Thanks for the Knitting Inspiration!

Deborah was back, and with a whole pack of knitting projects to show us. First was a cool pattern for a crocheted scrubber. Deb and Ethel think that Granny Judith’s pattern would be more scrub-worthy with a strand of fishing line added into the mix.
Here’s another link for a crocheted scrubber pattern, made with plarn. And Crochet Central has about a bazillion scrubber patterns here. Yay! It’s dishcloths ramped up a notch or two!

Ethel's Leaf washcloths

Ethel brought some finished leaf washcloths. Once blocked, they turn out sleek and flat, but before the wetting and shaping step, they could be used as costume props for Madonna or Katy Perry, eh?

Hounds-tooth pattern

Next, Deb pulled out this pattern for a Houndstooth hat and mittens set, which is available on Ravelry for a fee (worth it!) The black and white is one of the color trends of 2012, as reported by Knitting Daily. Gorgeous! I’ve seen pics of knitted houndstooth items, but the black and white really makes it pop!

It's not too late to get started on next Christmas...

Loving this Leisure Arts Christmas stocking leaflet, with the red and white houndstooth pattern on front. It was a bad time for her knitting machine to break down, but in the meantime Deb brought along the loom she got for a Christmas present, from Martha Stewart; it boasts 30+ configurations you can get by adjusting the pegs on the loom bases. But the real big news in Deb’s life is that she’s going to be a GRANDMA, so bring on the layette projects! First, a cocoon of Deb’s own design, made with soft and fluffy Red Heart Buttercup.

Cocoon in progress

And she has her eyes on this cute hat…

mouse or elephant hat

Check out the super-adorable mouse and elephant hat patterns at Mad Monkey Knits. I do love these gnome hats, would have been perfect for the twins when they were preemies, but alas, I wasn’t a knitter then… This Leisure Arts book of baby afghans has all the classic styles.

Best baby afghans

Knitter's Bible of Baby Knits

And the big Knitter’s Bible of Baby Knits is going to keep Deborah busy for the next few months. Here’s another of her finds: a Baby Jacquards yarn that knits up in a flower pattern! with cute little free patterns on the sleeve for baby outfits.

Bernat Baby Jacquards floral

Ethel's poncho

Ethel is proceeding with her poncho, which is now taking up three or four(?) sets of circular needles. Very dense and wooly, warmest possible cover for someone in a cold climate.

Tina with eyelash project

Tina worked on an eyelash-yarn project on the tiniest round loom–a scarf, right? And she wore the beautifully cabled loom scarf she was making a few weeks back.

Tina and cable scarf

I have made a wee bit of progress on my handwarmers but we won’t go there. It’s slow-going. But thanks for the inspiration, knitters!

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Chilly weather yarning

It was an excellent session at Wednesday Night Knitting: Tina made mad progress on her cable-loomed project.

Tina and super-long cable-knit scarf on loom

As you can see, the project is coming along well.

Ethel and poncho

Ethel worked on the poncho, in a warm 30% wool charcoal gray chunky yarn. Lois continued working on some fingerless gloves in a luscious mauve mohair.

Glove in progress

And I continued the scrunchie handwarmers from Designer One Skein Wonders.

scrunchie handwarmer, in progress

DH and I took a little mini-vacation last weekend, and checked out the local yarnies.

Four Purls in Winter Haven, Florida

Four Purls is a warm and wonderful shop we visited on the first Saturday in January. I snagged some interesting fiber, things I haven’t seen at my regular haunts. The shop is in the downtown area where lots of quaint antique stores and fashionable-looking eateries abound. I was invited in to see and feel to my heart’s content, by some friendly lasses (one of whom I’d met at the 2011 Florida Fiber In), and as I meandered around the perimeter shelves overflowing with color and tactile wonderment, oohing and ahhing to myself at the lusciousness of their wares, a group of women, young and middle-aged, were chatting and knitting in the center lounge area amid comfy, colorful and eclectic chairs and cushions. Love!
I also had to pay a visit to Yarn Basket to get some more of that pink tweed Kathmandu yarn. Sigh, Elsa had one skein left! That shop was also having a group knit-along when I showed up. Saturday seems like an odd time to group knit, to me–Wednesday seems juuuust right.

