Ouch! Cast Covers for Toasty Tootsies

Poor Pam!  She was petting a dog on a farm in Green Bay, Wisconsin, a few weeks back.

The dog was a great big dog (a Great Pyrenees).   A youthful, vivacious, great big dog.  Good dog!

A grumpy old sheep came along and apparently did not like the looks of the dog.  So the sheep some how collided with the dog and the dog some how collided with Pam.  Bad sheep!

Poor Pam!  Ankle broken in three places, both lower leg bones also broken, two plates and five screws placed during surgery.  Pam is now safely back home in Illinois but winter is coming and her toes were getting cold. She asked for some covers for her cast to keep her toes warm.   She suggested a cap "like for a new born".  I made six, hoping at least one would work well for her.

I made two in crochet (like the purple cap pictured above); one small and one large. It's hard to make something for someone several states away.

I made two in pale blue... one knit (above) and one crochet (below).

Finally, I made two using self-striping yarn in knit two, purl two ribbing; a short version and a longer version.  Pam says the one listed below is working out best. 

Sorry for the "not so glamorous" photos. I snapped the photos in my car on the way from work to the post office to mail these off.

Yummy Socks

I have been spending a bit of time at my local yarn shop, “Grandma’s Beads and Yarn”. I typically knit there with a group of friends on Thursdays in the afternoon but, once in a while, especially since school is back in session, I find myself at the knit shop a little more often.  Michelle, the shop’s owner, loves to show me the new yarn that arrives each week; she is really a hoot.  She won’t just let you look at the yarn; she hands it to you so you can really appreciate how nice and soft it is.  Michelle’s favorite adjective for yarn is “yummy,” as in… “isn’t this yarn YUMMY?!” and as she says this, her eyes get really big, she sort of arches her eyebrows, and she doesn’t blink as she looks at your face to see your reaction to the yarn.  Yep, she’s a hoot and quite the sales person.  And, of course, I am more than happy to help support this shop.

This week I bought some new yarn by Classic Elite Yarn called “Liberty Wool Light” in a color way featuring shades of blues, off-white, and lavender. The yarn comes in some interesting color ways and surprising color combinations.  Liberty Wool Light is “sport weight” and it knit up quickly this weekend into a pair of comfy socks I plan to wear around the house. They are YUMMY.   I am not sure this is the best yarn for socks... it's all wool and contains no nylon to help them keep their shape (I think that's what nylon does). But these socks are are great for lounging on the sofa, which is precisely what I intend to do... time to cast on another pair of socks!  I am in a sock-sort-of mood. I get that way sometimes.

KnitPurlHunter projects

Disappearing Act (Sock #1 in progress... from the toe up)

Striped Infinity Scarf (my 3rd time making this pattern... I love it!)

October Knit A-long called "Intertwisted"
Clue #1 on the left with Clue #2 to the right of that.  Clue #3 is in the works.

Fall is a busy time of year.  Now that the high school tennis season is over, the leaves in the yard are keeping us busy.  I have been spending a lot of time cooking and baking, mowing and mulching leaves, knitting and knitting... and that pesky full-time job of mine keeps me busy too.  I am trying to find a good balance between being active and being sedentary. I've noticed in the four years I have been knitting, it's really easy to forgo exercise when I am excited to knit.  But balance is important.  This fall, I have enjoyed going for lots of walks but, now that it's getting cold out, I've been checking out classes offered at the gym.  So far I am liking yoga.  In the evenings I find a bit of time to knit.  I am working on three things right now and all are patterns from Michelle Hunter (patterns on her blog www.knitpurlhunter.com)  As you can tell, I am a big fan of her patterns?!

Tofutsies

I made these socks over the past few weeks.  I used "Tofutsies" yarn which is made out of soy silk, merino wool, and chitin (made from lobster and crab shells).   Pretty wild, huh?

I did not realize it until I was knitting these socks that the colors in the yarn are my high school colors. Doh!  My friend "K2" likes to point that out and tease me about that.

