Yarnalong:Jan Karon and Chicken Mittens

Joining Ginny today at Small Things blog for Yarnalong:

I finished another pair of chicken mittens last night for an Etsy customer. She sent me a lovely picture of her daughter and her friend, the chicken and asked me to make mittens just like the chicken. This was so much fun. The yarn is dependable Bernat Super Value in Grey Ragg. I like acrylic yarn for children's things. So much easier to wash when you have to wash it so often. Anywho, chicken mittens are very popular this year.
I saw someone on last week's Yarnalong reading Jan Karon's Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good and I did a small happy dance. I thought Jan Karon was finished with her Mitford series but thankfully not. Her characters are real and believable. The stories usually have a twist I didn't think of. Love, love, love her books. I got it from the library last Saturday, only available as a fast read. There's no way I'm going to be able to finish this before it's due back this Saturday but I wanted a taste. In a couple of weeks when it's in regular circulation I'll check it out again and finish it. It's good to have something to look forward to.

Won't somebody buy me a ball winder and swift??

Plans at our house changed at the last minute this morning after someone-who-will-remain-nameless had an Asperger melt-down. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow so instead of going to Scout day camp we stayed at home and had a quiet day of puttering and whatnot.

(I will never understand why the people who owned the house before us installed a white floor)

(Can you believe that pile of leaves from our street?)

I'm happily knitting many mittens these days and the Etsy shop is going well. I am so grateful for the orders and the interest people are showing in my knitting. But Christmas knitting is looming large in my brain as well and in particular, one vest that will be knitted and given as a gift. I don't freely knit things for everyone. The lucky person has to be someone who will appreciate all the time and work that goes into a knitted thing. And if I'm going to knit something I'd prefer to knit it out of natural fibres so this person also has to appear willing to properly care for the thing I knit.
Hence I found myself spending this free day winding an enormous hank of alpaca/corriedale wool into balls.

As charming as the old rocking chair is to use to hold that hank it sure would be easier if I just had a ball winder and swift. Sigh. Janis Joplin may have wanted a mercedes benz but my plea is for a ball winder and swift. Maybe for Christmas...

The wool came back from Australia with my brother a few years ago and has been languishing in my "good wool" box since. It's soft and slightly hairy thanks to the Alpaca content. I'm hoping to use it to knit the Freeport vest from The Brown Stitch. I'd like to knit the stripes in a cranberry colour maybe. And since no knitter can leave a pattern alone, I'm going to knit mine with buttons down the front instead of the single toggle. 

I'm excited to knit something new and especially out of this wool!

Yarnalong-Geometry of Love and Racoon Mittens

Joining Ginny today at Small Things blog for Yarnalong:

Today I was knitting racoon mittens. These ones will be a medium size with a band of black near the top for the little mask. I need to find some bright black buttons for the eyes still. The total thus far for mittens knitted is 16 and that includes the 4 pairs I sold already. I include them because I'm just so very pleased that other people like them too and since they were knitted to be sold, they count. And because I say so. That's why. The wool is Vanna's Choice by Lion Brand in the colour way of silver heather and the black mask will be Paton's Canadiana in black. The coffee is from the Ethical bean, medium roast. The mug-a gift from my very good craft sale buddy a few years ago. Local potter. Do you feel like you're reading a home dec magazine now? Oh, and the table runner is a Threadin' Yarns original, created a few months ago. I'm displaying the reverse side right now as the right side is displaying it's need to be washed. Ahem.

I am still reading Margaret Visser's The Geometry of Love. She's wordy but I'm finding it all so fascinating. The history of this church goes back to 300 AD. Imagine something existing for that long?Amazing. Right now I'm only managing to get in a few paragraphs a night so this is going to take awhile. Soon I'm going to revolt and go in search of a Robyn Carr novel for a little reading holiday.

How about you? What are you knitting and reading?

Still alive and Knittin'

It has been a busy week here at our house. We had to get ready to close up our little cabin in the woods, plus it was a pay week so there was the big grocery shop to plan for and do. I love, love, love only working 2 days a week but the finances have to be a carefully orchestrated balancing act between needs and wants. Groceries are our biggest expense so I try really hard to keep it to a firm budget. I've been shopping only on pay weeks and carefully planning for 2 weeks worth of food. I am grateful for the farmer's market still operating and my abilities as a cook.
This week I sold 2 more pairs of mittens in my Etsy shop and they needed to be shipped out. On my work table now, awaiting faces are a pair of minions, a cat, an owl, a mouse and either a bear or a chicken. I also have half a racoon pair. This weekend between 9 hours in the car and a few hours warming up by the woodstove at the cottage I knitted 2 more pairs of mittens. One will be a cat and the second will be a bear. I'm still not sick of knitting mittens. Not sure why...with my attention span or lack thereof I should be.
I'm thinking I'm going to knit a few pairs in alpaca or wool and see how they do at my craft sale and on Etsy. I know how much extra time and effort it takes to hand-wash a pair of natural fibre mittens and that's why I've chosen to knit all my mittens thus far out of acrylic yarn. But I can't help thinking of the parents who love natural fibres and prefer to clothe their kids in them. I'm itching to knit with alpaca again so maybe I'll have to make a trip to my LYS and pick some up.
You should all be very proud of me because I finally updated my ancient computer to a new operating system from this decade. However it comes too little, too late as I can't seem to update my browser to anything this thing can handle. Urg. Guess we're off to the computer store in the next couple of weeks. You know what doesn't need updating? or really change? Knitting. Good ol' knitting.

