Clockwise from top left (for ease, all fingerless or wrist items are referred to as mittens for now):

A few of my own design samples: 4 pairs (8 mittens)
Failed design that I am still trying to work out: 2 pairs + 1 (5 mittens)
Samples from The Red Collection: 7 pairs (14 mittens)
The Worst Pile – Mittens with no comrades: no pairs (11 mittens)
Bag of pulsewarmers in various stages of completion: 4 pairs (8 mittens/not really but whatevs)
Mittens and gloves that live in the Mitten Bin and get used: 6 pairs (12 mittens)
The Best Pile – Baby Maggie mittens: 3 pairs (6 mittens)
Other people’s patterns that don’t get much wear anymore: 3 pairs (6 mittens)
Gifted mittens (from my sister and from Elinor): 2 pairs (4 mittens)

The math says that’s 31 pairs of mittens and 74 mittens total.

Like yesterday, I can only assume there are some mittens in my house that I cannot locate, and I know of at least one mitten on the pins. There are probably more half-knit mittens that I have hidden in a bag and stashed away somewhere deep.

I took another picture from the side, to show the extreme height of some of these piles.

Here’s a confession: I actually think I need more mittens. But more specifically, I think I need more mittens that fit the kids. Assuming it snows (and some years it doesn’t) the kids go out to play for 20 minutes, come in for hot chocolate, then want to go back out. But their mittens are then WET AND COLD. So they need at least two pairs each, and three would be better!

Okay, writing that last paragraph made me feel slightly insane. But I’ll probably knit more mittens anyway. I HAVE A PROBLEM.

On the other hand, the other categories (sweaters, socks, scarves, shawls) are totally under control. No really.

Today I did get all the knitting out, but it seems reasonable to just blog about hats today. The number of mittens is obscene and they deserve their own day to shine. Here are all the hats that live in my house that I could locate:

From top left, clockwise.

My self-published designs: 9
Self-published in The Red Collection: 13
Elizabeth Zimmermann hats: 5
Hats for which designs should appear eventually: 5
My designs published elsewhere: 4
Hats under surveillance for moths (in the plastic bag): 1
Improvised hats with no patterns: 9
Hats I keep, but were not made by me: 2 (more about these below)
Knit from other people’s patterns: 16

If my math is correct, that’s 64 hats on the table.

According to what’s been recorded in Ravelry, there are 2 hats not pictured that should be (one is in Gerald’s work truck, one is missing). I have knit 15 hats that were given as gifts, donations or samples.

I have at least 3 hats that are currently on the needles.

There’s gotta be plenty more that I don’t have a record of that are hiding in the house, or given away pre-Ravelry, or who knows what.

I like knitting hats.

About the two pictured above that I didn’t knit: The pink one is the one Maggie wore home from the hospital when she was born. It is handknit and had the world’s saddest pompom. The brown and orange one is from J.Crew. I borrowed/stole it from a guy I once knew in college. I’ve lost touch with him, but he was one of the coolest and most fun guys I ever had the pleasure of knowing. I keep the hat to remember him, and because it looks really good on me.

Warning: Tomorrow is mittens, and there are a lot.

After being used frequently last winter, my Fiddlehead Mittens were looking very ragged. They’re knit with Cascade 220 and handspun and they are so pilly! I went through the wool basket this morning and found a few other mittens and mitts that were also in need of some pill maintenance.

My Girdwood Mittens in Cascade Eco:

The Mallory Mitts knit with Nature Spun Sport:

And my Zigzag Study Hall Mitts knit in Reynolds Whiskey:

My method of dealing with pills is to snip them off carefully with scissors. If you have read The Knitter’s Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes, then you know that for many fibers, pulling the pills off will only lead to more pills. By snipping the pills off with scissors (or a sweater shaver if you have one) you leave the surrounding fibers undisturbed. Clara discusses it much more eloquently in the book – it’s on pages 64-65 if you own the book. Read it again, it’s worth it.

After snapping my “before” pictures, I did some careful snipping.

The Fiddlehead Mittens look dramatically different after their haircut!

Nice, right? It just takes a few minutes of attention, plus some vacuuming, and my raggedy mitts and mittens look like new again!

