not much to show

I haven’t done much yarn stuff in the past few days,  I’ve just finished these mitts:

knit mitts

 

They’re so soft and warm!  I may yet add that crocheted trim on the top, it just depends on how much time I have.

Boy has it been busy!  Shopping for Christmas presents, hanging out with school friends, studying with school friends, studying by myself, shopping for my Ireland/England trip, and baking for Christmas parties.  You may say, “studying?  Why, it’s the holidays!” but I’ve got to study hard the whole time because I’ve got my comprehensive examination that I have to pass to graduate coming up on January 7.  I think it’s stupid to give us the test before we’ve even finished all our classes, much less to test us over those classes that we won’t have completed until May.  But what can I say, that’s just another of the growing list of annoyances and griefs that my program is giving me.

The shopping has been much more fun, although I admit I’m waaaaay over budget.  I’ve dipped into January’s money already.  I just hope my loan money comes in before January 5th so that I can pay rent and bills.  At least I didn’t make everybody gifts — that probably would have been more expensive than just buying them the things I did.  Of course, my parents got some really good presents because they’ve been so good to me and they deserve awesome gifts, and I didn’t skimp on my boyfriend, either.  I guess the real hurt has been the necessity to buy lots of items for my trip.  Here are some of my new things:

packing

 

Since I live in South Carolina, I have minimal winter gear.  Therefore a sweater with some wool in it was required, along with some wool socks.  I also had to get another pair of pants because I only have  2 (I just wash them a lot, but I won’t have access to a washer on the trip).  A neck pillow for the plane and a bag to take as my carry-on were also purchased.  These things pictured here were actually purchased for me by my wonderful mom, but trust me, I’ve had to buy quite a few other things, including more socks, a sweater/popover,  and lots of other little things that have just added up.  I hope that I will now be fully prepared for the cold weather.

Also, I have to say thanks to Patricia from DaniellaJoe’s Blog — I won one of her lovely giveaway packs!  It’s the first time I’ve ever won a giveaway, and I just love the items!  I think the package is actually at the post office already, I just have to go pick it up on Monday.  So thank you so much, Patricia, you’re so generous!

So everybody knows, I’m leaving on my trip this Tuesday (the 18th), and I will not be returning home until the 29th.   I doubt that I will be able to blog much, if at all, while in Ireland or England because I’m not taking my computer.  My phone could do it, but it would probably be really complicated, and there’s a good chance I won’t actually be knitting/crocheting much while there anyway.  I’ll be busy taking pictures, exploring towns and cities, and like I said earlier, studying for my exit exam.  This will probably be my last post until January.  I will be back though, I promise.

I wish you all the very best of holidays!

third time, really?

Yep, I started the mitts over, again.  This time, due to the discovery of lovely mitts with no thumb-holes at all over on Häkelmonster.  They looked so toasty, I just had to make some, too:

newmitt

 

Yes, it’s basically just a tube, but it’s a toasty tube!  I just whipped up some ribbed rows on size 6 needles and switched to seed stitch on size 7 needles.  This is my first time using the seed stitch, and I’m really pleased.  I wanted a texture that would be very warm, elastic, and easy, and this fit all three.  And if I want to use my fingers, I just roll the top down:

newmitt2

 

I love it!  I’m thinking about adding some sort of crocheted lacy border on the top edge of the mitt in a cream colored bamboo thread, just for looks.  What do you think?  Would the edging restrict the elasticity?

I’ve also been crocheting.  I’ve got quite a few baby hats to donate now:

babyhats

 

I’ve got tons more yarn, but I may take these to the hospital for donation before I leave on my trip on the 18th.  I’m doing most Christmas present exchanges before we leave, as well, so I only have 9 more days to get everybody’s presents!  I still don’t have anything small for my wonderful parents, who are taking me on this trip to England.  I’ve got lots of big things to give them before we leave, but nothing that will fit in my suitcase so that they can open something on Christmas day.  I just keep seeing big or heavy things that they would love!

That’s all I’ve got for today.  Thanks for stopping by!

second time great!

My fingerless gloves are coming along!  Well, glove, in the singular, because I re-did the one I showed you last time and whipped up this instead:

mitts1

 

As you can see, I still have to add the thumb part, but thanks to your wonderful suggestions and tips on my last post, I don’t think it should be too troublesome.  I changed the design a bit, making one stitch ribbing instead of two stitches.  I added some length, too, because my fingers are quite prone to freezing and becoming all stiff and raw.  You may ask why I didn’t just make mittens for better finger protection, but these are for my England trip and I need my fingers to take pictures on my phone!  I don’t have a camera anymore, so all my pictures, even on this site, come from my phone.  To use the phone camera, I need heat conductivity, blah blah science blah, so my fingertips have to be readily available.

mitts2

 

I think it looks good so far!  I think I’ll make the second mitt before attempting the thumbs — that way there won’t be a break between them and I won’t forget exactly how I did the first one.

By the way, the yarn I’m using is amazing.  I mean, fantastic.  It’s Cascade Yarns Eco Alpaca, and the softness is so luxurious!  The only problem with it that I can think of is that it’s so silky that the knots I made at the beginning and end of the mitt had to be reinforced by lots of weaving and more knots, because just one knot kept slipping out!

OK, I’m going to go and start the second one now, I think.  Thank you for stopping by!

progress on my fingerless gloves

So instead of using this fancy pattern, I started this simpler one.  The first was too difficult for me at this time.  Here’s what I’ve got so far:

mitts1

 

I’m about to start the ribbing at the top — these are going really quickly, which is great!  I’ve made a mistake, though.  I’ve never done an actual gusset before, and something went wrong, leaving a hole in the work:

mitts2

 

Since I’m not sure how to go back and fix it, I decided that when I connect my yarn to do the thumb, I’ll just use a tail to sew it up.

That’s another thing, though.  Do you know how to pick up stitches like on this thumb hole?  Please help if you know — I’m stumped!

Thanks for stopping by, let me know if you know how to pick up those stitches!

leftovers

Not only am I full of leftover Thanksgiving food, I’ve also been using my leftover yarn:

 

I’m crocheting baby hats out of the leftover Stylecraft Special DK to donate to the hospital for the newborns.  I’ve got quite a few shades of blues and pinks, but that’s just what I’ve got so far.

Dad reminded me today that we leave for Dublin in exactly 3 weeks, so I started knitting some fingerless gloves.  I’ll post pics when I get done with one of them.  I’m not sure that I will finish the Weasley Sweater I’ve been working on in time for the trip since I’ve only just started the back of the sweater, but we’ll see.

That’s all I’ve got for today, thanks for stopping by!