Tag Archives: colorwork mitts

Whew! A Whirlwind Week

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Sunday, October 26, 2025

Today’s picture is actually yesterday’s picture but I loved it so much! We have this incredible view out of our bedroom window, aren’t we lucky? We don’t take it for granted. That’s a guarantee. This week has been a whirlwind week and I’m so grateful for a Sunday with little on our calendar other than catching up around the house. My calendar has been a crazy mess while we were in New York and I haven’t straightened my atelier for a couple of weeks and there’s a couple of weeks of laundry to do and I will get it done. Probably not all today. And that’s fine.

We both came home from New York with some cruddy sinus thing and I haven’t had a minute to stop and rest until today. We had a great Chamber event at Maine Arts Academy on Wednesday evening and I am totally thrilled with everything the staff did for that event. It was perfect from start to finish. The food, the staff who volunteered, the entertainment, all of it! I came home Wednesday night and fell right into bed. Thursday I worked in the yarn shop, Friday I taught knitting and on Saturday I was back in the shop for a big celebration of Malabrigo yarn’s 20th anniversary. We were so busy and I’m so grateful that Carol, one of my co-worker friends, had the idea to have two of us on with the owner, Joyce. We were certainly busy enough for the three of us. Last night I came home and couldn’t wait to go to be but I can’t make myself sleep at 6:30pm. Ha! Ha!

This morning we woke up and had a cup of coffee, inside now, and then I decided to take myself to the walk-in doc-in-a-box to see if I can get some medicine for this sinus thing that I’ve had for ten days. Happily, that was a success and I am looking forward to feeling much better any day now.

Meanwhile, I have done some knitting and made a little progress (and cast on a new project, too.) The first thing I did was finish the Billie pants for my grandson. I made these in a really nice shade of green that my bonus daughter picked out. The pants are adorable BUT I didn’t think well and need one more ball to make the sweater to match. I’ll order one ball today and can still get the wee sweater knitted in good time.

Billie pants in Cascade 220 Superwash Merino

I love the yarn and hope it’ll hold up to washing and drying. AND he’s growing so fast, they’ll likely be too small before they’re worn out. The yarn is next-to-skin soft and I love the color, too. I just have to block them and trim the ends that are all woven in.

String of Jewels Mitts in Malabrigo Rios

I found these mittens online and thought they were so pretty. The cuff is unique and I had this cake of Malabrigo Rios that was wound at the store and then the person didn’t want it. We typically don’t sell yarn once it’s caked so the boss handed it to me. So, I cast on thinking that these will be great for the winter and they’re fingerless mitts that are convertible (they’ll have a mitten tip attached) so they’re great for my morning drive to work in the earlier part of the winter. I’ve gotten the majority of the two mitts finished in a day or two and am enjoying the simplicity of this project.

I’ve got to attack my daughter’s colorwork mitts again this weekend and next week and try to get them finished so she can wear them. They’re a challenging pattern that is best worked on in the morning with a fresh, rested mind. I’ll try them tomorrow after a bit of time on my meds and see how far I can get. I am making progress.

And now I look ahead to Christmas knitting of which I am not doing a ton. I have a sweater to make for Sylvie and I think I am going to knit the Jamberry Cardigan for her but in Christmas colors (red being the main color with green and white accents in the yoke.) AND then I will likely make the same sweater in the pattern colors because she loves purple so much and she loves the book, too. I’ve already bought the yarn for both sweaters in Berroco Vintage DK.

I have traditionally knitted a pair of socks for my hubby’s stocking and I will try to get a pair done without him knowing I’m making them. I’ve still got a few balls of worsted weight sock wool that I’ve worked with for years and I think I know which pattern I want to knit to make it fun – not the plain vanilla socks I often knit for him. More on these later.

I’ve not made a pair of October socks and I’m not beating myself up about it. I have had a lot going on. This week I can play a little catch up but I’ll make my hubby’s Christmas socks my November pair and then I have some special Christmas sock yarn and I’ll make another pair in December, perhaps. I also promised bigger socks to our granddaughter because she loves my handknit socks. Especially the purple ones.

WIP list: Noah the Horse, my daughter’s fingerless mitts, the pink mittens with embroidery, my Poet sweater which as been sitting very idle and I’m sure there are others. I need to pull all of my yarn out of my shelves and clean up a few spider webs that I can see. I’ve never had spider webs in my studio before. Go figure. Think I can say they’re Halloween decorations?

Gone knitting!

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Last Night

We were welcomed home by a gorgeous lakeside sunset and so much quiet. After a couple of weeks of constant noice and activity in New York City, it’s at the same time a relief to our senses and a shock. I loved being in NY with my kids and granddaughter and I’m happy to be home and sleeping in my own bed. We both brought home a preschool crud so we are getting by on tea, Sudafed and cough syrup. All I have to do is get through Saturday and it’ll be ok.

We ended out trip to NYC by moving over to my son’s apartment that he shares with his partner. It was good to catch up with them both over the last couple of days. When everyone is home, there are a lot of beds needed as guests and babysitters are also in town. And Sylvie’s Nana and Papa from NY State were there as were my hubby and I. We all had dinner downtown between Kate’s shows on Sunday for Sylvie’s actual birthday dinner and then we had her party on Monday before Kate had to go to work. Several of Sylvie’s friends from the playground and preschool were there and the birthday girl was so happy to celebrate her day. I suspect her parents will be glad to have their lives back to normal and sleep in their own beds after all the travel and business of the last couple of weeks.

