Gloves for Alicia

My sister asked me to knit her some gloves. Ok! I'm happy when I know what people want. Her favorite color is green and her winter coat is green but somehow, the first pair I made were purple. Later, I made two pair of green gloves and a fingerless pair for her friend, Fay. They were all knit on size US 2 needles from a self devised generic pattern for different weights of yarn.

Dianne Corso's Targhee Handspun

Jojoland Splatter Dash
Superwash Merino

Madelinetosh Tosk DK
Superwash Merino

Rowan Baby Merino Silk DK
Superwash Merino and Silk

My People with Wreaths

Ray and Dave

Bud and Carolyn

Doll Quilt from Santa

My friend's four year old granddaughter recently went on a big adventure to the American Girl store. Elsa has been playing with her mother's childhood doll and she got to pick out a new one for her very own. All of the fawning adults are piling on the accessories so I made a quilt for the doll's new bed. Grandma will make her more clothes and quilts and blankets, I'm sure.

The quilt measures 16.5" x 19.5". After I made it, I saw the doll lying on her bed and it looked like this quilt should have been a bit wider. The doll isn't going to care, though, and neither is the little girl.

Writing Prompts

I'm doing a writing exercise this month - offline - in a journal/smash book sort of format. The prompts originated on the write alm blog. I wouldn't have known about it without a tip from this blog, My Sister's Knitter.

I'm not taking it too seriously, like panicking at the sight of a blank page. It works better for me when I interpret the prompts loosely and so far, I am keeping up. I haven't had to resort to a limerick yet, but I'm willing to if necessary.

Three good books about writing:

1.  Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing

2.  Stephen King - On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

3.  Anne Lamott - Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Rikke Hats Two and Three

Tosh DK - Cathedral

I do like this pattern a lot, especially when it is made up in such luscious yarn. These two skeins were ordered online and I was a little surprised to see all of the brown tones when it arrived. How do I miss those details? When I looked again at the website, the pictures actually do a great job of representing the colors; I just have a tendency to see what I want to see. I recently did the same thing with 5 yards of fabric I bought for a quilt back - I thought the brown was wine red. Oh, well. 

The hats look great, though, even with all the brown. They fit well with just the right amount of slouch and are toasty warm without being too hot or itchy. I do so love me some Madelinetosh. 

Rikke Hat - a free pattern on Ravelry

Tosh DK - Firewood

Patchwork Pouch

I was sending my friend a couple of hats and I wanted it to be more of a package, more like a present, so I made a quick patchwork pouch to include in the box. The blue squares came out of a jar that is filling up with 2" pieces left over from other projects. Some scraps are just too big to throw away.

At some point, I decided that these squares were probably too small to save so I switched to 2.5" and added another jar on the shelf. There was no real gain, though, because now I am adding to both piles; I still can't toss those smaller bits.

Tutorial here