well, today, i have an update on what i am going to knit next. i am knitting a pair of wristlets. i have been wanting to knit a pair of wristlets forever. so, i was super excited to have a very good excuse to purchase the pattern that has been sitting in my Ravelry queue. i am substituting yarn. not only did I promise myself that i would make a dent in my Ravelry queue, i also promised myself that i would make a dent in my yarn stash. fortunately, i have a skein of Classic Elite Fresco in white that has been languishing for over a year. i purchased it at Knitty City when one of my knitting friends came for a visit. it was so soft and pretty (60% wool, 30% baby angora and 10% angora) that i bought it without having a project in mind for it. always a big mistake for me. alas. the day has come. it is perfect for this project! now, i just need to wind the yarn into a center pull ball and i am ready to do a gauge swatch. yes!

i will share photos of my progress and an update on the other projects i plan to cast-on.

okay. i know that i am not the only one who has a boat load of Ravelry patterns in their queue. there was a point this winter where i looked at my queue and thought to myself, “i want to wear that. i wish had those glove or that sweater now. i am so freakin’ cold.” however, no matter how cold it was outside, i could not muster the requisite energy to dig into my queue. it is actually very perplexing to me that now that the weather is getting warmer, i am suddenly taking a second look at my queue and saying, “i am going to knit that.” light bulb moment. i have come to the realization that i am a warm weather knitter. it is not something that i am proud of. i see it as a bit of an affliction, actually. i spent most of the winter reading other peoples blogs, so jealous of all of the cool stuff that they have been able to accomplish while i was sitting twiddling my thumbs unable to knit. now, instead of feeling sorry myself, i feel empowered. i am going to embrace warm weather knitting and plan accordingly for the winter lull.

in preparation for this rebirth into knitting (it is spring after all), i have printed out all of the patterns that i want to attack and placed them into binders. i figured that the physical presence of them outside of Ravelry will make them all the more real to me.

this may be overly ambitious but i decided that i should cast-on multiple projects. typically, i am one project girl. but i think that may be the root of my problem. i need a little variety. it will probably help me get through the tough patches when a pattern is not working out. so, the plan is to do one of each of the following: original design, sock, accessory and sweater. i don’t only want to make a dent. i want to demolish my Ravelry queue. you may wonder, well, what projects are you going to do? i have not decided yet. stay tuned. all will be revealed in due course.

i have started a new project and i am almost done with my fingerless mittens. as you can see, i placed a yellow stitch marker on the right mitten. this is because i was knitting both mittens flat on a single circular needle. this helped me tell the difference between the two mittens as i got closer to shaping the thumb gussets.

i have decided to knit a special someone a twined knitted hat (a/k/a an impossibly difficult to pronounce Swedish technique called “tvaandssticking”). it is my first attempt at it. the trick is holding the yarn properly in your right hand. if you are using two different colors, it is a good idea to wind the lighter color ball of yarn in the center of the darker color yarn ball (both center pull balls). you pull from the center for the inside lighter ball and the outside for the darker ball. it helps to minimize twisting of the two balls of yarn. you can also easily untwist the yarn by sticking a needle through the center of the two color yarn ball and pulling the two different colored yarns in opposite directions. smart, huh?

i am going to Vermont today for a foliage viewing weekend. yeah! an added bonus to going up to Vermont is the chance to stop-in on some yarn shops along the way. bliss. i am bringing a project along for the car ride. i am knitting a pair of gloves. i am notoriously horrible with finishing projects. i am specifically horrible at finishing projects that come in pairs (socks, mittens, gloves, cuffs). therefore, i have decided to only do them if i can knit them two at a time. i decided to knit these gloves flat and sew them up when i finish. it is not as cute as doing them in the round but at least i will have two gloves when i am done.

i started by knitting a tension swatch. i measured it with my handy dandy square gauge. the yarn is rowan (love) purelife british sheep breeds DK undyed (mid brown jacob).

i always have my Dandelion Notion Keychain with me.  you will need two balls of yarn to knit two gloves at a time on a circular needle.  it is super easy.  all you do is cast on the required number of stitches for each glove.  start knitting as usual.   it is a good idea to keep the two yarn balls away from one another when knitting so they do not get tangled.

left for the Vineyard on Sunday. brought a knitting project on the trip.  it is soon to be a bright yellow circular cushion for our couch. the yarn: rowan lenpur linen. unfortunately, forgot 4 mm needles. decided to go ahead and use my 3.5 mm needles.  fingers crossed.

there is nothing like sitting in the backyard knitting on a summers day.