Blanket Square #6: Ripple Stripe Pattern

The weather here in Michigan has been such a flirt. Last week we had the mercury upwards of 55-60F and this week we had snow. SNOW! Granted it did all melt but its officially Spring and we are still getting snow. I was informed by Sydney that Spring is coming because the birdies are coming back and that means spring. How did that child get so smart?

This weeks square is the Ripple Stripe Pattern and according to Barbara it is excellent for an easy knit. She also says it is excellent for sweaters, skirts and dresses.


Ripple Stripe Pattern

From "A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns" by Barbara Walker

Multiple of 8 sts plus 1

Row 1: (RS) K4, *p1, k7; rep from *, end p1, k4
Row 2: P3, *k3, p5; rep from *, end k3, p3
Row 3: K2, *p2, k1, p2, k3; rep from *, end last repeat k2
Row 4: P1, *k2, p3, k2, p1; rep from *
Row 5: K1, *p1, k5, p1, k1; rep from *
Row 6: purl

Repeat rows 1-6

Raglan Cardi

Signs of spring are all around us here in Michigan. The birds are chirping, the snow is all but gone, and the weather is upwards of 50 degrees F most days. With this said, we are working our way into what I refer to as Spring Sweater Weather. Spring Sweater Weather is when we wear our sweaters that are still made of wool but perhaps it has some cotton blended with it and its full of pastels and lighter colors as opposed to the warm and complex colors of the Fall Season.



I've been working with Elann.com's Peru Soft quite a bit lately and just love this yarn. I'm a bit disappointed that it is currently discontinued but grateful for the 100+ balls I have stashed away. The yarn is quite soft and makes for a fast knit because of its bulkyness (is this a word?) but more importantly its machine washable. With 2 very active little girls this is a desirable quality in a yarn.



I decided Sydney needed a Spring Sweater and chose to knit up a quick and simple raglan cutaway. This is a personal pattern and while I did not take notes of any kind, its just a variation of a generic raglan cardigan that is knit from the top down.

Generic Raglan Cardi

Start out by casting on one or two stitches for the front right, place a marker, one or three stitches for the right sleeve, place a marker, enough stitches for about 5 - 6 inches (for a child) for the back, place a marker, one or three stitches for the left sleeve, place a marker, and then one or two stitches for the left front. Knit one row even and purl back. On the next right side row, increase one stitch before and after each stitch marker, a total of 8 stitches will be increased in this row. Purl back. Continue to increase 8 stitches every right side row until the armhole measures about 5 - 6 inches (for a child). At this point, place the sleeve stitches on some waste yarn (we will come back to them later) and knit only the right and left fronts along with the back. Knit until the garment reaches the desired length and bind off.

Return the sleeve stitches to your needles, join in the round and place a marker to indicate the end of each round. Feel free to use whatever method you find easiest for knitting in the round on sleeve stitches. I find that using 2 circular needles works best for me. Knit 3 rounds even and on the next round decrease 1 stitch at the beginning and end of the round (a total of 2 stitches will be decreased this round). Decrease 2 stitches every 4th round until the sleeve is about 4 inches around (approximately the width of the arm). Knit even to desired length and bind off the sleeve stitches loosely. You can easily add a 2x2 rib or a simple lace pattern for style at the end of the sleeve if you so choose. Repeat for the other sleeve.

At this point, I picked up stitches all around the garment and did a simple knit 2 purl 2 rib for about 2 - 3 inches and then loosely bound off all my stitches.

PS. See that pillow that Sydney is cuddling with? Its Betsy's and it matches the blanket we made her!

Blanket Square #5: Square Lattice

Don't let this pattern fool you because it certainly fooled me. It is harder than it looks because I kept loosing my place in the pattern. I would strongly recommend marking your place. Overall, this was quite fun and I love the resulting square.


Square Lattice
Multiple of 14 sts plus 2

Row 1: Knit
Rows 2, 4 and 6: P2, *(k1, p1) twice, k1 p2; rep from *
Rows 3, 5 and 7: K3, *p1, k1, p1, k4; rep from *, end last repeat k3.
Row 8: P2, *k12, p2; rep from *
Row 9: K2, *p12, k2; rep from *
Row 10: Purl
Rows 11, 13, and 15: K2, *(p1, k1) twice, p1, k2; rep from *
Rows 12, 14, and 16: P3, *k1, p1, k1, p4; rep from *, end last repeat p3.
Row 17: P7, *k2, p12; rep from *, end k2, p7
Row 18: K7, *p2, K12; rep from*, end p2, k7

Repeat Rows 1 - 18

Blanket Square #4: Moss Diamond and Lozenge Pattern

This pattern looks harder than it actually is. It is a rather ingenious arrangement of Moss Stitch "diamonds" - which arn't true diamonds, as they are off-center by one stitch - with lozenges of knit and purl.

