FO- Double-Thick Mitts

Here are the mittens that kicked off my A-Z Stashdown project:



I finished them more than a month ago. We had an unseasonably chilly spring day yesterday and for the first time in weeks, I felt like donning a pair of mittens for a few minutes.



And boy, they are toasty. The entire mitten is double-stranded throughout and I used size 0 needles for some dense fabric, but with very little bulk. They are a bit snug on my hands, but they are destined to be gifted to someone with slightly smaller paws so they should fit perfectly.



The Arlan Aarwetta yarn is not terribly soft. It's a nylon/superwash wool blend that was splitty and it dried my hands out...I went through a lot of hand creme while making these. I took a half skein of the beige yarn and overdyed it a dark, saturated red so I could do the colorwork. These should last forever- the yarn is super sturdy and not a pill or weak spot in sight. This yarn would make excellent socks as it seems like it would be years before a darning needle would be needed.



I loved the braided details and picot edge on the cuffs. It was a little finicky, but it really makes the mitten.

The specs: I used a bit over 2 skeins (440 yards total) of Arlan Arwetta sock yarn. This is a Swiss yarn that is rumored to be discontinued but in department stores in Switzerland it seems to be the main sock yarn choice still. I did these on 2 circs that were size US 0 after much trial and error involving dpns. The pattern is by Adrian Bizilia from "The Knitters Book of Yarn", which has a plethora of great patterns and sage advice regarding choosing the right yarn for a project.

I'm off to the post office now to mail these out. Unseasonable, yes, but I'm sure they will get some use in six months from now.

Some Knitting Progress

The craziness surrounding a corporate move has yet to calm down. Today I have a crew replacing tiles that got gouged during construction in the reception area. The moment I walked in the door this AM, I got a rather overwhelming view of plumber's crack. That vertical smile is greeting everyone coming into the office. Classy, eh? I also have some people here from the furniture installation company to replace pieces that were delivered damaged, but they are spending a lot of time being confused and they seem to be missing the new furniture. This should be interesting.

On to the knitting. I'm ignoring reality today.

I finished the body and sleeves of the Lion Neck Cardigan, and now I'm working on the ruffle collar (the Lion Neck part). I failed to get a picture, but it's all bunched up on the needles anyway, so I'll wait until that's finished. It was a fairly quick knit, but it was too big and heavy for me to get into my day bag (and far too awkward to take out on the subway or bus) so it didn't get a whole lot of attention. Just a few rows here and there when I could find the time.

I'm almost done the body of the Baby Cables and Big Ones Too (which I just refer to as my Biggy Smalls, since the sweater title is infuriatingly complex to try to blurt out when asked).



So far, I love it. And I love the yarn- Valley Yarns Northfield. It's soft and lofty from the merino, drapey from the Alpaca content, a little bit of sheen from the silk, and the whole thing is plied into a tight, springy cabled yarn. It's a steal- it's comparable to luxury yarns twice that price.

My other knitting project is, of course, my A-Z Aarlan Arwetta double-thick mittens.



I ran into some needle issues with these. I loathe double-points, so I went out and bought 2 size 0 circs for these. I decided to try something new (and on sale!) and went for the "Square Circulars" that Kollage makes with horrible results. To be fair, I only tried this one tiny 0 size, so maybe the rest of their needles are great. I gave up after only 3 rounds. I liked the square shape, but the cords were useless- they were too floppy and they kinked and bent too easily to push my stitches around. It became a small war. I switched to DPNS, but they kept sliding out at inopportune moments and made me a bit crazy. I put the mitts down for a few days and ordered a couple of addi turbo circs (addi has yet to fail me with any of their products) with a gift certificate that a co-worker gave me to Yarnmarket.com (which I undoubtedly feel that I've earned) and I'm now once again happily plugging away at them.

Well, the furniture installers did not get about half of what was ordered here, so I will be dealing with them again next week. Hopefully the vertical smiles will be done in a while- I've been putting off a bathroom break to avoid that sight.

Mittens! The Answer is Mittens!

Why yes, I do enjoy being at my wit's end, why do you ask?

My A-Z project has not gotten off to a glowing start.



This, my friend, is the Shetland Shortie. Or was.



About halfway through it, I realized I had managed to spontaneously mess up the lace pattern in the same spot every single row for the past 10 rows. The begining of the row was great and the lace was stacking up on the diagonal, and then all of a sudden in the middle, I lost my mind and suddenly I had lace stacking up vertically. I have no idea how I did this, but I kept on doing it.

So last night I frogged it and threw half of the yarn in the dyepot. I forgot about it, let it boil vigorously for an hour before remembering it was on the stove, and now I look forward to untangling the fruits of my labor/absentmindedness. At least it was superwash and it didn't felt at all!



It's pretty.

I'm making these now:



They are the Double-Thick Mittens by Adrian Bizilia from "The Knitters Book of Yarn". I'll be casting on soon as both the sweaters I am currently working on have gotten to the point of subway knitting impossibility. I feel less frustrated already.

Some WIPs

I've somehow gotten involved in the Ravelympics. It's totally arbitrary, but you choose a project and cast on during the Olympic opening ceremonies and complete it before the closing ceremonies.

I'm using some Dream in Color Smooshy sock yarn:



The color is "Cloud Jungle". It's superwash merino, and utterly smooshy.

I'm making the Ishbel shawl. This picture is a few days old, but I'm on the last lace section now. I think I'll have enough yarn leftover for a matching hat.



I love the color. I was thinking it might be too busy for a lace pattern, but it is subtle enough so it works.



The colors remind me of the inside of an oyster shell.

Since I can't multitask while knitting lace, I am also working on the Lion Neck Cardigan.



I'm not quite sure about wearing it with short-shorts, but it will be a cozy cardi. I'm using Rowan Scottish Tweed Chunky, so my fabric is denser then the sample shown. I'm hoping it won't be so dense that it will stand up on its own.



The yarn is woolen-spun 2ply, which makes for a fuzzy yarn and a little variation in the thickness. It's not quite a thick-and-thing yarn. Kind of more of a thick and thicker yarn.

In a sweater frenzy, I also cast on for the Baby Cables and Big Ones Too. I've been wanting to make myself a Cobblestone type yolk sweater, but I kept seeing people at Rhinebeck wearing this one. I liked how it was a bit more feminine then the Cobblestone and the cable details are sweet.

I'm using some Valley Yarns Northfield that I dyed in eucalyptus. It made the house smell great and I got a bright gold yellow color from it to boot.



It take some concentration- there are plain rows in between- but there are a five sets of stitch markers to denote placement of five different cables, plus raglan markers and increases and oh, I think I'll be working on this exclusively at home in good lighting for a little bit.





Of course, I have not forgotten about my commitment to the A-Z project. Once the Ravelympics/Olymipics are over with, I'll jump back on to the Shetland Shorty bandwagon. Here's what I had before I put it aside:



The bird's eye lace pattern is easy, but it's really hard to correct mistakes. I've had to tink back twice so far because of a mesh mess I made. I'm stopped at the shoulder shaping, but it feels like I've ripped back more than I've knitted.

A is for Aarlan Arwetta

Of course. Let my maddening alphabet game begin.



I picked up 3.5 skeins (735 yards) from Catherine Knits when she was destashing. It's a Swiss yarn that claims on the website that it's been discontinued. I saw it stocked in a lot of department stores in a gazillion colors while I was there for about $3 US dollars a skein. It's 75% superwash wool (or, as the label informs me, it's "hot washable") with 25% nylon and acrylic. It's a tightly twisted 4-ply. It seems like a good, workhorse yarn. Not too soft. Not too scratchy.

I decided to use it to cast on for the Shetland Shorty. It's a boob-holster that will use up about 600 yards. It's reputed to move along quite quickly.

And so begins my destash adventure.