Fall (Spring?) Mittens

Since I haven't finished anything new this week (rather I have but can't post it yet) I decided to finally sew in the ends of these mittens I made last spring. I have no idea what pattern I used, I think I made up a mish mash of patterns I had been using for other mittens. What I love about them though is that they're made with Classic Elite Inca Alpaca. I love that yarn, it's so soft and has such a nice fine texture. The mittens are thin, but I think that's OK especially for crisp fall days because the alpaca will compensate for warmth.



I'm also working on a circular sweater/vest/shrug thing that some ladies at Craftster designed. It's a fun side project while I wait for some yarn that I ordered about a month ago to get here so I can make my sister's Christmas gift.

Don't really have much more to say. I'm having one of those blah-don't-care-about-anything-homesick-want-to-lay-on-the-couch-while-my-mom-cooks-something-for-me days. Only a month and a half to go...

Seeing green

Pattern: Textured Throw from Simple Crochet
Yarn: Mainstays (shut up)
Hook: G

I love how this afghan turned out. It's soft and I really like the color. Naturally it took forever. I started it around Thanksgiving and just finished it this week. My goal was to finish before Thanksgiving this year so at least I've accomplished that. It didn't actually take that long to make, I just got bored with it at times and had to put it down.



Here are a couple close-ups of the texture. I love how it feels, it's so comfy. I like the way it looks in the book with the linen yarn as it has better stitch definition, but who can afford that? You just can't beat paying less than $15 for a decent acrylic, which I really think this yarn is, that you can machine wash. There's no way I would ever hand wash an afghan, it's just impractical.



Other than that I've been managing to get out of the house more and do things that aren't school or work related which has been very nice. Last night we went to see the Corpse Bride which I found a little disappointing. The animation was lovely, but the story was weak. I'm just not a big fan of Tim Burton. I think he's an artist, but his stories tend to be so sappy and cliche; a sort of macabre version of Capra-corn.

I also saw Wallace and Gromit last week which I loved! Makes sense as I'm obsessed with bunnies. The end was the best. I won't spoil anything but I will say that Lady Tottington is definitely a woman after my own heart.

Well, I'm off to spend the weekend knitting. Some of the yarn I ordered came in yesterday, it's fabulous...I wish I could say more about it and the project it's intended for but I'm afraid it's a secret for now.

Frill Stole

Pattern: Variation on a Frill
Yarn: Sandnes Mandarin Petit
Needles: US5 circulars

I don't know what to say about this thing. It took 4 months of tedious stitching to complete. It's soft, I like the color, I like the beads but I'm left wondering how (with what, where) does one wear such a thing? I suppose it's warm around the shoulders, or I could wear it as sort of a scarf. I'm at a loss. Like I said, I like it, but I have a feeling this project is doomed to spend it's green, Egyptian cotton life in the finished pile.



Here are a couple of close-ups. Above is the body pattern. It's a little misshapen in the photo, but it looks sort of like a honeycomb pattern. The frill is below with the blue/green beads I used. I think if I just washed it the unraveled stitches would straighten out? I'm way too lazy to wash this thing and lay it out to dry. I'm sort of anti block. Can you even block cotton?



I'm happy it's done, and like I've said there are things I like about it but I feel after 4 months this FO is a bit anti-climactic. I'm not sure what I'll be working on next, I have a koala with head and torso that's begging for appendages. I have some new yarn added to my stash (which is building up by the way; how naive it was to think that I was immune) and have some plans for it but really need to get cracking on some Christmas gifts which I've ordered yet more yarn for.