Playing catch-up

So, obviously...it's, uh, been a while.

:::sheepish look:::

Nothing in particular has been happening to prevent the blogging - no family crises, no vacations, no anything of that sort...just other regular life stuff getting in the way.

So the next several posts are probably going to be filled with me going back over the knitting I've been doing in the past few months.

We start with the most recent: the winter holiday gift I finished for DD1's teacher in the wee hours of last Friday morning. When last you saw me, I was planning to do a coordinating hat/mitts set to take advantage of the fact that he is a Toronto Maple Leafs and Marlies fan: Leafs motifs on the hat, and Marlies motifs on the mitts.

What I instead decided to do were double-knitted mittens, with "away" colours on one side and "home" colours on the other. Leafs motif on the backs of the hands, Marlies motif on the palms. Peasant thumb, with the outside of the thumb exactly mirroring the pattern on the palm if you hold the thumb closed, and then on the inside of the thumb, a mini Leafs motif.

So here's the progression of the project.

The bottom ribbing:

Main section started:

Well into the main section (sorry about the blurriness, this is what happens when you can only take pictures when it's dark outside and flash makes your knitting shots look bad)

First mitten done with ends still unwoven, palm side up to show pattern when thumb is held closed

Completed, backs of hands

Completed, palms

And finally, just for fun, both sides simultaneously:

I lurves them so much! DD1 says that her teacher did, too. :)

When the current knitting crisis is over, I'll write up the pattern.

This is how the blog gets its name

Socks?
Hat?
Blanket?
Sweater?
Christmas knitting of any kind?

Pah!

What I really needed to do this past week, apparently, was think up, and become obsessed with, a new design. I knitted a sample out of scrap yarn, figured out some changes I need to make so that it works better, and am now doing up a real version in a 3-month size for a co-worker who is expecting in December. (The colourway is fantastic and it's coming out beautifully. I lurve it.) I'm also going to do samples in a 4-year size (to be modelled by DD2) and a 6- or 8-year size (to be modelled by DD1).

Not quite sure what I'm going to do with this pattern yet - self-publish or submit it somewhere - so I'm going to keep a bit mum about it until I know for sure.

I also found out that another co-worker is expecting in December (yep, that makes three of 'em in total). This one I'm completely excited about because my understanding is that he and his wife have been trying for years and have had at least one loss. :( So I'm going to go a little nuts for that one. He's a big comic book fan, so I'm going to make another Spiderman blanket. (I suspect his wife might not be overly thrilled, but he will think it's totally cool, so I don't care. :)

Oh, and also also, DD1 came home with the news that her teacher this year is "sporty" and likes the Toronto Maple Leafs and Marlies. So I have decided that the dude is getting a coordinating hat/mitts set, with Leafs motifs on the hat and Marlies motifs on the mitts. It's going to be great.