M.E.'s Trio

Whoo hoo. I finally made something for my gf, Mary Ellen or better known at M.E. No not *me*. M.... E.... said like Emmy. Who's on first? Anyway, I'm giddy because it's done and happy that I even got outside on a nice day to take the picture of it. I must admit though it feels a little odd standing outside on an 80 degree day wearing a hat, scarf, mittens, hoodie and shorts.

Ahh. Feels great to have it done and I think it looks pretty darn good too. Would you believe that I must have started that darn scarf at least 3 times trying to wrap my brain around it. Then it dawned on me that I really needed to follow the of keeping the multiples the same and (doh) cast on the right number. Ah, the act of frogging sure builds patience and knowledge.

What's the next project? Yikes... knitting wise I have 4 unfinished projects right now. The dishcloth for Jeannie which I need to "embroider", that crochet jacket, Dave's clogs and the dragon scarf. Plus I'm kinda thinking it would be fun to include a doggie jacket for M.E.'s terrier Buddy since the Road Scarf is basically a gift to keep her warm while walking the dog and talking to me on the phone. There's also a gob of ivy growing and I'm just dying to try making my own ivy wreaths.

The patterns I based M.E.'s knitted trio are:

THE ROAD SCARF - Lion Brand Yarn
I modified it a little bit because I didn't want it quite so wide. I got to use several new patterns making this scarf too. Heck any patterns can be used so long as they are all divisible by the same number then just add 8 to the cast on for the seed stitch edging.

MITTENS FOR ME - "Dropped a Stitch" blog
These mittens were knitted from the top down. I'm almost kicking myself for not putting part of the pattern theme in them like near the wrist. If I make these again, I would start with a narrower top and use more increases so the top isn't so flat. I did like the way the thumb is added on using live stitches that were created while knitting the body of the glove; this eliminated the whole gusset thing with most mitts and they fit so what the heck ... easier is sometimes better. (? come on, I must be kidding myself). WIP post

LIVE DANGEROUSLY DON'T SWATCH - "I'm knitting as fast as I can" blog
A top-down knitted hat. I really liked the top down construction of this hat plus it allowed me to add my own patterns after the increasing part. I did want a looser hat so my friend's hair doesn't get mashed after a short winter walk, but the hat is a bit too big. I've discovered that I knit way looser with circular needles than I do with dpns which is probably because the dpns are wood and don't slide as easily. They do stay in place though :) Maybe next time I can try using a smaller circ than the dpn size I started with or cast on less stitches and make the dpn part longer. That last sentence really makes me wonder if I'm actually getting the hang of this knitting thing! WIP posts 1 and 2