Friday, March 07, 2008

I Have a Yarn Thing

Hi Knitters,
Have you seen this new book by Robin Melanson called Knitting New Mittens & Gloves? It's a winner for sure. When I saw it at Barnes and Noble I had one of those moments. I stopped cold when I saw the Welig gloves, the last pattern in the book. You know the kind of moment where you have to run home and immediately start a project before you even get your coat off. That's what this was for me. I love that feeling beyond description.

Welig is an Old English name for willow. Perfect. The yarn is Julia (mine are in the color Geranium) which the pattern calls for. I am knitting on US size 7 dpns instead of the suggested US size 6. For some reason I can't stand tight fitting gloves so I always make sure they will be loose enough for my liking. These fit just right.
I got one glove done yesterday and this morning I got the second one started. My daughter laughed at me when I took her to school because I slapped on my right glove to drive her. She gave me a, "Mooooooom." We giggled. That glove is making me happy, nothing wrong with that. That's why I have to finish the other one right away. I can't be the one glove wonder or I will cause embarrassment for the kids.

I wish you could feel this glove on your hand, it is squishy and exquisite. Don't you love the way the cables run straight up the index and pinkie fingers? And those bobbles are excellent, love 'em. Robin has a very clever pattern here including the thumb technique using scrap yarn which I haven't done before. There is one cable twist that uses 2 cables needles at a time which I haven't done before either. Fun, fun, fun. That's what I say to myself as I learn something new like that. Bravo, Robin!
I ordered yarn yesterday for a couple more of the projects that I adore. Can't wait and I will surely be sharing those as I go along. The lace arm things on the front cover, although pretty and interesting, don't represent the many practical and beautiful projects on the inside pages. There are some really great patterns in here.

Oh my gosh, I have to share this. When I just looked up the link for this book on amazon there was a review that commented on the tiny print in the book. I have really good eyesight, and I always have, but for this book I have had to turn on a bright lamp and wear low grade reading glasses to read the text and chart. I was feeling kind of like my time had come but now when I look at the book it does have teeny tiny, light print. It's all about space when it comes to books. Phew, I may have just narrowly escaped a life with reading glasses for a little while longer.
Other exciting news is that the wonderful Marly of the Yarn Thing podcast has just uploaded an interview I did with her a couple of weeks ago. She is cute and full of life and love for all things knit and crochet. She is an exclamation point and I love that. It was fun to chat with her. Check it out if you get the chance.

I also purchased and downloaded the fiddlehead mittens pattern by Adrian Bizilia. I ordered the yarn for these yesterday, too. Yesterday was not a good day for the old wallet I'd say. I am knitting the tweedy option with the Rowan Scottish Tweed DK weight. I am forever a sucker for tweed. The inside of the mitt is knit in Blue Sky Alpaca's Brushed Suri in the colorway called fudgesicle. Yum, yum. I had to order from three different online shops to get all of the yarns and colors. Persistence pays off sometimes, my friends.

Okay, Knitters, you have a great weekend if I don't pop on here before it's over. I'm going to try my best to keep warm around here.

Knit on.
best, susie