Mitts Galore

I love fingerless gloves.  I love to wear them, and they're super-easy to make. They are great practice for double-pointed needles, and I've used them to learn fair-isle knitting and cables as well.  I hope that everybody else loves them as much as I do, because I plan to continue making them as gifts until I get sick of them.  Luckily (for me, as the gift-giver), my mom's office is frigid, so she requested a few pairs:

stranded mitts

Hint: making up the pattern as you go is only okay if you actually make a note of what you're doing so that you can duplicate it on the second one.  It's slightly less fun when you have to frog it and start over because you have absolutely no clue what you've been doing.

She thought those were a little fancy (and, um, a little small - also a risk when you make up a pattern and don't bother with little things like gauge) and requested another pair.  These are plain indeed, but are soft and comfy and were finished in a day:

thanks to mother for the photo, since I neglected to take any

And because I had not made enough already, and also because it looked like an easy pattern and a chance to figure how cables, I made these as well:

Toshette pattern (Ravelry link)

momma's first cables

Farrow Rib Scarf

I'm still trying to figure out this whole blog thing.  I am (as usual) in the middle of a billion different projects, so I thought I'd go ahead and post the sole project I've finished lately.

I had a lot of fun with this one.  A family friend requested a scarf - no particular color or pattern, so I got to try something new and clear out some of my stashed yarn.  I love the look of variegated yarn, and it's fun to knit, but the finished result is usually way too busy for me - which makes it great to use on things for other people.  I used a farrow rib (or mistake stitch), which was super easy and fast.

Happy Birthday, Dr. King!

My kid, being 5 years old, loves parties.  Less typically, he loves learning.  His teachers regularly report having to remind themselves that he's just a kid; he speaks like an adult and knows what he's talking about.  Also, he has been reading for years, and understands and retains information on a level most adults will never attain.  I have my theories as to why E is smarter than all the other kids; however, this is not a parenting blog so I'll not get into it here.  We'll just call it superior parenting and move on.

Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  E has read a few books about the civil rights movement and has certainly been exposed to civil rights history, having gone to school in the shadow of Ebenezer Baptist Church and having lived in Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward.  One of my favorite moments as a parent was when E (perhaps 3 at the time) exclaimed, "I'm from Georgia Atlanta, and Martin Luther King, Jr. built this city on rock and roll!"  Anyway, E decided on Monday that we absolutely MUST throw a birthday party for Dr. King.  Unfortunately, his parents were lazy; we did not have the party until Friday, and no noisemakers or decorations were involved.  But we did make cupcakes (strawberry with chocolate frosting), and briefly discussed Dr. King's contribution to society.  I can only hope that Dr. King would have appreciated the cupcakes consumed in his honor.

Gotta start somewhere.

All the cool kids are doing the blog thing, right?  So.  This is as much for me to keep track of various projects and events as it is for me to share them.  Especially now, as I wait and hope for one of the many job seeds I have planted to grow into a decent salary with some benefits, I have lots of projects and possibilities jumbling around in my head.  I will detail them as they come ... perhaps.  There's always the very real possibility that I will get completely sidetracked and forget I ever started this blog.  We'll see.