnwise, this is as fabulously basic as you can get. Just a skein each of two colors of Cascade 220! These colors are both heathers (#2440 vinci and #9489 red wine) but I think solids would work equally well. Time to raid your worsted stashes, peeps! Well, not quite yet. We have to wait until April. *sigh*

{twiddles thumbs impatiently...}

In the mean time, ravel it!

*Photo by Jack Deutsch, from 60 Quick Knits: 20 Hats, 20 Scarves, 20 Mittens in Cascade 220.

Just a little entry to show you the first of two new designs that I can finally post about! This time I'm really and truly in an actual book! With a binding and a library of congress number and everything! How fancy is that? (hint: totally fancy).

Both of these pattens will be in 60 Quick Knits: 20 Hats, 20 Scarves, 20 Mittens in Cascade 220, which doesn't come out until April.* I am proud to represent 1/10th of the mitten portion! You may have noticed that I do love a good mitten.

Mini Mitts!**

This is my first child's mitten pattern and I had so much fun designing them! I find the little details the most satisfying...how the increases for the body of the mitten warp the corrugated ribbing just a little so it looks like sea grass waving in the current. Also, I designed the palm pattern to mimic the suckers on the underside of an octopus' arms...because if I were a kid I would totally dig that.

slorp slorp!

I made the cuffs a bit on the long side. My strongest childhood mitten memory is the feeling of snow creeping in under the cuffs. There will be no chilly wrists if I can help it!

Size-wise, the mittens were designed to fit the measurements of a four-year-old child, but I think there should be a bit of leeway there. I've listed the measurements on the Ravelry page if you're uncertain.

full frontal octopic

As far as yarn goes, these just take one skein each of two colors of Cascade 220 Superwash (#886 citron and #812 turquoise), so they're a super-affordable project! Yay! You probably already have suitable yarn in your stash.

And if that weren't enough incentive to make these, they knit up SUPER FAST. Seriously. They're small. They're worsted. They're colorwork. You won't believe how quickly you'll have a pair of little cephalopod mitts. Now, if the book would just hurry up and come out...

Stay tuned for more new mittens tomorrow!

Ravel it!

*but there's always pre-order for you impatient types!

**Photo by Jack Deutsch, from 60 Quick Knits: 20 Hats, 20 Scarves, 20 Mittens in Cascade 220.

This is my favorite classroom. It matches the sweater.

Pattern: Felix Cardigan (modified a goodish bit), from Vintage Baby Knits (ravelink).

I fell in love with the scallopy colorwork the first time I saw this cardigan but I had a few changes in mind (when don't I?) Here's the run-down of the mods I made:

1) I was a little miffed that the colorwork didn't extend to the back. I'm not an expert on the Wee Drooly Ones, but I've observed that that you generally see more of the backside of a baby than the front. Even if that's not strictly true, I figure it's better to have both sides covered, don't you? So I did both anterior and posterior colorwork.

C birds...are asleeeeeeeeeeeeeep...*

2) As photographed in the book, the ribbon-lined button band looks a little sloppy (and it it sounded like a lot of work). Instead I just knitted a little bit of ribbing onto the front edges after I finished assembling the sweater to make everything nice and tidy. To compensate for the extra fabric, I knitted the buttonholes a titch closer to the edge.

3) I used a yarn-over buttonhole instead of the one in the pattern.

4) I'm not so much a cat person. So I made up a little bird and "C" (for Clementine) chart and duplicate-stitched the design onto the sweater after I was finished sewing everything up.

"C" is also for "chalkboard"

Yarn: Knit Picks Essential (or Stroll, as they now call it).
- 65g of Glacial (24345)
- 45g of Mermaid (24346

Not a fancy yarn, but it's machine-washable and soft as a baby's bottom, so it suits this project perfectly! And the colors are fantastic, even if the Glacial color is now discontinued (boo!).

and "chair"

Needles: Vintage aluminum straights in size 2 (2.75mm) and 3 (3.25mm)...they're not fancy, but they're my favorite needles to use for great swaths of small-gauge stockinette. Nice and quick!

I think that about covers the major points for this one! Rae says that it's still too large for Clementine so no modeled shots yet. Grow, baby, grow!

Raveled here.

*10 Nerd Points if you got the Elgar Sea Pictures reference.

So far, I have a swatch, a thumb, and half of an index finger.

1.5 fingers down, 8.5 fingers to go.

Nothing like a little deadline to keep my needles moving!

*on a long-ago road-trip, my sisters and I each named one of our fingers. I left out Fingerlee but, as you can see, there are only two fingers in that photo.

Ravelry Link
Pattern summary

That said, I have a little FO I've been sitting on since June (yes, I am that behind). Meet Tuppy 2: Brother of Tuppy:

A new Tuppy has risen

Since Tanis was the driving force behind the whole Tuppy project, I thought it was only fitting that I knit her her very own be-horned and winged beastie! The only elements I changed on her monster were the wing and foot colors, but despite all the sameness they have their differences in personality. I feel like the mother of twins...I can tell the difference, but can you?