It was 29 degrees out at the bus stop this morning! I brought the wool basket down, gathered some of the recently finished knits and everyone bundled up against the cold. The newest item being worn was the Noro Scarf that I was working on a few days ago. I blocked it yesterday, and because my room gets super warm with the door closed at night, it was dry this morning!

More info about the Scarf for Jerry on Ravelry. When Jerry comes home today I’ll have to weigh the yarn to see how much was used. The yarn was a gift and already wound into balls, so I’m not sure of the exact yardage. If I had to guess it would be maybe 3 skeins?

Jerry is also wearing his new Asheboro Hat.  The mittens are the Girdwood Mittens in Cascade 220 knit in the Big Kid size. Remember the Girdwood Mittens? The pattern comes in all sizes and would be a quick knit for Christmas gifts! Just sayin!

If you’re wondering about the way he’s posing in this picture, he was being a robot. It has something to do with Looney Tunes I think.

And now for Maggie’s ensemble! She beats Jerry by one point because she is wearing a hand knit coat!

The coat is the recently completed Tomten. Yesterday was a cold morning, too, so I put her Tomten out where she could see it and told her it was cold. I don’t want to force her to wear the knitting, but I want to make sure she remembers that it’s an option. And yesterday she chose to wear the knitted coat! I was so happy.

Like Jerry, Maggie (doing robot moves) is also wearing Girdwood Mittens and her Asheboro Hat.  Her mittens are undocumented on the blog and Ravelry because they were a Girdwood prototype. She loves them, but the mittens are…imperfect. Luckily for us Maggie is like the honey badger. She don’t give a shit that her mittens don’t match.

The scarf that Maggie is wearing is a simple lengthwise garter stitch scarf knit with glorious Baby Alpaca Grande. On Raverly, it says I finished this almost exactly 2 years ago! Imagine that.

So maybe Maggie is not technically all wooled up, but partially alpaca-ed up. Even better!

I’ve decided to call it the Asheboro Hat, in honor of that city down the road where I’ll be attending school come next year. I’ll be spending a lot of time in Asheboro! I’m so excited.

I know I’ve said it already, but the Asheboro Hat is a great knit. Perfect if you’re just starting with colorwork! And if you’re experienced with two-color knitting, you can knit this hat in a day or two.

We love our new hats! The pattern calls for worsted weight yarn knit at 5.5 sts/inch. I knit ours in Brooklyn Tweed Shelter. It’s  a great yarn for colorwork, and when you block the hat it’s softer than you can imagine! The Child size can will use one skein of Shelter, plus about 20 yards of a contrasting color. For the Adult Medium and Adult Large, you’ll need two skeins of Shelter for the main color.

For more pattern details, and to queue, fave or purchase the pattern, please visit the Asheboro Hat page on Ravelry. And because I’m so excited to be releasing a new pattern, through the month of November the pattern will be available for just $3! Woohoo! You’ll see the discount when you add the pattern to your cart. Or if you’re ready to buy it right this instant, use the link below.

Asheboro Hat – $3 for a limited time only

Thanks so much, everyone! First for reading, but also for the support!

Three hats have been knit, and I love each one. When I mowed the lawn today (with the bag on, thereby negating my need to rake, yay!) I wore the dark grey (SHELTER in SOOT), the one at the bottom. The hat is, if you’ll allow me to boast for a minute, the perfect hat. It snugs just so around the ears, making it highly functional for its intended purpose. It is an interesting and quick knit with worsted weight wool, and fun for knitters of all skill levels. The colorwork design is gender neutral and through color choice, the hat is well suited for girls and boys, men and women. And lastly, it’s a great looking hat.

Well, that was enough boasting for one day. I’m working on getting the pattern ready and then you can knit the perfect hat for yourself!

I am seriously on fire with the socks. To be honest, I have been watching seasons 1-3 of Fringe on my computer (bought the instant videos on Amazon) and that leaves me with a lot of time for knitting that I can put on autopilot.

Do I even need to tell you what pattern I’m using? It is, again, Judy Gibson’s You’re Putting Me On Toe Up Sock pattern. And since I have a certain way that I do all the things in the pattern, I thought I’d give you some more details.

