Finished the Spirogyra Mitts!

Finally!!!! Am tickled pink ... The first glove ends in orange and the second glove starts out with the end section of the orange and continues, so they aren't "perfect" matches, but I love them anyway.



Shorah Y'all!

Spirogyra Part 3

On the second row after switching to the #2 needles, at exactly the same spot as before, the yarn pulled apart again. I’ve started keeping an eye out for potential sections that might pull apart and twisting the yarn a bit to give it a bit more strength. So far I haven't had any more do this but I've probably jinxed myself by saying that ... The short mitts have 20 rows of pattern with the longer version having 50 rows, so I decided to go with 30 rows to get it a bit in between, especially since I have short arms. Next, I’ll switch back to the #3 needles for the lower hand section but need to stop for a bit as the fingertip of the finger I hold around the needle with on my left hand is numb and I need to wait until I get the feeling back in it.

Here's the mitt so far ...



And trying it on ....



Shorah Y'all!

Spirogyra Part 2

I just finished the first 20 rows of pattern on the Spirogyra mitts and am about to switch to the smaller needles to continue the piece. I'm quite pleased with my progress. The yarn pulled apart on the last set of 12 knit stitches and I had to undo a few stitches to tie the yarn back together but since I felt the yarn going, I didn't lose any work other than the ones I undid myself.

Isn't this yarn gorgeous!??!!!




Shorah Y'all!

Glamour top and Spirogyra Fingerless Mitts

Two of the many projects I'm working on will probably take me some time to complete.

The first is the Glamour top from Patons using their Grace yarn. I'd started it in Ginger for my sister Jennifer but yesterday found enough of the Azure colorway at Michael's to switch to that color. Especially since she really wanted the blue anyway. I'll save the green for another project for myself.

You can see the top here on the Paton's site: Glamour top - it's the one on the cover of the booklet. The instructions are a bit obtuse on some points so I started a post at Ravelry in the Patons Beehive forum to discuss it.

Since I restarted the top last night, I have one of the sleeve medallions done and about an 1.5" of the back completed.

Here is the back portion:



and the sleeve medallion:



Queue up on Ravelry

The second project is the Spirogyra Fingerless Mittens by Lynne Vogel, available for free at Knitty.com. I've started over on the mitts several times since this is only my second knitting project and switched from using four DPNs to using five. Lynne has been very helpful with suggestions for working the mitts and her Spiralling Leaves Fingerless Mitts as well (which is my next knitting project as I have the pattern and yarn all ready to go).

The image below shows my progress on the Spirogyra mitts, after 6 rows of ribbing and 10 rows of the pattern.



Apparently, I'm also knitting inside out as when I work the right side of the piece is inside the round when it is supposed to be on the outside ... oh well.

Spirogyra pattern at Knittyspin: Spring 2008 - free pattern
Spirogyra page at Ravelry
Spiralling Leaves page at Ravelry

Shorah Y'all!

A new knitting project

I'm a bit behind posting this but I finished the second Irish Hiking Wrist Warmer on 5/23/08 and have been wearing them ever since. It started to get warm here and then yesterday morning, it snowed again. Most of it was gone by noon but has stayed cold since and the "warehouse" where my cube is stays a bit chilly.

After work today, I stopped by the Unraveled Sheep yarn store in Sandy. My sister Jessica asked if she'd failed in her mission and Verla (the owner) asked what that mission was. "To keep me out of here!" I told her. Of course, she then showed me the new sock yarn that had just come in and I was so tempted but I was looking for yarn to make the Spirogyra Fingerless Gloves by Lynne Vogel. I ended up selecting some Noro Silk Garden Lite, colorway 2029 which is variegated with green, pink, purple, and orange. It is wonderfully soft and is made up of 45% silk, 45% kid mohair, and 10% lamb's wool. Verla showed me a purse made with this yarn that had been put through a wash cycle. It had softened up even more with barely any shrinkage.

I also showed Verla my finished wrist warmers and she said I was doing great for a beginning knitter.

The photo below shows my start on the Spirogyra gloves after the first six rows of ribbing. Next row starts the actual pattern. A pretty good start for a second knitting project!



I'll post more photos as I progress.

Spirogyra pattern at Knittyspin: Spring 2008 - free pattern
Spirogyra page at Ravelry

Shorah Y'all!