the Akamai Knitter

The gloves are finished, but at the rate I’m knitting there’s no way I’ll get my Christmas knitting done in time. I’m trying to be okay with that, since none of the recipients are expecting a present from me anyway.

Pattern: Anemor #15(Ravelry link) from Selbuvotter

Yarn: Knitpicks Palette in Black and Petal

Needles: Size 2US/2.75mm (circulars and double points)

Started: December 3, 2007

Finished: December 11, 2007

Despite the fact that one pinky is longer then the other, I think these turned out fairly well for my first pair of gloves. I could fix the pinky issue, but I’m rather reluctant about taking a scissors to something I worked so hard on. So I’m holding off on the pinky fix for now.

I don’t think I’d recommend Selbuvotter to a novice Fair Isle knitter. I found that the number of stitches in the chart for the fingers didn’t match with the number of stitches given in the written directions. So there was a liberal amount of fudging involved.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining! I found the challenge to be a great deal of fun. I think that Terri Shea is planning on correcting these discrepancies in her next printing. Who knows, maybe it’s my inability to properly read directions that’s at fault here. :)

Despite my “whining”, I’m still completely and utterly in love with this book. I have numerous patterns marked for my to do list and I’ve already started my second pair of gloves.

Despite my disappointment with how the pictures came out (it’s a grey day here), I want to share another gratuitous shot of the back of the hand.

In other news, can you believe my veterinarian sent me some flowers in sympathy for Onyx’s passing? They’re just beautiful and I was so touched. Touched and amazed at their kindness. Aren’t they lovely?

A storm blew in last night with wind gusts up to 60mph and when I woke up this morning I saw my mother had left me a note asking me to look out our driveway. What I found was this.

Under that tree lies a truck. I feel really bad for whoever owns that truck. Really bad.

Meanwhile, inside Chez AK, life was much quieter. There’s a new obsession in the air, as Jane surmised, and I’ve been busy feeding it tasty treats.

That’s Annemor #15 (Ravelry Link) and it’s intended for Shelly’s oldest daughter. The pink is much brighter in person, which gives it a big punk rock vibe. Or should I say, pink rock? The skully markers help with the mood too. (They were a birthday gift from my friend Knittybird. I have them in pink and black as well. Too cute!)

Either way, that’s where I was as of Monday night and here’s a progress picture of what I got done as of last night. I should call it a partial progress picture because you can’t see the pinky finger that’s done.

I’m really amazed at how fast these knit up. They just zip by. Or maybe it’s because of how time flies when you’re having fun. :)

Here’s a picture of the pinky finger.

I had some difficulties getting started with this one as I couldn’t figure out which chart to use for the back of the hand and how to align the side stitches and if you look at the number of stitches for each chart can’t you tell that there are too many stitches?

*sigh*

So. I fudged it.

While that’s not the greatest picture (it’s storming here), I think it looks okay.

Forget the pinky. Just look at how pretty the back of the hand is instead.

Did that distract you enough?

The Anemoi Mittens? They are done.

Pattern: Anemoi Mittens by Eunny Jang

Yarn: Louet Gems Pearl in French Blue and Cream

Needles: Size 2 circulars

Started: November 24, 2007

Finished: December 3, 2007

I had a blast knitting these knitting these mittens. I love stranded color work and mittens make a really quick instant gratification project.

The pattern was very well written and easy to follow. I was particularly impressed by how well the charts were presented. They were clear and just the right size to follow with the naked eye. All in all, it was well worth however much I spent.

And the yarn? The yarn was a joy to work with. It’s 100% Merino and silky smooth to the touch. Though I’ll probably recommend handwashing the mittens, I love that it’s a superwash yarn. I think it’s good insurance against having them mistakenly thrown into the washing machine.

Gratuitous shot of the inside.

The Fair Isle bug has hit hard. I plan on doing more as I just received the book Selbuvotter. Only this time around I’ll be tackling the more challenging shape of gloves. I’ve already started a pair for Shelly‘s daughter. More on that tomorrow. ;-)

First off, I wanted to thank you all for the wonderful comments and emails of condolences regarding Onyx’s passing. You have all helped make this difficult time for me so much easier. I can’t say that I’m back to 100% but I am feeling a little better and I have been able to do a little bit of knitting.