"Seriously Kim?  Our high school colors? What were you thinking!?"  We went to Aloha High School in Beaverton, Oregon.  Go Warriors!  Blue-Gold-Green!  Oh, and just so you know "Aloha" is pronounced "uh-lowwa"... not "uh-low-HA".  It's important. Trust me.

My first short row heels. I followed the instructions for the short row heel in the book called "Socks a la Carte".  The book exclusively uses Tofutsies yarn in the patterns.  I can see why; the yarn is so nice and comes in a variety of nice colors.
 

Dr. Seuss Mitts

For some reason, when I was finishing these mitts, the colors and random pattern reminded me of a colorful Dr. Seuss book...
so I am calling these my "Dr. Seuss Mitts".

 

 

A few weeks back, I went to my local yarn shop, Grandma's Beads and Yarn. I've not been able to go much this summer but, now that school is back in session, I am able to go hang out with the girls on Thursdays.  It's always a treat to see my friends.  While I am at the shop, I keep telling myself... I don't need yarn, I don't need MORE yarn... but I put my knitting down on the table at the shop and walk around and look at all the pretty, yummy yarn.  I found this intriguing, solitary ball of yarn called Knitcol (from Italy).  I think it's a merino wool sport or DK weight yarn.  The color combination was unusual and the yarn spoke to me... buy me... make mitts.

 

So I did. 

 

I squeeked out a very matchy-matchy pair of fingerless mitts.  I had to piece things together a bit at the end to make things match.  I wish I could have ended the mitts with a dark color and the mitts do stretch out a bit when I wear them.  Whatever the case may be, I liked finding inspiration in a colorful, solitary ball of yarn.  

Holden... A Shawl

Holden is a shawl pattern I've admired for awhile. I got this yarn from Knit Picks with a gift certificate from my Mom for Christmas. Thanks, Mom!!!

This is Knit Picks Stroll in a colorway called "Lullaby". The yarn is "tonal"... shades of blue but there is purple in there too. It's very nice yarn... so soft. I enjoyed knitting with it.  Holden is a free pattern; I found it on Ravelry.  In the pattern photos, the designer shows the shawl being worn in this fashion like a neckerchief.  I think I might be able to pull off this look.  I don't intend to wear this shawl with this shirt but it does allow you to see the eyelet well, doesn't it? 

Snapped a photo of myself in the mirror. I am loving the gray streak in my hair at the temple.  :) 

My "free" highlights!  Ha, ha!

Striped Infinity Scarf #2

 

Another Striped Infinity Scarf.  A fun, relaxing knit.  The pattern is by Michelle Hunter at www.knitpurlhunter.com.  This is a great project to have on the needles... you can grab it and go... and knit a row here and there while waiting to pick up your kid after school or after sports practice. Also great for TV knitting.  I like to have an easy pattern like this to work on to take a break from something more complicated such as a charted lace shawl.  And the results are so great... such a wearable piece.  The first scarf I made with this pattern was made with Zauberball (fingering weight yarn, about 450 yards of yarn) which yielded a very long scarf. I like to wear it tripled up around neck.  This version is made with Crystal Palace's Mini Mochi which, to me, comes in amazing colorways.  This colorway is called "Crayon Box" and I used about 1 1/2 skeins (fingering weight, about 300 yards).   The recipient is a friend, Mrs. C.  I met her when our boys were in kindergarten and they are now sophomores in high school.  She's a grade school teacher, a very nice lady, a terrific mom... she is very petite and I think she'll like this shorter version of the scarf.  The yarn surprisingly has a lot of brown in it which you don't necessarily see in the photos.  I see Mrs. C wearing lots of earthy browns and when I showed this to my husband and said I planned to gift this to Mrs. C, my husband said, "Oh, those ARE her colors!"  Funny the things he notices.  I am glad he concurred.

 
A sunlight photo... my only window with southern exposure is in the dinky laundry room!  Check out my new dryer. Ha, ha!

Hubby snapped a photo for me. Wet hair... just out of the shower.  I should have smiled more! :)
Love this scarf. Tempted to keep for myself but I can always make another!