Moss Diamond and Lozenge Pattern
A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns, pg 17

Multiple of 12 sts.

Rows 1 and 2: *K6, p6; rep from *
Rows 3 and 4: * P1, k5, p5, k1; rep from *
Rows 5 and 6: *K1, p1, k4, p4, k1, p1; rep from *
Rows 7 and 8: *P1, k1, p1, k3, p3, k1, p1, k1; rep from *
Rows 9 and 10: *(k1, p1) twice, k2, p2, (k1, p1) twice; rep from *
Rows 11 and 12: *P1, k1; rep from *
Rows 13 and 14: *K1, P1; rep from *
Rows 15 and 16: *(P1, k1) twice, p2, k2, (p1, k1) twice; rep from *
Rows 17 and 18: *K1, p1, k1, p3, k3, p1, k1, p1; rep from *
Rows 19 and 20: *P1, k1, p4, k4, p1, k1; rep from *
Rows 21 and 22: *K1, p5, k5, p1; rep from *
Rows 23 and 24: *P6, k6; rep from *
Rows 25 and 26: *P5, k1, p1, k5; rep from *
Rows 27 and 28: *P4, (k1, p1) twice, k4; rep from *
Rows 29 and 30: *P3, (k1, p1) 3 times, k3; rep from *
Rows 31 and 32: *P2, (k1, p1) 4 times, k2; rep from *
Rows 33 and 34: *P1, k1; rep from *
Rows 35 and 36: *K1, p1; rep from *
Rows 37 and 38: *K2, (p1, k1) 4 times, p2; rep from *
Rows 39 and 40: *K3, (p1, k1) 3 times, p3; rep from *
Rows 41 and 42: *K4, (p1, k1) twice, p4; rep from *
Rows 43 and 44: *K5, p1, k1, p5; rep from *

Repeat rows 1-44.

Druid Mittens

What a fun knit! I can honestly say that this pattern held my attention for the entire duration of the project. Its been awhile since that has happened. The pattern is chalk full of twists and turns and bobbles and the palm section has texture gone wild. Yes, the pattern is predictible however there are 3 different sections on the front of the mitten and each section is doing a different thing than the others. If you are looking for a challenging knit, this is it.

The entire pattern is charted and split up between 3 separate charts, something I consisider to be a bonus. The first chart is a simple knit and purl combinations that no where near prepares the knitter of what is to follow.

The second chart is segmented off by the front and the palm of the mitten. And while one can clearly see that the pattern repeats and is somewhat predictable, don't let this fool you. This is not some sittin'-by-the-TV kind of knitting. This is you-must-really-pay-attention kind if knitting. I found this out while watching my "Desperate Housewives" and realized that I crossed my braid the wrong way. Luckily I was able to fix one of the mis-crosses but was unable to fix the second mistake. (I keep trying to convince myself that all will be OK.) Once I reached the end of the second chart, I just assumed that we were to do a 3-needle bind off. So, I turned my knitting inside out and proceeded to do just that, when a little voice said "Libby, this is a Jarod pattern and we all know about Jarod patterns. Will you please just read what the next part says?" And luckily I read the pattern because a 3-needle bind-off is NOT what was to be done next. Next, I was instructed to short row across 5 sts decreasing on either end every other row. THEN came the 3-needle bind off.

Chart number 3 is saved for the thumb, whose stitches were placed on some waste yarn in chart 2. Again as with chart 2, one must really pay attention because the front part of the thumb is cabled while the back part is the same texture stitch as the palm.

The yarn I chose to use was Woolmeise 100% Merino Superwash. When I first touched it I fell in love. Right there at my kitchen table me and the yarn had a moment. Tingly sensation and all. The depth of color was...well words can not describe it. And the twist. Lets talk about that for a second. I've never knit with a yarn that had the twist that this yarn has. I was advised to ball it twice to help with the twisting during knitting.

I couldn't be more happy with my pairing of yarn and pattern. It provided the challenge I was looking for with exceptional results!

