Wednesday, November 23, 2011

WIP Wednesday: Frogs*

[insert sad face here]

Oh yes, I took some pictures. Some essential knitting got done, and some more knitting got messed up.


How sad is that? My lovely dear Chawton mittens by the quite impressive Annie Bee** which appeared in Jane Austen Knits by Interweave Press (she blogs about it here). Not quite gone, but also not quite as great as they were. I had to give in and admit that either my gauge was enormously off (even at a smaller needle size) or my hands are freakishly small compared to a normal medium sized mitten wearing hand. Either way, I was going to end up with a lot more mitten than my hands can fill, so I gathered up courage and devised a cunning plan. As this isn't an organic sort of piece, there is rhythm to the colours. All I had to do is go back to a similar repeat and start the cameo there. I'll probably end up with a giant sized thumb either way. We'll see. 

You would think that would be the end of the misery. No such luck. In my effort to hurry along the mystery KAL hat B by Woolly Wormhead***, I figured "almost 3.5"" would be just as good as "exactly 3.5"" in order to create a slouchy sort of hat. I haven't frogged it back yet, but that's just a matter of time. It barely covers my ears when I pull it down. No amount of blocking will save that, and it's not really acting like the shape I see in other samples of the species. I daren't even show you a picture, even if I had one I liked. More later, as they say.  

In good news, I love knitting the zwartbles. No more progress pictures on that though, as there isn't any actual progress as such. 

I will leave you today with some pictures of a finished thing!!!



Okay, breathe. yes I finished a thing. I knit my cousin an arm warmer for her birthday. It looks a bit like this, but with her hand in it, rather than my freakishly small one.


It is made out of handspun 2-ply fingering weight grey Shetland wool and unspun, undyed silk mawata's (or hankies). I knit it inside out, or rather, liked the inside so much I prefer it over the outside. 


It is 1x1 twisted, so there is a lot**** of stretch in it. While sitting snug on my freakishly small hand, I could insert the other freakishly small hand and have room to spare. I witnessed her trying it on, and it seems to sit okay against the skin. Hope it keeps her warm. 


The outside, now dubbed "inside", appears less interesting to my knitting eyes. I'm rather pleased with the final result actually. A fitting object! Unfortunately it has left me, and my muscle memory, with a distinct dislike of 1x1 ribbing. Twisted or not. 

I would end on a high note, but I've just found out that one of my knitting podcasts, CaithnessCraftCollective by the lovely loopy Louise, is not yet publishing a much anticipated section. In good news, it means the rest of the episode will load faster. Small blessings. In the mean time, I'm catching up on multicrafting Martine of iMake fame's back catalogue of podcasts, so all is well. You should check them out if you're that way inclined!



*no actual frogs were hurt during the making of this blog
**not an actual Bee
***not really a head of Worms
****an enormous amount

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