Finished Mittens

I've finished the mittens for the Ravelympics 2010. Here they are:





I'm surprised at how easy they were to make. The first time around they were quite difficult proabably because I'd never knit them up before and the yarn was sport weight. I'm very pleased with them. I've already had requests from DH for a pair for himself.

We'll see.

2010 Ravelympics

After getting nudged in the ribs one too many times by one of my sisters, I have finally relented and decided to replace the fingerless gloves I made for her more than 3 years ago. Naturally, I can't seem to locate the pattern that I used so this time I'll be using the pattern from Knit Picks called the Men's Convertible Fingerless Gloves. This is what they look like:



I'm not crazy about the picture, but you get the idea.
Hers will be black although I'm not sure if I'm going to sew a snap on or a button.

The best thing about this whole project is that I will be participating in the 2010 Ravelympics with these gloves. Now that the Winter Olympics will be starting tomorrow night in Vancouver, BC., knitters from all over will be knitting during the 2 weeks during the events. The point of it is to start the same time as the Olympics start, which for me will be 9 pm, EST. You have 12 days in which to finish the project, and the people at Ravelry.com have even set up names for the different events. For instance, my event is being called the 'Mitten Moguls'. Hopefully I can finish them up in the allotted time. The easiest part is knitting up the palms. Knitting up the thumb and fingers can get a little hairy. I'm just glad the gloves will be one color and not a pattern. Doing that on a thumb I have found to be tricky.

So,everybody plays, everybody wins. My sister gets her gloves, I get her off my back and personal satisfaction that I've created something for a loved one. I just hope this time she doesn't lose them 'cause no way am I making these again for her!

Just a short update on the Autumn Rose Pullover pattern. I called KnitPicks yesterday and after speaking to someone who understood knitting terms ( the first person I spoke to didn't seem to comprehend the words "pattern" and "fair isle") I was told they would get the information to me the next day. Happily I can report they did call me back today and although I wasn't home to talk to the person, they left a message telling me that the fair isle pattern is arranged in the same order as it is on the website page. So, in other words, the webpage says, "C1, C2" and so on down the line until it comes to C11, which is the last color. Whichever color pattern you choose, be it the aquatic or original pattern, you know what the next color is just by looking at the name of the color next to C1 or C2, etc. etc. I hope this makes sense. I just wish they would put that somewhere on the page. So, needless to say, I'm very happy about this development. I can't wait to get started!

Sweater for the New Year

The other day I received my order of KnitPicks yarn so that I could knit the Autumn Rose sweater. I chose the blue colorway since they did not have a purple one. I could probably make it up but I just don't feel like thinking about it.
Here is the colorway:



Isn't that just lovely? I've always like the combination of blues and greens and 2 shades of brown are thrown into that. It's just great.

Unfortunately the people at KnitPicks do not supply charts for all the different colorways they have made up. Therefore if you want to knit this sweater just as they have it, you have to make it up yourself or scour the net to see if someone else has done the work for you. Can I just say there are many intrepid dedicated knitters out there who sacrifice their time doing that! As I've been searching through the many blogs and websites for charts I have come across so many variations of color for this one sweater. It's wonderful to see so many creative women out there.

My annoyance at KnitPicks was starting to increase when I realized that they probably don't supply the chart that goes with the colorways they suggest because they want their customers to get their creative juices flowing and see what they come up with. It's either that or there is some kind of copyright law I'm not privy to and that is why they don't supply the charts.

Anyway, I found a color combination that will work for me. Stacey of Stacey's Stash has her colors listed on her blog and her substitutions. I will be working with those to see if they work for me. I think they will.