WIPs: More gloves and scarves

Good morning, y'all! Happy Saturday! 

My sweet hubster let me sleep in a bit this morning, and I'm having a late-ish breakfast of pear, double glouchester cheese, and tetley black tea. mmmm. It's so foggy and wet outside, that I can almost believe that I'm in Britain eating my English breakfast. :-) 

It has been far too long since I updated y'all! I promise that my silence does not mean lack of productivity, as I really have been knitting a good bit, in spite of finishing up my senior thesis this week and beginning preparation for finals. 

I have two works in progress at the moment, one for a challenge and one to keep me sane while I work on the other one. 

First up, a chevron-striped, chunky neckwarmer.

This is my challenge project, and, so far, it's just a nub of progress. I'm working off of basic instructions for a chevron seed stitch (see my chevron peter pan collar here to get an idea of the stitch), but I'm attempting to do each chevron in a different color. The result, I hope, will be a chunky single loop neckwarmer with awesome green, blue, and grey chevrons. AND the yarn is made from recycled wool. Awesome? yes. But, these 5 rows (granted, they were the "getting started" rows which are always the "worst") took well over an hour, so we'll see if I survive. Did I mention that, at last count, I have 8 strands of "live" yarn to keep track of. Madness. 

(Sidenote: see how kinky that one knitting needle in the above picture is? That's the pair of needles that I learned to knit on--9 years ago! Those needles have knit more scarves than I can count, and, well, they might have been sat on along the way...)   

 Next up: more handwarmers!

A couple of things sets these apart from the others I've made recently. 

1. These are 100% pima cotton. Sensitive skin? Warmer climate? These are perfect for you. This cotton is unbelievably soft. 

2. CHUNKY. The others have been with finer yarn and smaller needles. This is a chunky thick-thin yarn (the same ones I use for my washcloths. Check those out here.) knit on wonderful size 11 DPNs. This is such a quick project compared to the other stuff I've been doing! 

3. Length. These fit from above the wrist down to your knuckles. It's like a fluffy hand hug!

Now, lest you be anxious about the rather wobbly appearance of this yarn when it's just lying flat, here's what these look like on:

Chunky, cozy, wonderful. :D 

Already in love? These should be up on Etsy in the next couple of days. As always, I'll let you know when they go up via Facebook and Twitter (all the info for that is over on the right and toward the top. ---> )

And, FINALLY, in case you missed it on Facebook and Twitter, I have to show y'all the WIP that we had the guessing game about!

I was knitting a women's headband/earwarmer that matches the teal tweed handwarmers!

This tweed headband/earwarmer is knit with wool in a fairly fine stitch. The first third or so is knit in horizontal rib, which gives the headband some nice stretch. It then switches to stockinette stitch, finishing in an arrow shape, and connecting with 3 bobbly, faux-leather buttons. I think it's both classic and funky, and I have to admit that I'm rather proud of it. :-) 

Love it? Check it out on Etsy by clicking HERE.   
Interested in the handwarmers, too? Those are here.

Thanks for reading, y'all-- I'll be better about blogging, promise! :-) 

Adventure well; Live fully. 

HAK

That Old, Comfy Sweater

I was in a rush this morning. I don't know how the time got away from me, but one moment I was puttering happily along, and the next I was running late. I needed a jacket, a sweater, something to run out the door wearing. It was drizzly, and I wanted something more casual than my leather jacket but nicer than a sweatshirt. I grabbed that old, comfy sweater. 

I got this sweater in 7th grade. Unless my memory is dreadfully mistaken, it is the oldest item in my closet. If you could see it in person, you'd be doubting my judgement that it's nicer than a sweatshirt--I really need to buy a sweater shaver....

I got it on sale one weekend, wore it to school on Monday (somehow it was allowed by dress code), and was delighted to discover that my math teacher had bought the same one in gray (and probably a size smaller). Now, I am not fashionable, but at that moment, I thought there might be hope. "Miss S" is pretty much a walking Banana Republic model, she believed I would be a good teacher someday, and today she has two beautiful children (and I chose my college largely because she went here, too). Bless her. To this day, I smile every time I think about her. 

Anyway, all of that helped make this sweater special--in addition to the fact that it is warm, comfy, and, at one time anyway, looked pretty nice. And so, I've worn it every winter since (9 years, in case you're counting). 

I want to draw some sort of thoughtful analogy from the sweater, but I'm not sure I have one. I do know, though, that it's made me a bit reflective today. What else has been in my life for 9 years? That's a long time after all. A lot has happened: I'm a lot different, and hopefully a lot more mature, than I was then. I have some books that have been around for 9 years--though my library was a lot smaller then. I might have a pair of flipflops that I've had that long (that's a bit embarrassing); some paint brushes and beads, maybe some yarn... but, mostly, it's relationships that stick around over time. Stuff comes and goes, but friends, real friends, last awhile. 

I am unusually blessed in the friend department. I am part of a group of girls that was in the church nursery together. I was looking through photos of them today, and I was reminded of all the ups and downs we've walked together (and how much blackmail we have on each other. Photos from middle school--yikes!). Sometimes we don't touch base so much--we're a bit scattered these days and life gets busy. But when we're all home, dinner dates happen. And when push comes to shove, we show up for each other. It's kind of like having a half dozen Diana Berrys. 

There are newer friends, too, special ones. One's from high school and a couple who only showed up in the last year or two. But I forget that they haven't been around just as long. Fristers are Fristers, man. (haha. I just made that up: Friend+Sister. I'm going to go giggle at myself...). Just last night one of these newer additions to my life joined me for supper at the Burrow. Those couple hours cooking, eating, and talking about life--they kept me warm all the way through today's drizzle.

It's not just time and camaraderie though. These are the girls who push me to grow. Who call me out when I cross the line, encourage me when I'm down, and remind me to laugh at myself when I say things like "suBtle" and "Oh, like cardstock?" By God's grace, I hope I am the blessing to them that they are to me. 

So what's up with the sweater? Nothing, I guess. It's just a sweater. It's not magical traveling pants or anything like that. But it reminded me today to be thankful for the blessing of these ladies in my life. I am proud and delighted to have called them friends for as long as they have been in my life, and I'm glad we've all grown and are growing up together. 

So, my girls--I love you!

Adventure well; Live fully...with good friends in old, comfy sweaters. 
HAK