Blanket Square #3

This texture pattern I borrowed from another pattern, Druid Mittens by Jarod Food. It requires minimal attention and is definately a sitting-in-front-of-your-favorite-tv-show kind of knitting.

Jarod's Texture Pattern

Multiple of 2 sts.

Row 1: *K1, with yarn in front slip 1 stitch, Repeat from * across.
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: *With yarn in front slip 1 stitch, k1, Repeat from * across.
Row 4: Purl

Blanket Square #2

For the second square I decided to keep it simple and go with the seed stitch. I absolutely love the seed stitch. The texture is amazing, its very easy to do, and the results are to die for!



Seed Stitch

Multiple of 2 sts.

Row 1: *K1, p1. Repeat from * across.
Row 2: *P1, k1. Repeat from * across.

Blanket Square # 1

Determining what type of square to knit was alot harder than I thought it would be. The possibilities are endless afterall. There are cables, or texture, or lace, or cables with lace, slip-stitch patterns. Like I said, the possibilities are endless. So to keep my sanity I decided to limit it to texture squares.

Here I am, curled up on my couch going through the "Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns" by Barbara Walker, trying to decide on a texture stitch pattern. The book contains over 700 patterns so I'm bound to find something. Right? I flip on over to the "texture" section and again find an overwhelmingly amount of patterns. Left leaning texture, right leaning texture, texture with zigzags, texture with ribs. What part of this is going to help keep my sanity? Damnit woman, just pick a pattern and be done with it!



For the first square I chose the "Seeded Rib Pattern" located on page 7.

Seeded Rib Pattern

Multiple of 4 sts plus 3.

Row 1: K3, *p1, k3; rep from *
Row 2: K1, *p1, k3; rep from * end p1, k1

Libby's Blanket

So I was thinking that it sure has been awhile since I’ve made myself a big blanket and wouldn’t it be great if I got my bum in geer and made myself one?

To help stay on track, I came up with a timeline for what needed to be made and by when.

Jan: make 3 squares
Feb: make 3 squares
March: make 2 squares
April: make 3 squares
May: make 2 border strips
June: make 3 squares
July: make 2 squares
August: make 3 squares
Sept: make 3 squares
Oct: make 3 squares
Nov: make 2 border strips
Dec: Sew it all together

When its all said and done, I'll have made 25 12"x12" squares and 4 5' border strips. And when its all sewn up, it will be my blanket!

Now for the yarn. I've decided to go with Elann.com Peru Soft (now a discontinued yarn) because I have a crazy amount of it. Yes, Ann had a bag sale at an amazing price and lets just say that I have several bags. The other thing that is absolutely great about this yarn is that its a bulky wt, translating to very fast knit!

So if all goes accordingly to plan, I will have a blanket by the end of the year!

Jacqueline Rose

Awhile back I just HAD to make Jarod Flood's Hemlock Ring Blanket. Have you ever had that? Come across a pattern that was just itching to be knit? Well this was it for me. I had absolutely no idea what I was gonna do with it or what yarn I was gonna use. Not that I have a shortage of yarn. Trust me on this. Jarod's is knit in a wool but after stash diving, I was not willing to bust up some wool lots for this blanket that I had no idea what was to become of it. Eventually I decided upon some cotton. A chunky pink cotton that had been hibernating for some time and needed to see some action!



In no time at all 6 balls of yarn magically became a blanket. A rather small blanket at that. To say the least, I was feeling rather gyped. Definately not feeling the Jarod love at all. I mean, his pictures imply a blanket that one can snuggle under during a cold day. Yea, so maybe I didn't exactly use his yarn or make his gauge...(alright point taken) but still. Just sayin'. What in the hell am I gonna do with a rather large pink cotton doily?

Then my sister made the announcement that only a person with a rather large pink cotton doily wants to hear.

"I'm pregnant"

God almighty, let it be a girl, please let it be a girl....

"It's a girl"

One could have heard the sigh of relief from Tenbucktoo. At that moment, I knew exactly what was to become of my oversized baby pink cotton doily. It was destined to be Jacqueline Roses' blankie.

Betsy's Blanket

Back in October of 2010 I got a phone call that stopped me dead in my tracks. My good online friend Betsy had a massive stroke. How could this happen? She is in her 50's and much too young for this kind of trauma. I was stunned and wanted to help but I'm in Michigan and she is in Texas. There isn't much I'm gonna do up here but pray. And pray I did. Its embarrassing the amount of candles lit before the IOP (Infant of Prague) with novenas and litanies and short prayers for Betsy.