Not much progress has been made on my Seaweed Lace Socks (Ravelry Link). I only managed to get past the heel. It hasn’t been much of a priority since this pair is for me and I’ve got to get some other things done first.

I did manage to finish up the Anemoi Mittens to the point of where all that’s left is the thumbs. It’s a good thing too as I’d hate for my friend Dani to leave the islands without these because it’ll be quite an adjustment for her. She’ll be going from temperatures of 80F to 50F. Brr. (Yes, I’m a total wimp.)

There is one project that I’ve been working on for myself and that’s the Something Tweedy. It’s a completely mindless knit, which makes it something akin to comfort food. I find it perfect for those times when I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by my feelings of grief over the loss of Onyx. Though I have to admit that it’s also great football knitting too. (Go Warriors!)

Right now it’s at the point where it actually looks like a sweater, instead of a brown blob of ew. I was a very good girl and took the sweater off the needles to try it on and it fits! There’s nothing like having the confidence in knowing a garment fits to make the knitting all the sweeter.

Another great comfort has been my other two cats. Pressie and Quincy have been wonderfully affectionate since Onyx has been gone. I don’t talk much about Pressie here on the blog because she’s always been more my mother’s cat, but lately she’s been sticking to me like velcro whenever my mother’s out of the house.

We adopted her back in 2001 (at least I think that’s the year) and she was already an adult at that time. She had been a feral cat when she had been rescued. At the time she was rescued she was also pregnant with two kittens. By the time we came into the picture, Pressie’s kittens had already been adopted out.

Pressie didn’t have such good luck. I think it was mostly because of her appearance. She had to have her ears cropped because of some cancerous growths. She also has some really horrible eye allergies which makes it seem like she’s crying blood. So she sometimes looks a little like a demon cat. In fact she’s been known to strike fear in the hearts of men.

(I kid you not. Once, she really scared one of the strong hurly burly workmen we had working on the house. He was afraid she might attack him and she only weighs maybe 7lbs and he was at least 180lbs of pure muscle.)

Regardless of her appearance to others, she is one of the sweetest cats I have ever had the privilege of being with and I thought she deserved some time on the blog.

Thanks for reading, I didn’t know I had such a ramble in me! Have a great week/day/evening! :-)

… but I’ve been busy. The past week has been filled with football. Lots and lots of football. (UH won the WAC Championshop! YAY!) With football, comes knitting. Lots and lots of knitting.

I managed to finish the Ariann and I am ever so pleased with it. I still have to put buttons on it and block the collar, so I’m holding off on photos until I can get that done. Instead I have three other projects that I’ve got to show you.

First up is a sock that I began right after I finished the Idle Love socks. I got the pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks and I’m using Shibui sock yarn with size 1US/2.25mm needles.

Gosh, I love this yarn! It’s so soft and smooshy. There’s some very subtle pooling, but I can live with it because the colors are just so gorgeous. I might even dare to say that I like it.

The color is called Seaweed, so I’m calling this sock Seaweed Lace Rib. The pattern even reminds me a little of seaweed.

Next up is a present for Dani who is moving to Washington State. Dani has worked with one of my doctors for years and has always treated me with kindness that goes beyond the call of duty. I’m going to miss her tremendously so I really want to make her something special.

I have until December 15th to finish so I needed something that would knit up quickly. I decided to make her a pair of Anemoi Mittens since she’s not used to northern winters. I really hope she likes the design. I love it, but I don’t know her well enough to say she will.

Finally, I couldn’t resist casting on for another sweater for myself. I chose the pattern Something Red. I’m using Tatamy Tweed with size 4US/3.5mm needles. I adore this yarn. It’s so soft and easy to knit with that I often forget that I’m working with cotton.

I’m only loosely following the pattern as I had to recalculate the numbers to accommodate my gauge. I really couldn’t have done it without the help of Shelly and this website. With the success of Ariann and Shelly at my side, I’m feeling much more confident in my sweater making abilities.

That’s it for now! I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving!