Knitting Away: WIPS OFF my Needles!

WIPs, WHAT?  In knitting we have a lot of little acronyms for our art form. WIPs are "Work(s) In Progress" and as knittersall at once they must be done! This August and early September was a forced knit in getting things DONE!  It worked!
or I should say many of us knitters have far too many of these works in progress floating or hidden around.  I for one am classic for starting all kinds of projects and

Central Ave. Hats were well received and are now being enjoyed by this very knit worthy group.

The Kokkeluri Mittens are now done and waiting to be worn in our first snow! I really enjoyed knitting these even though I got off to several very rough starts. Kate's yarn is a treat with an amazing hand and rich Scottish colors.

They were not worn during our 1st snow but yesterday we had ice on puddles, frozen ground, northern lights dancing around  . . . they went on the morning Tank Farm walk.

This project has been on my needles far too LONG!  I finally worked my short rows over my butt and have a pair of tights.  The design is from Elizabeth Zimmermann one of my all time very favorite knitters ever.   The yarn I used is a DK superwash from Knit 'N Needle in Whitefish, Montana. These will be used as a layer on our very cold sub-zero days this winter skiing or for hang out in after a bitter ski.

I wanted something colorful to look as my world becomes a bit monochrome during the winter months.

They still need elastic for the waist and a nice warm bath and time on the blocking board.

Knitting, Mitten & Sock Blockers

Summer time knitting is always a treat! I often have a sweater on my needles, but this season I am finishing up smaller projects. These projects were either on the needles or were requested.  I usually like to knit larger projects, but I have been having a blast with all my smaller knitting projects this summer.

Mitten & Sock Blockers

The other knitting accessory I have wanted for years has been a set of mitten and sock blockers.  I went on Etsy and found some with excellent reviews by: Squire Country Crafts.  These blockers have excellent craftsmanship, smooth, and well constructed.  I look forward to using them.

Kokkeluri Mittens

Kate Davies, Kokkeluri Mittens are one of the projects currently on my needles.  This project has been a hoot and a great one to remind an experienced knitter like myself of the endless mistakes one can make while knitting!

Let me start with reading the directions correctly!  At which point for some reason I thought I needed to knit these mittens on a US DPN size 1 when the pattern clearly suggests a US 2.  I knitted a left mitten and thought "man Kate has small hands there is NO WAY this mitten will fit me even after blocking."  I frogged the mitten and re-knitted it with some added rows . . . tried it on again and thought, "What the heck again way to small!"  Now somewhere along the line I decided to change colors another huge mistake!  I frogged again!  Oh but before frogging the third time and starting the mitten the third time I realized . . . I WAS USING THE WRONG SIZE NEEDLES!   Oh knitting my most humbling friend!

The only lame excuse I could come up with for all these foolish errors was I was trying to knit these during ski racing season!

Once I got the right size needles, gave up on a different color combo my life got easier! I am now just finishing up the left hand thumb and hope to later today caston for the right mitten.

My dear knitting, hiking, biking, skiing, and relaxing buddy: Sadie.  We are both soaking up the morning sunshine in the side garden.

Morning sun, Sadie, coffee and a great project on the needles.

Love this photo showing mitten progress inside my house with yes a down jacket on in July!  Oh the joys of a Montana summer.

Unspun Icelandic Wool: Can you say "Lets FROG more than we KNIT!"

If you go to this post you can read about this fiber/wool called Unspun Icelandic Wool.  Here you can see the start to this journey of my sweater. I bravely casted-on to start a sleeve and right away I found this unspun wool to be very nice to handle and pretty tough stuff.

The issue is the combo of needle size, pattern, lack of bold contrasting colors, and carrying too many colors in a round.  I would certainly say a personality flaw I have is jumping in with both feet, sinking into the abyss and then figuring how to pull my sorry arse out of the huge hole I dug for myself!  I am actually pretty good at this self rescue as I have been doing this for all of my life . . . the old saying of "live and learn" hmmmm!

My first go was with this pattern which is an older Lopi design.  I find myself drawn to these older classics.  This pattern can be found in Knitting with Icelandic Wool book by:Védís Jónsdóttir.  Which is a great resource for Lopi sweaters.  It is called Str´yta (not sure why the accent will not go over the "y").

Here is the sleeve which had a color issue.  There is white in the center of that pale grey only the grey is too pale and the white is barely noticeable. The next issue is I had to carry 3 colors which in double stranded Icelandic wool means 6 strands of unspun I am trying to carry along--not a pretty sight!

I frogged and picked this pattern from The Best of Lopi.  Another all time favorite of mine and a Lopi classic called Brigitte. The issue with this design was my colorway pick.  Once, I casted on for the sleeve there were more stranded issues, and the gauge was way off . . . back to rethinking this project out AGAIN! 

Here is the next sleeve.  This is when I realized again that I would be carrying to many strands, the colors were not bold enough and the sleeve was going to be too large.

The grey is totally getting washed out.  This is when I stopped to see how many rounds I would be carrying 3 colors which would be 6 strands of unspun and I slammed on the brakes!

Time to drop needle size, knit a swatch in the round, get gauge figured out, order some more yarn and move on to another project as I wait for my yarn to arrive.

My Lopi sweater is on hold until my yarn arrives most likely late this coming week.  I will be at a ski race in White Mountain. I hope to arrive home to some more unspun wool for my Lopi sweater.  Knitting always amazes me as I am able to make endless mistakes in knitting.  Over the years, knitting has really taught me to be patient with the mistakes, to figure them out, mess around a bit to solve the problem and then to "Knit-On" as EZ would say!

I have been frogging a lot and knitting less I would say over the last few weeks.  Just to prove my point:

This is a left hand mitten which was done and needed a partner. This is a pattern from Kate Davies, one of my favorite designers, from her book Buachaille.

Th mitten needed frogging as I was not happy with the fit and gauge.  Once again, I frogged and have now casted-on again.  I also added one more color to just jazz up the mitten.  The color is in the braid and will also be the icord bind off.

Frogging, knitting, frogging, knitting . . . never be afraid to frog and make your knitting the way you really want it to be!  As my dear friend always says: "Knitting is not fine woodworking you can fix it!" So frog away and knit-on!

Kokkeluri Mittens a Kate Davies Design #sevenskeinsclub

Kokkeluri Mittens a Kate Davies Design

Last night, I finally realized I had ENOUGH of Tomten #2!  I wanted to cast-on a wonderful pair of mittens and knit something new, different and not garter stitch.  I dug around in my DPN collection and did in fact find a 2.75 mm size of needles. I went with that size which I think and feel is a tad bit smaller than the US 2.  I may have to frog this one and go down a needle size but I can not tell yet.  No biggie at all to frog in my books it is simply all part of the process we knitters love! I do love this blue which is showing here a bit richer than what it is like in person.

The crochet provisional cast-on is a great skill and actually pretty is to apply.  I have used it before and really don't be afraid of it at all.  I would recommend working it on wooden needles as they are less slippery.

Using a braid is always a treat to me and such a neat design feature.  I am still amazed at how you knit vertically and yet create this nice horizontal look of the braid.  I do like my braided work to mirror each other and I may adjust for that feature on the right mitten.

Kate's yarn Buachaille has a wonderful hand to it!  I am really liking the feel of the yarn. The yarn weight is perfect as I do love a finer weight yarn.  This weight yarn is easy to work on needles, has great stitch definition, and the drape of the finish product is going to be lovely.

Off to knit some more to check out my gauge!  Knit on!

Knitting Update! Food Update & the good ol' Miscellaneous collection of "things"

I keep trying to keep up with the BLOG but I find I run out of time which is a rather lame excuse I know.  I love writing post and sharing photos of my rather crazy world out here on the tundra.  I know a lot of you enjoy it as well as I have a lot of visitors.  I do feel like I need to keep everyone current.  After this post I think I will have all photos up from October and can feel like I have a clean slate.

I was totally smitten with Kate Davies yarn club  and had to sign up and order her new yarn named: Buachaille.  #sevenskeinsclub you can find out more about her yarn or visit her blog.  

My husband didn't know he ordered this for my Birthday present!  He was thrilled the shopping was so easy this year.  The yarn arrived after my birthday but no biggie at all. I have yet to get it into balls but I did weight it all as suggested for various knitting patterns that are all part of the club.

I love the yarn, the feel of it and the smell!  The colors are great and very rich.  I think Kate has done a wonderful job of putting together a great yarn with some fantastic patterns.  The first item I will knit will be the Kokkeluri Mittens.  I have been wanting a new pair of mittens.  I also wanted something that wasn't to Norwegian and Kate's pattern is the ticket.

This African Violet was started from a leaf last year.  I have several of these in my classroom from last year and they are doing GREAT!  Nothing like a bit of color in my dark wintery world!

October is my birthday month and my cake was pumpkin pie without the crust. I make this wonderful yummy treat often.  No crust well I have always liked the pie more than the crust and now I don't eat wheat so it is perfectly yummy!

One of the many tundra walks we take just about every day or when the snow lands we ski! 

Butternut Squash Curry with chick-peas and rice! Tonight we had this as a left over and added chicken breast so dang tasty@

Sadie loves to eat ice even if it is like -20ºF out she will lay in the snow and eat ice!

Just us "girls" out on the tundra!  Tally and me.

Miss Sadie and me.

I love tally just sitting and wishing those clouds would bring us some snow!

"See" says Tally, "I am praying for snow too!"

In the fall we always get jelly fish on the beach.  This year they are rather small but you can see them on the sand.  Clear jelly fish.  We jokingly call them "Jesuit Jelly Fish" as they have a cross in them. 

I can not say enough about this great tea company!  Chai Diaries.  I ordered several teas from them and all of them have been delightful.  Great flavors and fast service and for rural Alaska that is a must.  I know I will be ordering more of their wonderful teas!

Almond flour , chipotle  crackers.  This is a great little recipe and just plain old yummy and easy to make.

I love homemade soup.  Here is a nice little veggie soup with chick-peas.  The base is turkey and veggie broth.

Almond Flour scone with tundra cranberries!

Beach looking north along Norton Sound.

Beach looking south towards Unalakleet.

Here is Tomten # 2 with the sleeves completed.  Below is the amount of left over green yarn.  Luckly it all worked out perfectly with a bit of frogging and added colors.

Below are a few closing photos from October 31st tundra walk in the wind and snow! All of which makes me extremely happy!