Then the knitter in me kicked into gear. I sent out feelers via Ravelry if anyone wanted to put together a blanket for our friend. The response was overwhelming and I found a way we could help from afar.



I chose a yarn I knew that Betsy would love in colors that were meaningful to her. Furthermore I instructed each knitter to knit a 12" x 12" square and get it to me by the specified date. This would give me time to sew it all together so Betsy would have it just in time for her rehabilitation and recovery time. Sounds easy enough in theory. But you know what they say about best laid plans!



When the squares started rolling in I was so incredibly excited. And then they kept coming and coming and coming. 25 in all plus the border edges. To put it mildly, I was getting overwhelmed. What did I sign up for? Sure, I've done blankets like this before but right before Christmas? OK, buck up Libby Grant, you can do this.



I decided to tackle this little by little and sew up the squares 30 minutes at a time. Picture this. I have all of the squares laid out on the basement floor. Me on my belly lying on top of the blanket sewing away with 2 kids thinking we are gonna play horsey. Yep the kids were climbing all over me while I was sewing away. So I was only able to get a couple of 5 foot lengths sewn together at any one given time. And there were 8 of them to do for the inside squares and another 4 to do for the borders.



Eventually they were all sewn together and then came the border strips. At this point I was getting excited and could actually visualize the finished project! Then came the final touches when I mitered the corners and wove in all the edges.



Then I just looked at it in amazement because 29 women got together to make a blanket for our friend. It truly is a work of art.

Petite Ballerina

I’m incredibly excited to share with you something I have been working on for a while now. I had the idea for this project back in May when my daughter told me that she was cold in her ballet class. Now I just couldn’t have my daughter freezing her bum off when she is supposed to be concentrating on her lesson and I had nothing better to do while waiting for class to be over with, so I designed a wrap for her.




It’s a very simple pattern. Just a cable that runs up on the front edges, puffed sleeves (I couldn’t refuse the puffed sleeves) and a ribbon for closure.





Head on over to Petite Purls for the pattern!

Enjoy!!

Elizabeth's Hat

Its December already! How did that happen? Well regardless, its getting cold out there and I have two little ones that need warm heads.

Each year I have made them a new hat and I have been dreading making this years. The question is what to make? It has to be functional as well as cute. It would be preferable if I could use up some stash yarn. And would it be too much to ask if the hat covered the ears?

I'm quite pleased with the resulting hat. I've received numerous compliments and Ms. Marie, my wonderful day care provider, told me that Abbie, her daughter, loves it! Hint taken Abbie will get one for Christmas. Furthermore, I found some extra balls in the stash AND it covers the little ears.



Remembering I thought the hearts in Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitting Workshop was just darling, I decided I could possibly do something with them. I made two in a much smaller gauge than called for and knitted a simple hat with alternating colors.



Elizabeth’s Hat
Printer Friendly Version

Yarn: 2 balls (109 yds) alternating colors of Elann.com Highland Wool (100% highland wool)

Needles: 2 US6 circular needles
1 stitch marker

Hearts: “Heart Hat (or Elbow Patch)”, pg 155, Knitting Workshop by Elizabeth Zimmerman. Make 2 (I used US6 needles and color B of Elann.com Highland Wool yarn to make the hearts).

Gauge: 22 sts and 24 rows = 4 inches over st st

Size: 19”, will fit a child's head

Using color A cast on 105 stitches divided evenly between both needles and join in the round being careful not to twist the stitches.

*Knit 2, purl 2* repeat around. Continue in rib pattern for 1 inch.

Round 1: Knit around with color A.
Round 2: Knit around with color A.
Round 3: Knit around with color B.

Repeat rounds 1 – 3 until hat measures 5 inches from beginning.

Decrease Round 1: *Knit 19, k2tog*, repeat 4 more times.
Decrease Round 2: Knit.
Decrease Round 3: *Knit 18, k2tog*, repeat 4 more times.
Decrease Round 4: Knit.
Decrease Round 5: *Knit 17, k2tog*, repeat 4 more times.
Decrease Round 6: Knit.

Continue decreasing in established pattern until 10 stitches remain. Draw yarn through loops, pull tight and weave in the ends. Sew on the hearts.

Happy Thanksgiving

At this time of year I like to reflect on what I'm especially thankful for and this year its family. Both girls are healthy and full of spit and vinegar! Ray is driving me crazy which must mean he is in good health and in excellent spirits. As for me, I'm still sane. I'll leave it at that.