Before the brothers were separated.

Tuppy 2 has long since flown off to live on the east coast, but rumor has it that he's giving the monsters under Tanis' bed a run for their money.

Never too monstery for florals.

We are so leetle! And only cost 50 cents!

The photos don't really do them justice...they are small and adorable and you can tell that some kid's mama made them wear these at least a couple winters since the palms are felted up a bit, there are a few holes, and little remnants of yarn where the strings used to be tied on (anyone who grew up in a cold climate knows what those strings are for).

I immediately fell in love with the colors and the large-scale graphic colorwork and, let's be honest here...they are just begging to be copied. But first, I need to figure out if the pattern already exists. I spent a little time searching for these with no luck. But I'm HORRIBLE at finding things on the internets, so it's more than possible that they're out there. This is where I'm hoping you'll help me.

These are the facts:

1) Gauge = 7 sts/1 inch.
2) Palm circumference is about 6 inches.
3) They are 6.5 inches long.
4) Tab thumb

To be completely fair, there are also a couple factors that make me think that the person who knitted them might not have used a pattern:

1) The person who knitted them avoided carrying unused colors across the palm by inserting extra rows into the mittens. In one spot on the palm there are five rows to the three on the back of the mitten. It's actually a little brilliant, and easily done on dpns.

2) There are a few spots where the knitter improvised the pattern a bit (again mostly on the palm). Nothing drastic, just a little wonkiness that indicates that charts may not have been consulted.

This sort of free-spirited knitting leads me to think that patterns might not have been all that important to our mystery knitter, but they could also just fall into the "I mostly followed the pattern" camp.

have you seen me?

Here is your challenge:

This pattern is probably out there somewhere...maybe online, maybe in an old pattern pamphlet. If you can find it for me, I will send you a lovely little surprise package (contents yet to be determined, but guaranteed fabulous).

The prize goes to the first person who leaves proof of pattern-findage in the comments. If the actual pattern eludes you, Pretty Close patterns will be considered, but I reserve the right to decide whether or not they are close enough to be useful. The contest will remain open until I have a winner and close the comments.

Good Luck!

Culling through my feeds started me thinking about the knitblog community and how it is such a vastly different place now from what it was back in 2005 when I launched the Elliphantom balloon. A few people are still at the familiar old addresses but the greater chunk have wandered off to bigger and better things or parts unknown. I won't even start on how Ravelry has changed the face of the knitting community.

Tuppy, with his friend Stegman (my birthday gift from Tanis!)

My little epiphany of the day came when I realized that instead of feeling like The Old Granny of Knitblogland, I feel like a kid who's moved schools. A little shy, a little uncertain about who knows what about me, and a little hesitant to commit in case I do it wrong. It's not that I don't have plenty to say, it just never quite makes it out of my mouth.

So! I think the solution is to jump right in and set myself a little challenge. Three posts a week, to get me back into practice. That's approximately every other day, with a little wiggle room. If I can stick to it, I should have a solid dozen entries by the time the Olympics roll around.

I know this isn't the first time I've resolved a fresh start here, but who knows? Maybe this time it'll stick.

Have you noticed themes in my knitting yet?*

Yes, it's trees again! And I got to knit them in very Elli colors. This might surprise you, but the most difficult part of the designing process is getting the perfect yarn to fit the idea in my head. Since I'm ridiculously particular about color, more often than not that's the part of the process I get hung up on.

As far as the design goes, while I am pleased with the tree chart, my favorite bit is the mosaic repeat on the palms. If you wanted to shake things up a bit and do something less pictorial, you could easily knit a pair with just that pattern on both sides.

There are a few of you who will be relieved to find out that this is the largest-gauge pair of mittens I've ever designed and therefore a nice quick knit. If you've been dying to do some colorwork mittens, but don't relish the thought of fingering-weight and size ones, these are for you. Enjoy!

-The preview for the whole issue is here!
-Ravelry link is here!

{Coming soon...the Christmas knitting!}

*photo courtesy of SoHo Publishing

this is the angelic profile shot.

Since I generally dislike knitting with bulky yarn, the stash didn't turn up much (I just checked. I have a whopping...4 skeins). So I grabbed a couple hanks of Stonehenge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool I'd already designated for an Elliot-hat and decided I'd make it work*.

Even with the yarn held doubled my gauge was way off, and I wanted to make the hat a skitch larger than written. So I did some dodgy math and cast on 53 stitches (because it's always a good idea to cast on a prime number of stitches when making a hat???) and just knitted something resembling a Gnomey. Most importantly, I did a garter band at the bottom and approximately followed the instructions for making the top pointy, which is all that really matters anyway.

