Tuesday, October 26, 2010

No More Waffle Mittens...Until NEXT YEAR!!

I am so excited today!

I finished Lauren's Waffle Mittens! Now I can start working on Tammy's Mock Cable Mittens...SWEET!!! I love how so many people love them, but I want to knit more than just Waffle Mittens. I mean there will forever be an indentation in my 60 Quick Knits book, but it is time for me to move on. I'm so sick of them. I did realize that I have been making the mittens wrong this entire time. Originally, the mittens are supposed to be K 2 rounds then k2, p2 for two rounds. Instead, I did k all for 2 rounds and then k1, p2. That's cool though; it's my own variation of the design. It makes my projects more unique.

More Waffles!

Lauren was very pleased with her mittens...and they fit her perfectly. Call me strange, but whenever I plan on making mittens for anybody, I always measure their hands. This way the mitten customized. I normally don't have any issues with the hand itself fitting; it is the thumb that I worry about. There have been a few times where the thumb did not fit correctly, resulting in the yarn either stretching or being too big for the person. When knitted objects aren't made to perfection, people don't wear them. That makes me sad. I would rather see people wear their knitted goods than paying for them. (Don't get me wrong, I do charge, but it's probably not as much as I should charge. It's more of an incentive to finish the knitted project.) When people are wearing EMBellished Mittens...more people want them! That means two things: more knitting and $$$!

So for these new mittens I am making... they are from my favorite book: 60 Quick Knits: 20 Hats, 20 Scarves 20 Mittens from Cascade 220.

My New Project! So Excited!!

They are the Cables & Striped Mittens created by SpillyJane. The only downside to making these mittens are that Tammy is requesting me to make the mittens cotton...and not just any cotton...Lion Bran Cotton Fleece...probably one of the hardest types of cotton for me to work with. I am going to keep an open mind though while I knit them: hopefully it won't be too hard on my hands.

Sugar'N'Cream...

In other news, I am almost done with my Bulky Flip Tops. I ran out of Nashua Persia Yarn and have to pick some more up on Sunday. For some reason, I used more brown than white. I think it has to do with the fact I used brown for both the thumb and for the cover of the flap. Now all I gotta do is finish the other mitten and attach the mittens and they will be done!


Bulky Flip Tops!

That is all for now! Keep looking back for another exciting entry of EMBellished Knits soon!

E

Monday, October 18, 2010

Yarn Purchasing, Forever Waffle Mittens



Well I finally did it...the room is clean! All organized of yarn! It's pretty damn exciting. All of my yarn is now recorded in my Ravelry account. It took me over a week to really get the yarn all organized and what not. Now that I have purchased enough yarn for an entire state to knit for, I'm going to lay low on the purchasing yarn for a while.

However, sometimes it is required to purchase yarn. And I am okay with that.

I never really had any confidence in myself with knitting--actually scrapbooking is the only skill I have any true courage in. Somehow, in someway, people still want me to knit for them. This is always a very exciting adventure. Right now I have two clients, both girls I go to school with, that are paying me to make mittens for them!!!! One pair is the (dreaded only because this is pair 6 this year alone) Waffle Mittens from 60 Quick Knits...the other...the Bulky Flip Top Mittens!


Sixth time is the charm!!!! Casting on to make mitten 2!


Mitten 1 still needs a thumb!!!



The Waffle Mittens are being knitted on Nashua Creative Focus. She wanted a color that showed off the pattern but yet wasn't too light or dark. I had a hard time finding the perfect yarn for her. In the end, I made my boyfriend Tim stop at Iris Yarns in Appleton so I could purchase a skein for her. So far I am not disappointed in the yarn. It sometimes plies and has that mohair look towards it. Yet it is soft and warm. I'm shocked by the fact, despite my 2 month vacation from Waffle Mittens, I still have the pattern memorized. I'm really excited though for Lauren to get EMBellished Mittens. Everybody really needs mittens in their lives and I'm glad people turn to me for them!!

This was also the first time I tried Crystal Palace Double Points. I'm not a fan, they are small and for some reason feel like they take forever to knit. I am going to still use the Crystal Palace for the second mitten for Lauren, but the next pair of Waffles I make (I have another order!!!) I am going to use my Clovers again.


The Bulkly Flip Tops...well...finding THAT yarn was also an adventure! I needed something that would benefit Client #2. She requested for Alpaca, but I knew if I got 100% she'd be paying me about 40 bucks for a pair of flip tops. I couldn't afford to float out the money anymore than she could probably pay for it. However, at the very last possible yarn we could find in Spin, I did find a wonderfully soft Baby Alpaca, Wool Blend from Nashua. It was a divine miracle we could find it! It is really perfect! Reasonable, but soft and washable. I am using 2 skiens of Nashua Paradise for her mittens. I'm most excited to make the Bulky only because it is a new pattern to work on. I haven't used too many patterns outside of the 60 quick knits book in a while. Also--I used this lady's pattern's before and loves the way she writes them!!! I urge you to pick up your own copy of any of Jeanne's work (Sourire11 on Ravelry) Jeanne also wrote the pattern for Mod-Cabled Mittens, which I bought yarn for in particular in Chicago for Stitches Mid-West.


As for the rest of my life...well schoolwork is still dominating it. I pulled an all night adventure at the Mulva Library on Tuesday Night/Morning because of my Resource Binder. I turned that in on Thursday and was on a party-scene binge for two days. Now I am back on track... to find out we have another big project due in that class!!! When will the work ever end?

I was able to sneak out to knit at the library this weekend, but it wasn't the same as my Wednesday night knitting group...sometime about the smell of coffee is just missing there. That and comfortable chairs. Thankfully Zoe helped me feed that addiction in Door County the next day. We saw Kasey Jean Hembel's Route 66 Art Show. I got two photographs, both beautiful and has that KJH mark on it! Zoe and I are going to come back up on Halloween for another DC adventure (maybe we can get the third Mousekateer to come along;))


FOREVER WAFFLES!!!!

Until we meet again!
E