This year is different from years past because Grandma and Grandpa are here for the entire week and we could not be more pleased! Everyone enjoyed our thanksgiving feast followed by a movie. We went to see Disney's Tangled and we all loved every minute of it. Karolyn was laughing out loud in the theatre, granted so was every other 6 yr old but that is beside the point. The girls are having a great time having grandma read them their bedtime stories and I'm excited cuz I get a break.




I have found a minute to get some knitting done. Just my simple sock pattern. I cast on 68 stitches divided over 2 circular needles (I used US1). Knit a 2x2 rib for about 1.5 inches then switch to st st. Knit in st st for about 1 - 2 inches and then start the short rows for the heel. Once the heel is complete, I knit the length of my foot then short row the toes. I then turn the sock inside out, 3 needle BO, weave in the ends and call it good!

Gauge: good question. I didn't measure it, I just know this works for my foot.

Blocking: are you kidding me? its a sock for the love of God.

Yarn: Regia Stretch color. 7% polyester, 23% polyamid, 70% wool.

Snow!!

We're havin' a heat wave! A tropical heat wave!!

Seriously, it has been crazy cold here in Michigan this past week. Below freezing temps but it did manage to warm up just a bit in order to snow! The girls think this is the best thing since popcorn. Karolyn is going around picking up the snow off the ground and eating it. Of course, not to be outdone by her sister, Sydney is following suit!



So with all these cold temps I was in the mood for some homemade soup. My grandma made the best, bar none, homemade chicken noodle soup. She would slice up the carrots and celery and some onion. Get that all good and happy in the pot before she added the chicken stock and the left over chopped up chicken. Then for the piest de resistance, she would add her homemade egg noodles. Homemade egg noodles. YUMMMMMM. It didn't get any better than that I tell you what. I can still taste those noodles. Thick chewy noodles. Not like the mushy ones in the Campbell's cans but a noodle that you can really bite into. Was I spoiled or what?

Well I made the soup just like grandma but without the homemade noodles. Carrots, celery, a bit of onion, chunks of chicken, and I added some kidney beans and Barilla noodles. WOW... Amazing.

Jean's Project

I want to thank everyone for their prayers and thoughts when Karolyn was sick. I greatly appreciate it. She got better a couple of days later and has been back to her ol' self!!! I'm loving it!

Jean announced that she was having a blog contest and is giving away presents. The cause you ask? The homeless in NYC. Turns out there is this soup truck that drives around passing out a meal to the homeless. Well Jean figured if they passed out a meal they might be willing to pass out a bit more. So she contacted them and they said they would pass out some hats along with the meal! Of course they also thought it was a great idea and agreed to pass out the hats. How cool is that! A knitted hat to keep some person warm this winter.

Well I was knitting a hat anyway, "Thorpe" by Kristen Kapur, and I figured I wasn't really in need of it and besides I can knit another one if I wanted to so I decided to send this hat to Jean.



The pattern was very easy to follow and the finished hat is super cute! Because I didn't have any Malabrigio laying around, I substituted some Elann.com Highland Wool that I doubled. I ended up using just 2 balls which is a fantastic way to use up your extra balls left over from a previous project.

Thanks Jean for having the hat drive and I'll get that in the mail to you this week.

Helpless

There have been only a few times in my life when I have felt completely helpless and today was one of them. Usually there is an out, a life line if you will. Someone you can call for help. A friends shoulder to cry on. Retail therapy. Something. But not today. Today Karolyn was sick.

I knew she was coming down with something on Friday when she started coughing. Saturday she still wasn't her normal self and she was up all night coughing. Then this morning she had a full blown fever. Very warm to the touch, but I didn't measure it. Being in the scientific field you would think that this would be the first thing I do, but no, the mom in me said she had a slight fever and she would be OK. The Chiropractor says to let kids have their fevers because this is the body's natural defence against foreign invaders. And just several months ago when the girls were sick I let them have their fever and did not interfere even though it killed me. And sure enough they got better within the day. It was completely amazing. Usually it would be at least 3 days. But he also said that 102F is normal so again I'm not getting too alarmed.

