I am so excited about THIS!

Sweet Hilda is now available through Ravelry!  $2 off from November 17-21, 2013 at checkout.   

Looky HERE!!   A new Lookbook from Three Irish Girls!  Why is this so exciting? My first published design is within those pages along with 40 other new patterns from a bunch of wonderful designers!  It also contains new yummy yarn colorways.....there is just not enough time in this life to knit all that I want to knit!

There has been much anticipation and waiting and hard work that went into this book. I am so proud of all the designers and Sharon's whole team that pulled this together.  Way to go!

 "Sweet Hilda" is named for my grandmother who taught me how to knit when I was only four.  She opened the world of fibre arts to me and I am so very grateful.  As a little girl, I slept with "Lambie", favorite song was "Baa,baa, black sheep".....yes, I was destined to be a knitter  :) 

I had the privilege of using Three Irish Girls Springvale Merino in "Molly" and "Enna".  It was a pleasure to knit with and happened to be in one of my favorite colours; it was like Sharon knew that already :)

The first photos are the professional photos for the pattern.  This is not Willow :) Her photos will be here another day... Size 4.

Scarlett's Sweet Hilda is in a size 2.  She loves this poncho and is so proud that I knit it just for her :)

Purpurravaara-huppari / Green Gable

Ok, so before everyone thinks that ALL I do is knit to the neglect of my family, I want to explain a few things. Here is how I manage to get so much knitting done...

~I spend anywhere from 0-4hrs throughout the day knitting. I knit while waiting i n the car for 20 minutes to pick up my son, after the kids are in bed, when the kids sleep for an hour in the afternoon. If my dh is driving, I knit. If I have to wait anywhere, I knit. It really adds up!

~I stay very organized. I have about 4 knitting bags. One or two with small projects like hats, mitts, etc.,. and then a couple for larger projects. I also keep my stash organized and my patterns organized by season and either child/baby or adult.

~I knit fast for a thrower :) I would love to learn to knit continentaly, but for now, until I have the patience, I am a fast English knitter. This means the yarn is in my left hand and I have to throw it around for each stitch.

~I make mods to almost all patterns to make them faster and easier with less finishing work at the end. I love knitting seamlessly! This can save a few hours in itself.

~I very rarely sew in the ends. I either, when working with wool, is spit splice or I knit the ends in. It is working so far!

~This is my main hobby and I only sew occasionally and haven't scrapbooked in years. I really need to catch up!

~I like to complete each project. I just don't have room to store unfinished projects :)

So, those are some of things I try to do to get the most out of my knitting experience :)

Now, for a new hoodie that I just finished. It took me ten days and is seamless, of course :) This was one of the first projects that I really wanted to make that I saw on Ravelry.It is by a Finnish designer and way back in July, the pattern was not available.....until Vogue Fall 2008! I used Elann's Peruvian Highland Chunky wool in the Grape Heather colorway. It is nice and soft, light, but extremely warm. The buttons are hibiscus flowers made out of steel, I think or some type of metal.

I also knit myself a quick hat; only 56 rows with bulky yarn. Easy quick and warm, now I need to make matching mitts :)

Bella's Mitts

More mitts! I have knit many pairs this year, but none for myself just yet. I need to though and soon! These cute almost-to-the-elbow length mitts were for my buddy Andrea. We came to be great friends about 9 years ago when we were both expecting babies. Since then, we have had two more pregnancies together! Makes it very easy to remember birthdays and ages :)

 

Anyways, one of the neat things about our friendship is that we share the same birthday, although 6 years apart. For many years, we always went out together to having a mini celebration. This year, on the 18th, she turned 40 :) Her family had a beautiful surprise party for her which we were so happy to attend. I wanted to make something special and it had to be quick as I only found out about the party a few days before hand. So, Bella's Mitts won! I used almost two whole hanks of Araucania Magallanes in the "Baffin Island" colorway and it took me two evenings to knit the mitts. A really warm, quick knit and I highly recommend this easy pattern. I wish I had better pictures but it has been very overcast and snowy :)

Finally, the Sweater!

Here is the sweater that I made for The Man. Unfortunately, it is too itchy for him as he is ultra sensitive to wool. As I was finishing it up, I wondered if that would be the case, so I put my dad's wool aside and decided that if it was too itchy, my dad would score this sweater and I would knit another for The Man out of the softer wool. So, that is what ended up happening. The sweater is a Phildar pattern from a few years ago in one of their Irlandais Issues, knit up in 100% wool Elle Merino Tweed from Little Knits. I chose the natural oatmeal color as I thought it would suit The Man, but it actually looks better on my dad. My dad loves this sweater and wore it all weekend while he was here. It will keep him nice and toasty :D Oh, I should mention a few neat things about this sweater; I knit this entirely in the round and seamlessly. I did weave some stitches together under the arms where the sleeves joined the body, but that was it! It was a great challenge and I really learned alot. The saddle shoulders were fun too!

Willows matching mittens!

Thorpe

One thing I love about the Internet are all the free patterns! You can look up just about anything and find a free pattern for it. Willow needed a new hat and mitts so I decided to try out Thorpe. I used Araucania Magallanes (100% wool) doubled, and for the trim, Debbie Bliss Super Chunky Cashmerino, which was left over from another sweater. Not too sure yet what I will do about mitts, but I will work on those today if I get some free time. I really like how this hat turned out and will definitely make more!

I also finished The Man's sweater yesterday and it is still blocking so I will share a photo of the Celtic cable down the front. Tomorrow or the following day, it will be ready for him to try on :)