Hey, I knit sometimes...

I just finished a winter set for a wonderful friend in Canada. She needed a wine-grape colored scarf, hat, and mitten set for those cold, cold winters.

I knew immediately what scarf I wanted to make once I finally found the yarn... (That took ages! Everything was too red or too pink.) I ordered 7 balls of Malabrigo Chunky in Velvet Grapes and got to work.*

Here is the hat.

I completely made it up as I went along. I knew I wanted the band around the base to match the stitch pattern from the scarf and just went from there. It turned out so well. I am planning on writing up the pattern over the next week and sharing it with everyone. It was a real pleasure to knit. It's lined with some micro-fleece to be extra-super warm.

And the mittens.


They are also completely made up as I went. I made lots of notes so I could match them perfectly and was very pleasantly surprised at how well I wrote my notes out! They are a little longer than normal mittens. I hate when there is that gap between your mitten and jacket when you reach out your arms. Hopefully, the extra few inches will stop that. They also have a fleece lining for more warmth. I really love these mittens. I might have to make a bunch more. They are so nice and so warm.

Here is a refresher of the scarf. It's my go-to scarf pattern. I love it.



I'm working on the finishing for Grandpa's blanket. I had it about half done and all seamed together and HATED the way it looked. I am not a great crocheter, so I took a bit of time off from it, learned a new stitch, practiced a lot and now it's going much better. I'm hoping to have it done by Tuesday or Wednesday so I can mail it to my Mom and have her deliver it to him. She's really excited about seeing it.


*Sorry if any of this is a repeat, but I'm too lazy to look back and see what I posted about before.

Velvet

I'm working on some goodies for a wonderful friend in Montréal, Melanie. She requested a scarf, hat and mitten set to get through the cold, cold winters there. I had quite a hard time tracking the yarn down, but eventually, I found the right one. Malabrigo Chunky Merino in Velvet Grapes. It's a dream to work with and is a favorite... as I'm sure everyone has realized by now since four of my last projects have been made from this yarn.



I'm working on the scarf now. It's the same pattern I used for my Malabrigo scarf. It's such a simple stitch and is really wonderful.

I'm off to Ireland for my study abroad trip in 35 days. I'm very excited, but I am really worried about money. I have none left and my student loans got all screwed up for the spring semester which, in turn, screwed up my loans for the summer semester. I'm trying to get it worked out, but I don't think it's going to be resolved before I go. Ugh. It's stressful and irritating.

I have been walking quite a bit lately. I'm trying to loose the weight I gained after knee surgery. Today I walked with my friend (and former co-worker) Jen. We walked over 6 miles! It was quite an adventure. It was nice.