Moving past mittens

I finished one mitten this week and delivered it to the store as a sample for the class. It turned out well. I will make the other one at a later time when it isn't such a stress on my hands.

Here is the mitten on my hand. Since it is a right hand mitten, I was trying to take a pic with my left hand and so it is a bit out of focus. But I wanted to show that since the other two photos look identical.
This is the back of the mitten. Once blocked, the fringe no longer curls up. I was worried about that but it blocked out nicely.
This is the palm. If you look carefully, you can see the thumb. I am very pleased how invisible it is because that is the way it is in Liz Upitis's book. So now I feel as if this is authentic.On to a simple pair of socks for another class. It is an Evelyn Clark design and I'm using Claudia's handpainted sock yarn. I'll save photos of that for next week.

No further mitten progress

My hands have been bothering me. I have carpal tunnel syndrome as well as some inflammation in my elbows and shoulders. For some reason, it has been feeling worse the past few weeks. The mittens seem to make things worse.

So I am not knitting. I also started acupuncture for the problems. I will make progress on the mittens slowly but I may start knitting something at a larger gauge.

Therefore, this is a very boring post. There is nothing to report.

Off to a slow start in 2009

The mittens are out of hibernation but I didn't knit at all this week. On Sunday, I undid the top of the mitten and fixed the problem of the sts that were just dangling there. I also picked up the thumb sts and put them on a needle. You can see the mitten here. It is looking good and I should be finishing the thumb but somehow I wasn't in a mood to knit. Maybe this week will be different.
Here is a full view of it. They are looking good, better than I expected. Now to finish this one and start the other one.

End of year finishing binge

A very happy New Year to all of you! May 2009 be a wonderfully happy, healthy, prosperous and fiber-filled fun year for all. May we see more peace and less strife and hatred in the world. 2008 was the first full year for this blog and I think I have developed a rhythm and a voice in that time. At first I was unsure of what to write about and whether I could come up with enough to write about each week. Now I find I almost always have something to say, whether anyone cares or not!

This is a finishing binge for me. I rarely finish a couple of items in a week because I am usually working on only one item at a time. The headband is done. This is the outside. That pattern is supposed to be a snowflake. I am very proud of the seamless nature of the construction.
This is the inside. All smooth and nice. It is very warm and thick and soft. I think my daughter will enjoy wearing it.I also was not in the mood to pick up the mittens yet. So I finished a garter st scarf that was a 'learn to knit' project for my daughter. It is at least 5 or 6 years old. I took it to a New Year's Eve dinner at my sister's and finished it except for weaving in the ends. I did that on Jan 2nd.

One of the things I realized was how much my finishing skills have improved over the years. I taught my daughter to weave in the end as she went when she finished the first skein. When I added others, I left the ends dangling and just duplicate stitched them. The latter makes for a more reversible fabric than the former. Oh well. One lives and learns.
Today it will be back to the mittens. I hope to undo the top and get the sts onto needles today and then I'll work on finishing the first one without mistakes during the week. Wish me luck! Thank you for your commiseration on the mittens. I love them, I really do and they will be nice and warm but I hate fixing this sort of thing.