I finished my first handspun Baktus Scarf.  I can already tell that it won’t be my last. These things are like potato chips – you can’t have just one.

The wood pile is an excellent model in the absence of the human variety. The yarn and the wood act like velcro – pose and shoot, repose and reshoot.

I took way too many photos, in fact, because the light was right and the colors looked beautiful and I snapped 30 before I even blinked.

I made a vow to use more handspun and this scarf is perfect for handspun. In fact, I adore it in my handspun. It almost looks woven, I think.

I knit it exactly according to the pattern. I weighed my yarn first, knit until it was half gone, and then started decreasing. No waste, no fuss, just a great scarf!

I’m already planning my next one.

I finished the Mondo Cable Pulli just in time to wear it at SPA. And, luckily for me, my favorite photographer in the whole world agreed to do a photo shoot of me and my sweater.  Cheryl, baby Eloise and I headed outside right after lunch on Saturday. The lighting was good and there was a cute little park bench right next to the hotel.

I was instructed to sit down. So I sat.

And I was instructed to laugh. So I laughed.

Okay, so about the sweater. I love it! The color is perfect with black jeans and that’s just what I wanted. It’s a little bigger than I had hoped but I think I can fix that by re-blocking it.  And it’s comfortable! The Beaverslide yarn is soft enough for me for next-to-skin wearing but I do have a pretty good tolerance for scratchy and someone else might want a shirt underneath.

I did make some modifications, which is fairly unusual for me. I repeated the cable twist every 12 rows instead of every 18 rows as the pattern stated.

And I changed the bottom and sleeve edgings to 2×2 ribbing. I tried it first as written but ripped it out and I’m much happier with it this way.

This sweater is an unqualified success. I can see myself wearing it over and over again. A knitter can’t ask for more than that.

I have rules about my knitting. They are self-imposed rules, obviously, and they work for me. For instance, I always have a sock on the needles and I start the second sock as soon as I finish the first sock. I have another rule about not wearing a handknit until I have blogged it. This means I haven’t worn Flyingdales yet and while I’d love to be wearing it, I don’t break my own rules.

Anyway.

I have made a new rule for myself. I will (try) to always have a handspun project on the needles. I love spinning, I love my handspun, but I so often just throw it in a basket and forget about it. That’s not good because then a weekend like SPA or Rhinebeck comes up and I want to buy more fiber and, well, it’s hard to justify buying more stuff to spin when there’s a lot of handspun just sitting around.

In keeping with this rule, I started Baktus.

And I’m using handspun. Don’t ask me what it is, I’m terrible about labeling my handspun. Maybe I need another rule.

• I have some pretty new fiber from Knitterly Things. It’s called Fireball and it makes me want to spin.
• Which is good since I plan on spinning a lot at SPA this weekend.
• Not that I know where I’ll be spinning since they moved the spinning location from the hotel where I’m staying.
• I’m a little cranky about that, I have to tell you.
• But I know we’ll make the best of it and have a fun weekend.
• When I’m not spinning I’ll be knitting.
• Or eating. It’s my job to plan where we eat all the meals, you know.
• They keep making me do it because I pick really good places.
• It’s a gift.
• When I’m not spinning or eating I have a photo shoot planned for my Flyingdales sweater.
• I bet you forgot all about that one, didn’t you?
• Maybe I’ll ask my favorite photographer to squeeze in some photos of the newly finished Mondo Cable Pulli, too.
• Because yes, that one is done and it feels great!

And that’s my random for today.

You know it’s a pathetic weekend when the highlight of your Saturday is a trip to the grocery store. But I’m resting like I’m supposed to and that’s about all I thought I should do.

On Sunday I made Dale drive me to Plymouth just so that I could tell you I did something other than sit on the couch all weekend. The ocean was beautiful and so blue. It really cheered me up to see it.

I’m continuing to knit on the Mondo Cable Pulli and the sleeves are just about done. I’m hopeful to have it done by the weekend but I’m not making any promises.