Chickens and Minions...more knitted mittens

The crocheting of the eyeballs has been successful after many, many, many attempts at magic loops and circles of all kinds. It is no wonder the Yarn Harlot refers to them as the evil loops of crochet.
I was so pleased with my efforts this week that I thought I would share these guys with you:

And yes, I know chickens aren't yellow and chicks (who are yellow) don't have combs. But the colours look great together and we'll just call it artistic license. I will knit a pair of chickens in brown to set the universe back to rights.

Don't you love the minions!! They were so much fun to make once I got the eyes right.

You'll also notice to the right my new Etsy shop. I had all these mittens laying around and thought I'd list them on Etsy and see what happens. Call me a sucker for punishment. And yes, I am knitting in every spare moment and have a pair on the go in every room, in every state of production depending on how much time I have at that moment. I'm sure this will get old soon but it hasn't yet so that has to be a good sign (possibly of insanity...)

Yarnalong: Knitting Owl Mittens & Crocheting Eyeballs

Joining Ginny today at Small Things blog for Yarnalong:

This week I've been finishing up the Minion mittens from last week. The biggest hurdle has not been so much the body of the mitten as the big ol' eyeball smack in the centre. I can crochet but it's not something I do regularly so it's been a bit of a learning curve to create a round, neat eyeball. 

Anyhoo, I've also been working on owl mittens. The main body will be brown with a squared top and that really great 1970's shag carpet-like variegated orange wool for eyes and the tufts of feather on the top of the head. 

This makes 8 pairs of finished mittens. Sort of finished. There's a cat with only ears, a blind chicken mitten and 2 pairs of Minions needing eyes and goggles. Minor details. Eek.

I've been reading Margaret Visser's The Geometry of Love . I picked it up from the library book sale in the spring. Margaret takes the Sant' Agnes church in Rome and goes over the history of the church and the meaning behind pretty much everything in the building. I'm always interested in the symbolism of churches. Everything means something it seems. If you like the history behind buildings this would be a good one for you. Margaret is a little wordy I find but it's still very readable. I put Farewell my Subaru down for now. I wasn't feeling it this week. 

Gratitude Sunday- Fall, Food and Family

Joining Taryn today at Wooly Moss Roots blog for Gratitude Sunday:

This week seemed to fly by. I don't know what happened but here I am back at Sunday again.

Feeling grateful this week for:

*fall settling in around here. I've loved the warm weather that hung on for so long but it's time for fall now. I'm ready for warm pajamas and cool nights, fleeces and mittens.

*an evening of good food and good conversation in honour of my sister in law's birthday. I don't get to eat out very often so her kind offer to buy all of us dinner at a local Thai-Vietnamese restaurant was much appreciated.

*lots of time to knit. I won't bore you with mitten counts...this time ;)

*the abundance of produce at the market these days. I bought so much good stuff yesterday-squash, a bushel of apples, beans, broccoli, garlic, beets.

*lunch at my in-law's house this afternoon with some relatives we haven't seen in awhile. The kids were so well-behaved. The opportunity to help in my small way so my mother in law could host this party. She loves to host parties but finds it to be a lot of work.

What about you? What are you feeling grateful for this week?

Yarnalong-Farewell my Subaru & Green Mittens

Joining Ginny today at Small Things blog for Yarnalong:

I've been reading Doug Fine's Farewell my Subaru this week. It's Doug's story about moving to a ranch in New Mexico and endeavouring to live a more sustainable and eco-conscious life. I haven't read very far, and he still has his Subaru. I find Doug's style of writing hard to get into so far. I can't help thinking if I was a guy I would find it easier to read. Hard to explain. I'm interested in his story however so I'll keep on with it and hope I get into it as I go along.

Although I love knitting mittens I'm finding it a bit tiresome sewing up the sides using my pattern for 2 needle mittens. I found this pattern for "plain mittens" in an old knitting book from my Grandma. It's knit with dpns so I'm giving it a whirl. Knitters...I have seen the light. Knitting mittens in the round is so much easier. And, I don't need to make left and right mitts with this pattern. 

The yarn is Vanna's Choice by Lion Brand in Kelly Green. I'm thinking they might be Oscar the Grouch or frogs. We'll see.

For those keeping track, I am up to 6 pairs of finished mittens. Boy am I behind.