2012, the year of the selfish knits

Since I have started knitting - only a year a half ago - I have actively knit for others. I have done some things for myself, like the Owl Sweater and some random projects but I still wear store bought mittens, a hat, scarves, I tend to use my own projects as learning curves and keep them more out of necessity that no one else would want them than them really being for me. 


My hot water bottle cover was the first thing for me. Since then I have knit a few things for my Etsy shop and considered making things for specific other people. I like making things for people and seeing them enjoy the gift... but maybe this year I should make things for me? I could learn some socks, do some sweaters, finally use that white and grey cashmere merino wool I bought last year for a shawl or something useless and lovely. 


Enter the teal alpaca mittens. I made a pink pair of these for my co-worker and loved them while I knit, so when I started the teal I could already picture them on my own hands. Currently they lie in my Finished Box, without thumbs. 

Why the finished box? So that I don't finish them and have to sell them. I want to keep them. But I don't need another pair, I already have a fingerless mitten that I actually made (first time knitting in the round, first time doing colour work, first time ribbing, I learned a lot on those mittens and to be honest they still aren't cast off properly!). 


Tomorrow I will finish my item for my Etsy shop (HWB cover, what else) and then finish these teal mittens... but tell me, do I have to sell them??? 


Alpaca is amazing. Knit with pure alpaca as soon as you can. Go buy some now. Make these mittens. Really.... Really... YOU MUST!

One, Two, Three, Four....

I HAVE SOLD SOMETHING! Its amazing!

These mittens have been a hit (and they're a lot easier than the ones I was doing before) and I've managed to sell two already and then had some people enquire about a few more!

Here are the green ones. You can see the thumbs have changed and I'm not overjoyed about that but I think it looks better than having a second colour added on!

The first pair I sold were these amazing Alpaca ones in a hot pink that I'm in love with. I bought the wool at Romni in Toronto and that store is a cave labyrinth of amazing-ness. These were from the Dungeon of Sales in the basement! I removed one repeat of the pattern at the bottom to ensure I had enough left for the thumbs and I did! (Just!)

The pink ones were sold to a friend from work and we are a team of 3, so naturally my other colleague wanted a pair too. This purple is from English wool company Wendy and its' their Bliss line and its really soft (and cheap, woot woot!). I think its my new favourite standard yarn. Just hope they come out with even more colours. You can kinda see the flecks of pinky purple with bluey purple in this colourway. 

Distraction

I have done some new mittens. Not colourwork but a lace project that looks like cable. Its pretty neat! Its a free pattern I found on Ravelry and only takes one skein of yarn so I thought I would have a go. I have a lot of WONDERFUL balls of wool that are lonely orphans and so can really only lend themselves to this type of project. They are called Autumnal Mittens and the pattern is really simple! Its a great project for starters in lacework!

Its going well enough, except that I kinda ran out of yarn at the end of the second mitten so Im having to take some of the ribbing out of the first one to make sure they match. PAIN in the BOTTOM!

Here's what it looked like before I had to modify it....

I don't like this colour enough to order more of it, so I will just have to live with the modifications and hope no one notices (Im not doing a very good job of hiding it am I???). I'm a bit worried now to start another pair but my friend wants bright pink and I actually have this amazing bright pink Alpaca yarn I keep trying to find a project for. And really, I started these as a practice to use that yarn so its the perfect chance! I'll just have to cut the ribbing at the bottom a bit short and preserve a bit more of the yarn! Le Sigh..... 

I will show a picture of these when they're done too!