I need my Mitts!

It has been cold at the office lately, so I've brought in a pair of mitts to wear. They are described on Ravelry.com. I've made 2 pairs of these, one for a friend and this pair for me. The yarn used was less than a skein of Berroco Jasper, a randomly space died single ply Merino wool yarn. I need to get a better picture (this was taken with my phone under fluorescent lighting).

It sure helps to have something cozy to keep my hands and wrists warm, while leaving my fingers free to type.

I'm working on another pair out of handspun yarn, using a pattern I made up that a couple of years ago. These will leave the palms of my hands open, which will make using the computer mouse much easier. This is probably the 4th or 5th pair of these I've made, but I've given all the rest away as gifts.

Shawls are wonderful

The chill weather has been uncomfortable for me the last few weeks, as it so often is. Since I work in an office I have taken to wearing some of my shawls the last couple of days. It has really helped. Yesterday I wore a white kid mohair lace shawl and today I've got on a lovely blue alpaca lace shawl. Both of these shawls are knitted from Myrna A. I. Stahman's book "Stahman's Shawls and Scarves: Lace Faroese-Shaped Shawls from the Neck Down & Seamen's Scarves". The blue is the Alka, which I've made several times in various weights of yarn, always lovely. I don't find the pattern I used for the white one on Ravelry, but it is a similar diamond pattern as the Alka, only the interior of the diamonds contains 3 vertical k3tog's, making the shawl even airier than the Alka. I only had so much of that white kid mohair, and using that very open pattern managed to get the shawl long enough to reach about to my waist.

I highly recommend the book and love the shoulder-fitted Foroese-shaped shawls. They stay in place well and are very comforting to wear.

Maui is beautiful

I spent most of January on the western short of the island of Maui in Hawai'i with my Mom. We had a wonderful time, even though I had to work most weekdays. I learned to snorkel, which was a bit of an adventure getting used to the magnification of a prescription corrective mask. Nice that things were magnified so they looked closer, but it took me quite a bit to get used to how far away things really were when they looked like they were inches from me!

While we were there I started a pink shawl for my niece, which was fun, since she is showing interest in knitting.

Over the weekend I got some time at the spinning wheels, plying one shade of grey, the next to last, and starting to spin the last shade. As usual with this fleece, I've been spinning on the Mazurka and plying on the Lendrum. I have 12 batts of this last shade, so it will take me some time to do. When that is all spun and plied I'll have the interesting task of figuring out how I want the yoke of the sweater to look, how to shade the greys in a final garment.