And some more socks...

Hurray! I've found another sock knitting group -- Kleine Hexorei. This is another German group and, so far, I am very, very impressed with the patterns. At the present time the group is closed. The owner closed the group after 100 knitters had signed up and will whittle down the group further to around 20 knitters to test her patterns. Whether or not I get included in the final group is immaterial; I've just been glad that I was privileged to knit these two patterns. As I understand it, these two patterns will be free patterns and will be available through Ravelry. If interested search for "Flug zum Nordpol" (flight to the North pole) and "Christine" on Ravelry. "Christine" was not actually designed by Nadja of Kleine Hexorei; the story behind the pattern, however, is heart rending. I have not checked the Ravelry site to see if the story is included.

Flug zum Nordpol (Flight to the North Pole) is knit with a Blue Face Leicester sock yarn which was hand-dyed by my daughter, aka known on the Internet as Valley6222. (I am soooo lucky!) It's a gorgeous bright ice-blue which, in my opinion, fit the theme. The first sock in size 7-1/2 to 8, used 31 grams. So I have plenty left to knit the second sock, plus left-over yarn for toddler or baby socks.

The "Christine" pattern is being knit with a hand-dyed non-brand name sock yarn, from a no longer remembered source. That's what happens when you have too much yarn sitting around the house.

The picture is a wee bit fuzzy. It's been a migraine day. The meds must have given me "the shakes." LOL.

Nevertheless, "Knit On!"

When the mood strikes...knit

...socks that is. I have been in a sock knitting mood lately. Therefore, the lace shawls have been set aside for a while and socks are being knitted.

Here are photos of three more pairs:

This pair is knitted with kettle dyed yarn. The pattern is from the SKL Yahoo group and is called November Weather. The pattern is actually quite easy to knit, but not necessarily a TV watching pattern.

These are two more pairs for afghansforAfghans. Both are made with hand-dyed yarn. The first is a pair of "Stinos" and the second pair uses a pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks called Baby Cable Rib.

That's all folks. "Knit on."

afghans for Afghans

aghansforAfghans has its new Spring campaign going. They are collecting baby socks, socks for children from 2 to 8 years old, mittens and for those who crochet blankets in various sizes. I've decided to concentrate on socks for the 2-8 year old gang and throw in the baby socks and hats which I had knitted some time ago, but got side tracked in sending them. Afghans for Afghans has a Yahoo group as well as a Ravelry one. The goodies that will go out tomorrow.

Now to finish the next pair of socks.
"Knit on!"

The obligatory snow pictures plus one knitting project

We've had quite a long streak of snow this past December, more than I have seen in the last few years. So I thought I'd get the obligatory snow scene photos out of the way for the season. Luckily, I am retired and don't have to be anywhere in specific at a certain time, so when it starts snowing, I can easily say "Let it snow, let it snow" and continue with my knitting. The photos are courtesy of my daughter.

View from the back window

The snow is still falling.

View of property behind the house.

And finally the driveway towards the street.

It's not that I do not have enough projects on the needles. However, Monika Eckert from Klabauter Wolle of Germany gave us a Christmas present of a free shawl knit-along. She has been experimenting with colors in long repeats. However, I did not have any in my stash and thus decided to knit the shawl in an off-white color with the idea that I will paint the shawl once it's finished or in the spring, which ever comes first. And if it doesn't come out the way I want it, we can always over dye it, or keep it for another nice warm winter shawl.

The shawl is triangular and knit from the top down.

Clues 1 and 2

Clues 3 and 4

Clues 5 an 6 - Can you see the hugs and kisses?

Laying in the orphan corner currently are, the Orkney Pie Shawl, another mystery shawl, and the beginnings of a MMario shawl called "Storm Queen."

A blessed New Year for all of you and...

"Knit On!"

One more Christmas Gift finished!

I just finished another pair of socks. This one is for my son. I found the pattern on-line at:

http://www.fishermens-sweater.lighthouse-dreams.de/gruppe/socken.html

This is one of Monika Eckert's designs; the same designer that designs such beautiful shawls as the Secret of Chrysopolis and the Secret of Bad Nauheim. The pattern is ingenious in it's simplicity.

It has a 2x2 cable on each side of the sock with a purl stitch before and after the cable. The balance of the stitch pattern is: Row 1: knit 3, lift one stitch purl wise. Row 2: knit. That's it. And since the cable is knit between needle 1 and 2 and 3 and 4, not even an extra needle for the cable is needed. I think the pattern would also look good in a vest or sweater. Have to try it sometime.

Now all I have left is finish up 1-1/2 socks for a friend, but this gift doesn't have to be done by Christmas necessarily.

The yarn is Regia and the top photo is truer to the real color, but I wanted to show the details of the pattern.

"Knit on!" and my wish that you have a quiet Christmas season.

Two more projects finished

Just in time for Christmas, two more projects are finished. The scarf is definitely a Christmas present for my son-in-law. It turned out really nice, using two skeins of Cascade 220. I used all, but a few yards of it. The scarf was designed by Margarete Dolff and offered through the German Yahoo Group Weihnachtsgeheimnis. It's one of those patterns that are gender neutral. In a different color, it would also be perfect for a woman, but not this year. I am averse to knitting scarves, simply because they are so repetitive which I equate with boring. This pattern had enough complexity to it that I had to pay attention, confirmed by my incessant need to "knit backwards" when I was paying too much attention to the television set. But I like it. The pattern is based on a simple knit 1 purl 1 pattern with a series of 5 crossed k1, p1 cables running through it. My hunch is that this technique is adaptable to a variety of patterns and garments.

The second finished project is a pair of socks through the Mystery KAL Mary's Garden hosted by Melly's Lace Place. I used an Opal Uni obtained at a very good price from Little Knits. I haven't decided yet whether or not this will be a Christmas present or will be mine, all mine. Melly gave us several options, one a patterned vs. a plain foot, a patterned heel vs. a plain one, and two types of toes, a round one and a star toe. I chose the patterned heel, plain foot (by accident) and the star toe. Therefore, I can knit the sock again with another combination of the various options. This was definitely a five star fun knit. Unfortunately, the pics do not give justice to the finished socks. The photos are not as clear as they normally are. I have no idea why, but I think I need new batteries and no one wanted to climb in the car and go to the village grocery store or pharmacy and get some.

Two more pair of socks are on the needles.

"Knit on."

Mittens

Two weeks ago Afghans for Afghans send an urgent request out for mittens for school-age children. They wanted to send 300 pairs of mittens to Roots of Peace, a humanitarian organization that transforms minefields into agricultural land. According to a4A the mittens are for the girls and boys attending their schools built through their Pennies for Peace campaign.

Afghans for Afghans wrote in their e-mail:

We thought the goal in this short time frame would be a challenge ... We were thinking ... our major youth campaign for the winter ended just a couple weeks prior and didn't everyone deserve a break? And, time to start focusing on Thanksgiving ... and making gifts for family and friends for the holidays? Yet, we'd give it our best try anyway. Have a seat ... the results are spectacular ... We counted 1,017 pairs of mittens at the end of the day, today. Yes -- 1,017 pairs of lovingly made, gorgeous mittens for young hands in Afghanistan.

So here is my contribution to those 1017 pairs of mittens. A short foray into the netherworlds of my stash, reslulted in small balls of leftover yarn, just right for such a project.

"Knit On!"