Stash snaggle from Winter Haven

In case you wanted to know, the stash includes, clockwise from top left, Juniper Moon Findley 50% merino, 50% silk in Serendipity (pink); the Queensland Collection Kathmandu DK merino, silk, cashmere blend; Cascade Yarns Dolly (black cotton, acrylic, nylon with “taggies”); Sprinkles gray white and black acrylic; Noro Silk Garden Sock Yarn; Berocco Remix, the green yarn made of 100% recycled fibers in a nylon, cotton, acrylic, silk and linen blend; and in the middle a skein of grey Maggi Knits Irish MK Collection cotton-linen blend.

We were here, somewhere between Tampa and Orlando...

DH looked aside and said, "You think that might be a BAR?"

The scenery is magnificent. Did you know that oranges grow on trees? Millions, billions of them! They grow on trees, in the dead of winter! Amazing.

Mile after mile of trees ornamented with juicy oranges!

Mother Nature might surprise us with a few chilly days in January. We are running around central Fl with scarves around our necks but flip-flops on our feet!

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Back to the drawing board for 2012

Ah, January, with your wonderful “come, let us anew” whispers! All over the retail world, whispers of “let’s get organized; buy containers!” Weight Watchers and the gym packed full with hopeful repentant souls who want to start the year out right. At Wednesday Night Knitting, we just want to finish our Christmas gifts from last year (week, month)…

I started out taking lots of great pictures, then realized my camera didn’t have a card in it. Duh! Back to the drawing board.

Tina and shawl

Tina came wearing a beautiful shawl, one she had made herself: the perfect wrap to throw on over a sweater since it has finally gotten cold here in Central Florida.

beautiful bird motif wash cloth

Tina showed her finished wash cloth with the cardinal in the center–a little hard to see in the pic, but very cool!

Tina and Lois

Lois' wool hand warmers

Lois turned out some gorgeous fingerless handwarmers. We liked that the gloves were not exactly the same, but one can tell that they are from the same yarn even though the stripe patterns are not perfectly matchy-matchy. Here is Lois’ most recent hat, too; I’m glad the photo shows some of the fine detail and vibrant color in one of her beautiful hats.

hat by Lois

my handwarmers, in progress

I also started a pair of handwarmers, you can see the work in progress there in my Magnolia Pottery yarn bowl (Christmas gift from my DH). The yarn is superwash merino sock yarn from Hobby Lobby. I started out balancing the mitten on 3 dpn’s but that got too crazy for me and I was heinously dropping stitches. Lucky for me, I found a 9-inch circular needle, size 1 (so excited!) in my needle stash, and it is a joy to work with…so far. This is my first attempt at sock yarn and with such small needles. I may have never found and decided to use this yarn, had I not been overcome by the January urge to neaten up the place and organize my stuff. Here are before and after pics of some of the changes I made in my “studio”–which prompted a shopping trip within the room! Score!

before

After

Ethel and acrylic painting of Murphy

In the mean time, Ethel began sharing more creative works with us, in addition to her knitting. We’ve resolved to spend some time doing painting and sketching this year. Here is a pic of Ethel’s portrait of Murphy, in progress, with his bright beady eyes! Ethel also brought a new European knitting mag, Filati, which has some alluring patterns to try. And Tina showed some new booklets for loom knitting, including one she’s working on:

Tina's cable on the loom

Here’s a link for another Leisure Arts leaflet she loaned me so I can look at another method of casting on: I Can’t Believe I’m Loom Knitting.
Go, knitting! When the renewed interest in New Year’s diet, working out at the gym, organizing the stuff, and all that wanes, I trust knitting will be still going strong!

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