Yep, that's the Tomten. Click to slightly embiggerate

Once I plunked the proto-hat on Elliot's noggin at Thanksgiving it was pretty obvious that I'd made it way too long for a toddler (it fit me nicely though!) so I folded up the garter brim and attached the earflaps under that. Never one to refuse an opportunity to include a pom or two, I happily made a couple nice puffy ones and threw in some braided ties for good measure.

Not counting patience highest on her list of virtues, Rae also showed up at Thanksgiving with a partially knitted Gnomey, which she finished over the weekend as well (though I would like to point out that I finished mine first...because I am competitive like that).

So now Rae can tool around town with two intriguingly behatted children in tow, which I do believe is what she wanted all along.

this is not the angelic profile shot

Vital Stats
Pattern: Gnomey Hat, by Adrian Bizilia (Hello Yarn).
Yarn: Stonehenge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool, held double (lakeshore and antique rose). This yarn is amazing…all soft and cushy and lovely. I'll definitely use it again.
Needles: 10.5 DPNs
Raveled here

*Rae had given me one of the colors a while back on the condition that it be used for woolies for her children..see how she operates?

Hattity hat hat hat*

To be fair, I promised myself that this year I would not push myself to the edge of exhaustion by knitting ten bajillion gifts, and I am absolutely on target to meet that goal. But it's strange, because it turns out that the last minute panicked knitting frenzy is a bit of a tradition for me, and it doesn't quite feel like the holidays yet because I'm not surrounded by spreadsheets and half completed knitted goods. Seems I need to work on finding my happy medium.

Anyway, tonight I was going to blog about the hat I finished over Thanksgiving, a modified Gnomie that I made for the wee nephewling (who is getting less and less wee by the minute), but I seem to have forgotten my camera's memory card at work. So instead you get a little bit of a ramble through my brain and a photo of one of last year's unblogged Christmas gifts. Enjoy!

*{Koolhaas, for my BIL Ross, knitted in Rowan Magpie Tweed Aran (discontinued), in a long-forgotten shade of reddish-orange.}

I think we can all agree that I've fallen pretty far behind in the Reporting of Knitted Stuffus. So if you don't mind I think I'll just cut my losses and start from where I am. And where I am, currently, is the Land of Sock.

Hallo! I look like fizzy grape soda. Yum.

A nice, simple, uncomplicated sock. Just right for the over-stimulated knitter.

{the deets: priscilla's dream socks (my usual toe-up mods) knitted in trekking xxl, color 109}

the outards. also, what is up with the model's arm?*

The design
I had a lot of fun with the colorwork on this one...the little buildings and the "wire" ring the entire hat and are punctuated with a little bird at the front. If you're a guy, or if birds are just a little cutesy for you, I think it would also look great birdless and knit in slightly more urban colors. Here's a little thumbnail showing just the buildings:

Double knit eh?
I know that double knit isn't one of those techniques that everyone has used, but it's fantastic for colorwork! I taught myself how to double knit way back when I was a new knitter and I couldn't figure out either intarsia or stranded knitting. I also wanted to knit a scarf with an octopus on it...not exactly a beginner colorwork project...but double-knit saved the day!

Double knit is amazing for intricate designs in the middle of blank spaces...no floats! No ten-million bobbins! Plus, extra-snuggly-double-layer warmth! Have I made it sound appealing yet?

the innards*

I should also point out that only the colorwork section is double knit. Once you get past the bird, you knit the lining separately from the outside of the hat. Easy, peasy!

Go forth and start your Fall knitting!

ETA: Ravelink!

*all photos courtesy of SoHo Publishing

I find myself asking weighty questions such as "what two colors of smooth worsted wool would really impress Barbara Walker?" [who knows? all her stitch dictionaries are in black and white...] and "Does Meg Swansen approve of semi-solids?" [probably not, since Schoolhouse Press doesn't carry any...] Also, "Bohus knitting: traditional colors, or something quirky and original?" [I can't even begin to guess]. It's enough to make my head explode.

One thing I know for sure: I'll thank Nancy Bush for requiring us to buy a class pack instead of bringing our own yarn. Easy, peasy.


Yarn chosen specifically to convey the fact that I am a serious yet playful knitter who enjoys windy days at the beach and chasing fireflies.

Thankfully, only one of my classes requires actual homework, and small, fun homework at that. That there is the beginning of my wee-bitty child-sized arch-shaped stocking for Meg Swansen's class. We have to work it down to the heel flap so we can get straight to the juicy arch-shaped bits in class.

Now if I can get over the fact that I'm sacrificing my beautiful discontinued Fleece Artist 100% Washable Merino (which MS will probably not approve of) for a pair of small socks that won't fit anybody I know, I can move on and worry about the fact that I do not have time to finish my Snickets before the Sock Hop.

For the few non-knitters who read the blog, you have to have Ravelry login before you can click through to see the individual project links. But if you don't knit, you probably don't care about that anyway, right?

And speaking of FOs...

Homemade bread with wildflower honey. Mmmm...