Staying inside and keeping warm

I ventured into the Stitchin' Post for some sock needles and a little bit of yarn followed me home. There is a loop hole in my goal for this year concerning yarn purchases. I will need to be more specific ... next year.

It is possible that we are heading toward Spring (although I did find myself the other morning counting out the months of winter left to go and thinking that there weren't enough). I am noticing a bit of yellow in my next two project; a sure sign of a transition. This past summer, every project I started contained green. Then I began working with teal and incorporating blue into my projects. Then as you've witnessed, blue was it. This project is a cozy cowl for my friend Beth. I hope it helps to keep her warm!

I am happy to report that I am making great progress on a recently started sweater. Here is a quick preview. A great benefit of the cold temperatures outside and a collective hybernation amongst your friends is that there is plenty of time left for drinking tea, watching to see what birds come to the feeders and knitting. And there has been a lot of knitting.

And who wouldn't want to get back inside when you have this guy waiting for you!

Blue is the color

It seems to be the color my eye is drawn to. It started back in October at the Rhinebeck Sheep & Wool Festival. The first project I started when I returned was the Guilford Guernsey from Yankee Knitter Designs (pattern #17 by Melinda Goodfellow). We had just moved into a new house and I was already layering with wool, so I thought a big ole Drafty House Sweater was just what I needed.

I loved working on this sweater. The yarn that I wanted to use, Wild Apple Wool in Midnight from Wild Apple Hill Farm, would not knit down to the gauge the pattern required. Luckily I had been reading plenty of Elizabeth Zimmerman's thoughts on knitting and figured I could figure my way out of this. I was able to knit in the comfortable gauge of four stitches per inch instead of five, I followed the smallest adult size, and kept an eye on it. Like magic, it came out in exactly my size.

While Christmas shopping at Trumpet Hill in Albany, NY, the next project jumped right into my hands. Regia 4-ply in Petrol. Perfect for a pair of leisure socks for Socks for Soldiers, Inc.

Much like efforts made by knitters during the Civil War or World War II, a group of knitters has gathered together to provide love, support and fine wool socks to US soldiers serving overseas.

I began my first pair of leisure socks while waiting for the yarn in a regulation color to arrive.

And the final blue project is Emilie's Hooded Scarf knit with Mountain Mohair in Maritime, all from the Green Mountain Spinnery.

I finished this cozy one yesterday, just in time for the latest snowstorm. I was walking around during the storm thinking that I had way overdressed and the conditions weren't as bad as they looked, until I realized that I was completely wrapped in wool and down. I highly recommend this project if it drops below freezing where you live and you plan on leaving your house during the winter months.

a fresh start

For the new year, something warm and cozy for me.

This yarn has been waiting patiently... Several seasons back I traveled to the Green Mountain Spinnery and found their Emilie's Hooded Scarf pattern. This Mountain Mohair in maritime came home with me and sat, waiting until now. We just had some blustery, cold weather; a prelude to the rest of winter. I found myself wanting that hooded scarf now. So onto the needles it went.