Except this: I promise I will be well enough to go to SPA.

As I said last week, I have been knitting exclusively on my Mondo Cable Pulli. This is mostly because it’s easy and I need easy these days. It’s also because I’d really like to have it finished so I can wear it at SPA next weekend.

The body is done. I love the dark grey color and the Beaverslide is very nice to work with although I am disappointed that there are so many knots (3-4) per skein.

The hem is curling a bit, though. I’m hoping that it will lay flat once it is blocked but if it doesn’t then I will reknit it with more ribbing and hope that keeps it down.

And the sleeves . . . well, you understand about sleeves. They are progressing.

But sloooooooowly.

P.S.  JessaLu is having a contest. Tell her Carole sent you.

Oooh look! More knitting! More mittens!

I finished the End of May Mittens on Monday – just after the January NaKniMitMo deadline.

The yarn is the Berrocco Ultra Alpaca that I bought at the Wool Basket in Duxbury. I love the raspberry and brownish gray combination.

The lining is a bit of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino.  The alpaca and cashmerino together make for incredibly soft mittens.

And that is a very very good thing. Especially given a certain ground hog’s prediction this week.

There’s still a lot of mitten knittin’ going on over here. I think I enjoy mittens because they are quick, portable, and a great way to have some fun with color and cables and stuff. The Chevron Love Mittens were all about the color but this new pair is all about the cables.

The pattern is All the Water Mittens by Kirsten at Through the Loops. As always, Kirsten’s pattern is perfectly written and includes plenty of details.

The yarn is leftover Madeline Tosh worsted in the color dahlia. They are soft and warm and were scooped up immediately by Hannah.

That’s okay, though, because the next ones will be mine, all mine.

On Saturday I did something every knitter loves to do. I went on a yarn crawl with my friends.  You’re jealous, aren’t you?

Sharon and Martha and I met at The Wool Basket in Duxbury at 10. This is Martha’s local yarn shop and it’s a great one. The owner is super friendly and they have a truly wonderful selection of yarn. We spent some time (and some money) and then we headed on for our next destination . . .

And that was The Wool Patch in Middleboro. The owner there, Miriam, is terrific. She is helpful and runs a great little shop. Her yarn selection is also very good but totally different than the Duxbury shop. Once again we spent some time and some money and then we headed to . . . .

Lunch. And for lunch we had sushi at my favorite sushi restaurant, Sushi Joy in Plymouth. We shared a few different rolls and they were all fantastic. So were the Mai Tais.  Stuffed and happy we left there and went to . . .

Fancie Purls in Plymouth. Our friend Dinah, who we had hoped would join us but couldn’t make it, told us about this shop a few months ago and I’ve been anxious to go there and check it out. What an adorable shop! Once again we met a great owner, Ann, and once again we spent time and money.

At the end of the day I came home with some  Berrocco Ultra Alpaca for mittens, some Noro Silk Garden for an entrelac scarf, and some silk/wool for a small shawl.

And I also came home with fantastic memories of a day with friends. Laughter, yarn, and sushi. What more could a knitter want on a Saturday?

I powered through and I finished my Chevron Love Mittens last Friday. I have never been so happy to see a project come to completion!

Working with 8 little balls of yarn was challenging and I actually screwed up the thumb gusset on the first mitten. I didn’t realize it until I started the gusset on mitten number 2 but once I did realize it, I just had to go back and rip the first one out and fix it. It was much easier once I was doing it right. Ahem.

The thumbs were fiddly and took longer than mitten thumbs usually do – due to the color changes, no doubt. But they lined up nicely and I’m glad I made myself just.do.it.

The braid at the cast on edge looks impressive but was actually very simple to do – it’s just a matter of putting yarn in front of or behind the various stitches. I always think it’s neat when simple things have great results.

The final verdict: I love them! Julia did a wonderful job with the pattern and the kits she put together are fantastic. This one is called “Tulip Garden” and the colors really do remind me of tulips. And I love that they will keep me warm until the tulips bloom.