When she had 2 bites of the mac and cheese she asked for and then went straight to bed without being told, I got concerned. Every 15 minutes I would check on her to make sure she was OK and every time I checked she was fine. A bit warm but fine. Then the last time I checked she was burning up. I checked her temp ... 102....103....103.5.... STOP GOD DAMMIT... 103.8 is where if finally stopped. I almost started to cry. Dear GOD please let her be OK. She has been sick before but not in a really really long time. 103.8 and she hadn't even broken a sweat. If she was sweating that would be a different story but there was not even a hint of sweat. Just a lethargic kid. My kid. And not a damn thing I could do about it. I know that the Chiropractor said to let her have her fever but this is ridiculous. I gave her some Motrin and I'm eternally grateful for whom ever it was that came up with this great medicine. I held her for a good half hour. Rocking her under back and forth on her bed under the blankets. Her limp little body whispering to me telling me not to go. It was only after she started to sweat that I thanked the baby Jesus.

She joined us for dinner, didn't eat a thing but drank 3 glasses of milk! My baby is on the mend and getting back to normal!

Fall?

Remember those leaves from a couple of days ago?

This is what I found on them this morning.



Snow. That's right Snow. Snow with a Capital S. It's not even December yet people. For the love of God and everything that is good and holy, I just got the memo that we are smack dab in the middle of Fall. And now you're trying to tell me we are pushing our way into winter? NO WAY. There is absolutely no way I'm gonna let winter get here this fast.

It sure is a good thing that that stuff with the Capital S had the good sense to remove itself from my Fall Leaves when the Sun came up! Besides, doesn't it know that I still have to make my wreath with the leaves the kids and I collected from our walks?

Fall Fun!

This last weekend we had a GREAT time picking up leaves. Now I realize that not everyone views cleaning up the leaves as fun but we are not everyone. We have two little girls that make a game out of everything.

I told them that we were going outside to pick up the leaves and I'm sure they hear we were going outside to play in the leaves. Cuz that is exactly what happened. And I don't think that I have had more fun picking up leaves than last weekend.

We are blessed with 2 silver maple trees in our back yard and the amount of leaves those two treas produce is outstanding. Crazy ton amount actually.



I go to the garage and find the rake, which was an undertaking in and of itself, then I found the package of yard waste bags DH bought. I figured I would start with the driveway and set to work raking up the leaves. Within a couple of strokes of the rake I had amassed quite the pile of leaves. I get the yard waste bag turning my back to the little rascals for a minuscule of a second. When I return my beautiful pile of leaves is re-scattered all over the place with Karolyn exclaiming we are having a party and throwing the leaves up in the air. Of course Sydney couldn't be out done by her sister so she joined in the fun!



The first thought that popped in my head was "I JUST raked that up" and then I thought "well fuck it, they aren't screaming or fighting or hurt, they are just having fun." That's when I joined in! Good God I forgot how much fun it was to just play in the leaves!



I did manage to get some of the leaves in the bags. Sydney figured she would help out a bit while Karolyn was off still having her party.



When it was all said and done I managed to clear off the driveway and some of the back yard (but not much). I also used all of the yard waste bags we had.



After it was all said and done we went inside and warmed up with tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Mom's Gloves

Holy God I finished something. Can you even believe it? I know, its hard for me to fathom as well considering I haven't finished something in quite some time now. I finished the Christmas present for my mom.

A couple of years ago, I made her a neck wrap/ head scarf. It was a moebius strip by Cat Bordhi from her "First Treasury of Magical Knitting" book. I made it out of Elann.com's Pure Alpaca in the natural colorway and my mom just LOVES alpaca. Notice the capitals, I'll say it again, she LOVES alpaca. Anyway, I always wondered if she ever wore it. All knitters do I imagine, wonder if the people they knit for actually make use of the item that was knitted. Turns out, she wears it all the time.

When I asked what she wanted for Christmas this year, she first said that she has everything. And its true, she does. Then in a quiet voice, almost shy like, she asks if I remember that scarf that I made for her a couple of Christmas's ago. Of course I do! I'm on edge here wondering where she is going with this. Then she says, "I really could use some mittens".

"Mittens or gloves?"

"Well gloves would be better if its not too much trouble"

"OK gloves it is"

Then the disbelief sets in, "You know how to do gloves?"

"Yep, I sure do"

"Well that is what I would like, gloves, and if you have that same stuff you made the my scarf from so they match, I would appreciate it."

Naturally I know exactly the "stuff" is she is referring to. In fact I know exactly where its located in the stash. The very instant I was off of the phone with her I dove into the stash and located the desired yarn.



These are finished gloves. I made the fingers a bit smaller than what was called for but she has small hands so I know they will fit her!