The Toe

I use a figure-8 cast on for the toe. It’s a little tricky when you first learn it, but it’s also really cool. I learned it first when I knit HelloYarn’s Top Down Bonnet for Maggie way back when (Oh my, that link has a picture of Maggie from 2007! You must click it!).

I’ve refined the way I knit the cast on. Here’s what I do. I loop the yarn around the needles (using two needles). Then I knit across each needle (now I’m using three needles). Most instructions will have you begin the increases on the next round, while also dividing the stitches between four needles. I do those things on separate rounds. First, I knit one round and divide the stitches evenly between four needles (so I am actually using five needles). Then on the next round I begin the increases. I find the work is less fiddly when I do it this way, and that makes me a happier knitter.

For the toe, I use a KFB increase. When the work is so tiny and fiddly at the beginning, the KFB is the easiest for me to handle, and it’s relatively quick. Here’s how I do it:

Needle 1: KFB, k to end of needle.
Needle 2: K to last 2 sts, KFB, K1.
Needle 3: Same as Needle 1.
Needle 4: Same as Needle 2.

The Bind Off

Getting a loose bind off at the top edge of a toe-up sock is crucial. I use the same one every time, and like Grumperina, the first time I used it was on the cast off edge of my Leaf Lace Shawl (again with the old knits! 2007!).  I don’t know what Evelyn Clark calls this bind off, but I’ve seen something called a Russian Bind Off that is very similar.  What I do differently is that I don’t slip stitches back to the left hand needle.

I described the bind off like this in the pattern for my toe up Celery Socks:

K1, *K1, insert L needle tip into the front of the 2 sts from left to right and knit them together from this position.* Repeat between *s until 1 st remains. Cut yarn and fasten off.

It is easy and effective. You need not change to a larger needle, either. If anything, you work this cast off just as tight as any other stitch. It’s naturally Very Stretchy!

The yarn I used for these socks is Cascade Heritage 150 and I loooooove it. It’s technically sport weight, but it’s on the thin side if you ask me. But the socks are cushy. I went back to the yarn store where I bought the yarn, to buy more, and they didn’t have any. And instead of the yarn being sold out because it was super popular, I think they didn’t restock it because nobody was really crazy about it. Oh, well.

Best part of these socks? Jerry loves them! He’s been wearing them around the house, and that makes this knitter very happy, indeed.

More info about pattern and yarn for these socks on Ravelry.

Since I wasn’t finished with Fringe when I finished these socks, I started another pair. Trekking XXL (one of my favorite sock yarns!) in pumpkiny colors!

Poor Jerry; he often tries to drop in an “I did not know that.” But his timing is always off. It’s really not funny when he says it, ever. I feel bad for him, especially because he feels like if he could just nail this one joke, he’d be the man of the hour.

The thing is, most of what Jerry says is funny. Not usually laugh out loud funny, but seriously, quietly funny. He’s been reading The Guinness Book of World Records. About once a day out of the blue, he’ll tell you the world record for something.  So funny. I wish he wasn’t so concerned about this one particular joke. He’s a funny, funny kid. I love him so much that it sounds silly just saying I love him.

For Christmas, I knew Jerry wanted to buy me yarn (he’s funny and smart). So I filled out the “wish list” cards they had at my LYS and sent Gerald off with the kids one Saturday. On Christmas morning, I got two gorgeous skeins of Cascade 220. One bright blue. One bright orange.  Beautiful. This weekend, I finally got around to making him a hat.

The pattern is Kirsten Kapur’s Wood Hollow Hat. I used a size 5 needle (instead of a 6) and made the ribbing a bit shorter than in the pattern. Jerry is 7, but he’s got quite a noggin. This fits him perfectly.

The yarn, of course, is Cascade 220. The color is…9457, one of The Heathers. It took less than a skein, even with the ginormous pompom.

Jerry doesn’t really want the pompom, so he requested it be made removeable. “Like with a tie-clip or something.”

I couldn’t help myself and had to make the pompom anyway, even though I knew he didn’t want it.

That last picture immediately reminded me of another back porch photo shoot we had nearly 3 years ago. My how time flies:

march 2007

He’s all big now.

And funny as hell.

