The camera, it is still broken (sadness, woe, etcetera). But now it is absolutely, completely broken. This is different from the sort of broken it was before (which was just kind of halfway broken). There are still a few photos hanging around from before the world went dark for my beloved Crapshot 2000, including these ones, taken Saturday.

Howdy. We are Pomtastic

The Specs:

-Pattern: Herringbone Mittens with Poms, by me! Pattern here.
-Size Knitted: Medium
-Yarn: Cascade 220.
-Skeins: Less than one skein each of Coral (7830) and Natural (8010).
-Needles: Size 6 dpns (size 4 for ribbing).
-Start to finish: October 2007 - February, 2008.
-For: Recipient as of yet unknown (which explains why I wasn't really in a hurry to finish these).

Upside-down mittens! I really know how to shake things up.

Notes:
You probably thought I'd finished these already, since one of them appears in the pattern and has been paraded around blogland for all the world to see. But that was just the single mitten I knitted up to test out the smaller size. Now there are two and, as someone's wise mother once said, mittens really are better in pairs.

Not much new to say about these. If you really want to read a full FO report, you can take a gander at the last one, which is here.

Final Verdict: neat-o complete-o!

Posted by Elli at 7:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (24)

So I’ve been off in a world of my own lately. Granted it’s a very nice world with lots of yarn and hot cocoa and an imaginary Gregory Peck* rubbing my feet, but it’s about time to snap back to the Land of Blog before you think that I’ve gone and pulled a lonely-tourist-Charlotte-Charles on you. Hi there. Not dead! Just changing seasonal gears and getting my cold-weather knit on and working on that gift I promised you.

You may have noticed that making presents is one of my favorite ways of showing affection and expressing appreciation. Which is to say...I think you guys are the nicest bunch of blogreaders on the planet. Here, have a prezzie:

I'd like to give the world a Pom.

Download your very own copy here**. I've proofread the pattern about 10 bajillion times, but do let me know if there are any errors I've missed, and send me pics if you make a pair!

Hugs and Keeses,

Elli

*Roman Holiday-era Gregory Peck, please.
**Requires Adobe Reader, which can be downloaded for free here, if you don't already have it.

Posted by Elli at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (66)

Today this blog turns two. Mwah, mwah, etc.

there are more than two needles in this picture

I'm making you a present, but it's not done yet. Want a hint? Here.

p.s. it's cold out. and I'm a little grumpy. i'm going to go make cocoa. but imagine that I got all sentimental on y'all, ok? thanks, you're the best.

Posted by Elli at 7:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (52)

Look! Mittens!

Does looking at herringbone make you dizzy too?

The Specs:

-Pattern: An Elliphantom original.
-Size Knitted: Elli-size (read: biggish).
-Yarn: Lamb's Pride Worsted.
-Skeins: Less than one skein each of Deep Charcoal (M-06) and Silver Sliver (M-130).
-Needles: Size 7 dpns (size 6 for ribbing).
-Start to finish: September 9 - September 25, 2007.
-For: Me!

From the bottom up: ribbed cuff; eyelets to accommodate crocheted cord and large pom-pom; striped thumb; herringbone goodness.

Notes:
I've wanted to knit myself some mittens ever since the too-small-squirrel-mitten incident of 2006. So a few weeks ago I grabbed some leftovers from the stash, took some inspiration from the thrifted herringbone fabric, and got cracking.

Improvements I've made since the squirrel mittens:
-These fit! It's a nice touch.
-Worsted-weight yarn for a quicker, thicker mitten (heh. that rhymed).
-A ribbed cuff for extra snuggyness.
-The traditional thumb. I've determined that my thumbs are too, how should I put this...drumstick-like for a tab thumb).

Other than that, they're pretty similar to the squirrel mittens. (read: they're fair-isle and the tops are shaped similarly).

The Yarn:
The mohair content in the yarn makes it ill-suited for a lot of projects (too itchy), but it might just be made for mitten-dom. Lots of fuzzy snuggliness inside these double-stranded babies. If they full up just a little bit over time they'll be darn near impervious to wind and weather.

Respect The Pom.

Final Verdict: I'm so pleased. La, la, la...

Posted by Elli at 11:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (64)

I went into the weekend thinking that I'd see how much of the Chicago cardi I could crank out, but I got a little sidetracked. What's new? I did finish the back though:

Hello. I am soft and smooshy.

Saturday morning was devoted to thrifting:

Fall colors and fabrics!

There is enough of the blue and white herringbone to sew a nice-sized project (am I crazy to want a jumper?) and the tweedy orange wool is destined to become a cushion.

And just when I thought my days of bringing home odd balls of thrifted yarn were over, two skeins of vintage alpaca/nylon found their way into my basket (they're sneaky little things). I reskeined them and gave them a nice wash to get rid of the fusty smell and now they're ready for action...whatever that may mean. Then there were some vintage pattern pamphlets and zippers that didn't make it into the picture. A darn good trip for $4.83, wouldn't you say?

Inspired by the fabric, Sunday afternoon I decided that I had to knit some herringbone mittens. Here's where I was by 5pm:

Hello. We are fuzzy-wuzzy.

The yarn is some leftover lamb's pride worsted and I'm making things up as I go. We'll see if it works!

Posted by Elli at 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (27)