These mittens are the only true stash today. Trolling ravelry for patterns, I found this one by Ruth Gallo for Maritime Mittens. Apparently, this is called a Maritime Waffle stitch. I have only seen it as Honeycomb but was delighted to be able to apply the - to me - more relevant name to mittens. My father used to tell me of my great-grandmother who, even when quite elderly and unable to see, would sit in the warm kitchen knitting mittens for the many cold and snowy days the winter would bring. I thought of her often as I knit these.
Ted has the most fun knit this week. He's all ready for winter to show up with sledding and snowman-building. It looks as though he might prefer to start with the hot chocolate and marshmallows, doesn't it? The pattern is one of Elaine Fitzpatrick's cute little baby bibs, Snowbaby. I love making these bibs - so easy and so much fun to see the pattern emerge. If you can knit and purl, you can do this. Great gifts. I confess to buying a couple of balls of cotton yarn - on sale! - to make more of these.
Ordinary socks for an extraordinary color way. I tried making a pattern in these socks and it looked horrible. Those beautiful colors just wanted to sing on their own. They remind me of new Levis with shiny copper rivets and stitching. Or desert skies just after sunset. Oh, the heels are a bit fancy with an Eye of Partridge heel flap. This is also new yarn because, well, I was standing in Michael's with a coupon. What's a yarn-lover to do?
While not all are stash, all are for giving.
I always think of the people I am knitting for when I knit- and send positive thoughts their way. But it's cooking and baking that keeps my focus on my grandmother. Isn't it nice to have those special things that take us back to our grandparents? I adored mine and I still miss them every single day. So, now tell me- how difficult are mittens?
ReplyDeleteMy mum knitted me stripy socks- warm and happy items they are. This is such a nice blog to visit, always feels like a cup of tea with a friend :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking I will have to get onto a meme, cos my blog has been neglected, not for want of pics and events, but focus and time to post them.
ReplyDeleteLove your Levis socks! I've always loved Levis, just looking at those colours beings back such happy memories of carefree college days!
I like Lily's comment, it's true!
You always find a way to sneak that textural oomph into your knitting! I love those mittens, and the bib is just adorable. You're right about the socks needing the right yarn for the right project. These socks sing because you made the decision to let the yarn shine instead of the stitches. I like them a lot!
ReplyDelete