I love Lamb’s Pride (bulky, in this case, but I love the worsted, too). I remember when I first started knitting, there was always TONS of it around the yarn stores. It’s still there, of course, but so many other yarns jump out at me lately. Plied, sport-weight yarns, for example. But there’s always a place in my stash for this great woolly, mohairy, bulky yarn.

I’m using the stuff above for some **** for ** ****** for *********.

It’s secret Christmas knitting time, so sorry for the *’s.

Here’s another snap of a secret project. It might be clear what it is, but I will offer no details, other than that it is a fun, fun, fun and addicting knit.

The past few years, I haven’t knit many Christmas projects, but this year I’m feeling it. Are you knitting gifts? Who gets ‘em? How do you decide on a pattern for gift knitting? Just curious!

I’m popping in to say hi, but also to give you a heads up. Watch this space over the next few days for a big announcement! Hint: I am feeling the Christmas spirit big time and want to pass it along! (you will benefit even if you don’t celebrate Christmas – I promise!).

I think the best part – the very best – was teaching a class. It’s so great to meet friendly knitters who are interested in learning colorwork. Since colorwork is my favorite kind of knitting, I get so eager to pass on the knowledge and hopefully show folks how easy and fun it can be.  I feel safe in saying that everyone in the class “got it” and I just hope they find the joy in the technique (after they get over that awkward feeling of carrying one yarn in each hand). Here they are, working hard.

My other favorite part was traveling with my knitting buddy Denise and having a class with my knitting/spinning buddy Anne.  No, I didn’t take pictures of either of them. Yes, I was too busy laughing and talking and shopping and spinning to take silly pictures.  Camnesia! It’s a real disorder!

But I can take pictures of my haul, which leads me to another favorite part of SAFF: The Loot.

I’ve read many “Fiber Festival Survival Guides” and had a plan going in.  I made a list and took cash and mostly I stuck to that.  I wanted sport weight wool in natural colors: CHECK (and it’s Shetland)! I wanted a darning mushroom: CHECK (and it’s antique! but not pictured)! And, ahem, that was all that was on my list.  I suppose I knew deep within my soul that if I saw a gorgeous skein of handdyed yarn I would allow myself to buy it.  I found The Sanguine Gryphon booth and pretty much died from the exquisite, breathtaking colors. The red Skinny Bugga in Tomato Frog jumped into my arms, so I bought it.

And the purse handles? Totally an impulse buy and totally purchased with my credit card. I’m making the time today to cast on (or swatch, perhaps) a felted bag (the handles came with a free pattern, but I think I might try some fair isle). The Homestead Heirlooms booth was very, very enticing and they had samples of felted bags to try on and the 30″ handles are the perfect length for me. If you are looking for leather handles for a knitted, crocheted or sewn bag, I’m not kidding, these women have what you want.

Another favorite part of SAFF was my workshop with Rita Buchanan*, Nice Fat Yarn.  I learned SO MUCH in three short hours that I wish I could have taken every one of Rita’s workshops.  I spun some nice fat yarn.

*Interweave is offering some of Rita Buchanan’s past articles as  e-books. I don’t have them but I hear they’re worth checking out.

And even though I had to literally dust off my spinning wheel in preparation for taking this class, I think I’m inspired to spin up some more fat yarn. It’s challenging and fun, not to mention fast, and the yarn is light as a feather.  Here’s a closer look at one of the activities we did.

In this exercise we started by spinning a normal-to-us weight of yarn (on the left). The we attempted a fatter yarn (middle) and an even fatter yarn (right). It was so awesome and fun. I am almost embarrassed to admit that this was the first time I ever measured wraps per inch. Now that I see how easy it is, and how much you can learn by checking wraps per inch throughout a spinning project, I think I might actually do it.

Lastly, I had a blast and the Fiber-In meet up at the Holiday Inn.  The hosts, Carrie and Lyn, did a wonderful job of organizing the event.  I even won a prize!

I think this is Paca-Peds from The Alpaca Yarn Co.  Love the turquoise and brown combo, even if my camera revolts when it’s time for a picture.

Okay, okay, I said everything was my favorite part.  But it really was!  I can’t wait for next year!