Good for what ails you

After a few months of actually trying to finish my swapped afghan I have been aching to just sit down and knit something. I've been edging (in crochet) all those squares with a navy yarn before seaming to give the afghan a stained glass kind of look. I'm closing in on the end but it just feels like it will never be over! I really want to finish it soon so I haven't made much effort to find a knitting project to work on.

Last Friday I found out that I was missing a knit-night at the local Bridgehead. I got myself together and went out for a few hours. What I didn't know was that they were doing a destashing knit night. Well, absolutely unprepared for this turn of events I came home with about two bags of other peoples' previously loved yarn! I certainly don't need any more yarn; in a couple of years I'm sure I could set up my own shop. I just wasn't mentally prepared to resist the option of free yarn...free wool yarn at that!

My yearning to knit coupled with the unexpected windfall conspired to rewrite my weekend. I immediately put the new yarn to use. I started with three balls of Filatura di Crosa Magico. The yarn has a lot of character and the colours are gorgeous. I didn't do anything fancy with the pattern, just garter stitch with the occasional row of double-wrap thrown in. The yarn can just sing on its own. Three balls and a couple of movies over the weekend and I came up with my new favourite scarf. Aren't knit-nights wonderful?

Continuing Illusions

Season of Illusion

It seems that illusion-knit dishcloths are all I've been doing lately. It all started with a swap and things just went crazy from there. I think just about everyone on my Christmas list will be getting one of these. I just can't stop!

(my favourite so far)
ravelry link

Oh Christmas Tree
ravelry link

Let it snow!
ravelry link

(if you squint you can see the world!)
ravelry link

mind-blowing, these-are-so-incredibly-cool(!!) socks

My mother mentioned that she would like some ankle socks. Freshly finished the army socks, with such appreciation, I decided to attack it head on. I happened to find a copy of Gerdine Crawford-Strong's Lace socks pattern on my computer that I had downloaded from Knitter's Magazine. It looked intriguing and it quickly took over my brain.

This is the first sock I made that was different. Very different. Most of it was done on two needles. There's picking up and increasing and decreasing and holy cow I couldn't think of anything else!


All I could think about while knitting these socks was knitting more of these socks.


Mom likes them too. She thinks they're pretty cool but still won't take up four needles, even for the short time you need all four.


As for me - I can't wait for the next pair!

soldier socks

It had been awhile since I'd knit socks, and I was itching to knit some socks. I thought kids' socks would be the perfect thing. Socks and a quick knit. These took just over a month. Basically I improvised them with a little help from the guidelines in the Yarn Harlot's Knitting Rules.

He wore them three days straight! Not bad for pleasing a nine-year old. Today he was wearing them with camo pants and a camo jacket. I have another ball of this yarn...maybe I should make him a toque?

Master Peso

Behold my most recent masterpiece! I made it for my mother's birthday last year.

Irish Rose Doily, circa 1949

It took patience, determination, and a very small hook. Each rose and leaf took about twenty minutes to finish, and each swirl took about a half hour.



I learned a lot from making it and I was so thrilled with the result I had trouble actually parting with it. I just wanted to keep it with me and show it to everyone I met up with and say, "look what I made!"

My mother loves it. Her initial response to it? "I didn't know you had doilies in you!"

Surprises all around.

Piggyback times three

Welcome to my new go-to dishcloth pattern. It's called piggyback & I found the pattern in 280 Crochet Shell Patterns by Darla Sims. It looked interesting, but still sturdy enough to scrub dishes.

I made myself a small-ish one, just for something fun and quick. I enjoyed it so much I made another one with the rest of the ball and gave it to my friend. I since tried it with Bernat's striping cotton and loved the results even more!

I think it's the perfect match, the striping cotton with this pattern. I think a number of people I'm close with will find one in their kitchen soon.