We drove home yesterday and arrived to the lovely site pictured above. We unpacked the car, put stuff away and showered and put on our winter PJs and retreated to have a cup of tea in my studio and catch up on a bit of news (none of it very good) before we went to bed early and slept late. It was bliss to be in our own bed, too. We both slept almost 11 hours which is unheard of. Guess we were tired.

Maine Sea Captain’s Hat in Briggs & Little Heritage 2-Ply

On the way home yesterday, I finished a blaze orange hat for my dear hubby. His old one is a polyester blend with a little wool and it’s starting to show some wear. The new one is knit from Briggs and Little Heritage wool, worsted weight and it’ll be a warm addition to the fall/winter hat collection. I used the Maine Sea Captain’s Hat pattern which was perfect for this yarn and a quick knit. I’ll block it today and it’ll be ready for the season.

I found I’d made a mistake on the Billie Pants for our grandson, Mac. I made a mistake as I decreased the first leg and didn’t notice until I was decreasing for the second leg. I’ve frogged back to fix the second leg and then I’ll go back and fix the first one. The pants will be finished and blocked and then I’ll be ordering a bit more yarn to make a pullover to match the pants. The yarn is a bit pill-y and I hope it will hold up to several washings. I’ll let you know when we get there. Meanwhile we’ve gotten photos from Mac’s mom of our little nugget smiling at his mom and dad on purpose. Gosh we wish we lived closer!

I’m still working along on my daughter’s colorwork mitts, too. Slow going while we were in NY but it should pick up now that we’re home. I’m planning to finish the little Sorento Cardigan today and get it shipped off to Louisiana and its new owner. It’s been blocked and all I have to do is add the buttons, trim the yarn ends that are woven in, and add a label. It’ll be good to have it off my list for sure.

The Sorento Cardigan for my client is hereby finished. I sewed the buttons on. I had several buttons to choose from and decided finally to use the shell buttons that I use a lot. They’re a natural material and they brighten up the sweater. Plus they’re light and don’t weigh down the fine yarn. I hope my customer will be pleased. Off to Louisiana it goes tomorrow.

I’ve got so many projects in my queue and am heading into a three-day work weekend but I hope the following week will be quiet and I can get some work done. The holidays are coming and I know I need to knit a pair of socks for the hubby and a sweater for the granddaughter but I think that may be all for this year. We aren’t sure where we’re going for the holiday but likely NYC unless they come here which is unlikely this year, I think. Time will tell.

Gone knitting.

Very Little Knitting Going On!

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Wednesday, October 15, 2025

This photo is from yesterday. We had an excellent adventure (again!) We took the little one to school in the morning and when we picked her up in the afternoon we jumped onto the subway downtown to head to The Shed (at Hudson Yards.) My younger daughter, the middle child, works there and she played with Sylvie while my hubby and I saw the show there through the middle of November. The Show is called, Viola’s Room and it’s an immersive theater experience. Six people in a small group enter a dark space, take off their shoes and socks and phones, etc. in a basket (they’re fully supervised) and with headset on, walk through the maze-like show, following the light. It was an experience like I’d never seen before and I was enthralled. The story is narrated by Helena Bonham Carter and you listen as you walk through for about 45 minutes. Highly recommend!

While the granddaughter was in school yesterday, I cleaned up the house a bit and baked an apple pie because her mommy only got one piece of the first pie I made. The Vessel is also at Hudson Yards where we were and it’s a sad thing. Now only open on the first two floors, it has been the site of several suicides. Not what the city or architects expected and now a rather “useless” space.

Over the weekend we visited the Bronx Zoo and I went to see my daughter’s show, Heathers, at New World Stages. Heathers was a big deal in the 90s apparently and even without knowing anything about it, I thoroughly enjoyed the performances. It’s a young cast with many very talented performers and my daughter is one of them. Sylvie rode the carousel at the Zoo three times! I’m guessing that was her favorite thing on that day. LOL

Obviously, wrangling an almost-3-year-old doesn’t allow me to do as much knitting as I normally do. AND I’m ok with that. I’m here to play and care for the kiddo while her parents are working. So we’ve spent a lot of time at the playground, doing craft projects, coloring and watching halloween movies.

I’ve frogged and reknit the mitts for my daughter. It seems that whenever I “know” what I’m doing, I make mistakes. But, I am making progress on the colorwork and have made it up to the second pattern of the mitts so I’m feeling pretty good about these actually getting finished before the winter really arrives in NYC. My daughter chose the black and blue colorway and I think the colors are magnificent. Perfect for NYC wear. The pattern is not intuitive, though, and I struggle to keep the count straight. Especially with the bottom “wave” pattern that I just finished. But I am making progress … slowly.

I have also worked on the Billie pants for my grandson. I have just begun the ribbing on the first leg and will (soon enough) get to the second leg. My plan is to have them done with a sweater to match for Christmas time. Or sooner. We don’t really believe in filling our grandchildren’s lives with stuff so we find books and little things throughout the year and we will invest in 529 educational savings accounts for them both. Being together and not having a relationship based on “what did you buy me?” is more important to us. Of course, if the kids need anything for the grandchildren, we will happily oblige. I’d rather buy ice cream or rainbow bagels on the way to the playground than give a toy that may or may not be played with and just adds to the landfill.

Today we’re picking up from school at 3pm and will head to the playground for an hour since the sun is out and it’s a pretty day. A stop at the pharmacy and grocery store will be on the way home. Everything is on foot here. We are walking so much more than at home and it’s so good for us! Yesterday we did more than 11,000 steps before dinnertime.

Gone knitting.