This is what happens when we buy a skidoo

Seriously. I know that we pretty much live north of everywhere. Not quite north of 60 but pretty darn close. We bought a new snowmobile yesterday. Kev promptly comes home and checks out the weather channel. He tells me (I thought jokingly) that we were gonna have 30cm of snow. Not joking! (Oh, and isn't Morgan just the cutest thing with his new haircut?!)


All of this snow has put me in a mitten mood. Considering all the other moods that I could have chosen from, I'd say a mitten mood is pretty good. Then again, I'm always in a mitten mood. They remain my most favorite thing to knit. I'm thinking the second pair my end up being sent to Warm Hands.

The fair isle mitten is called 'Fiddlehead' mittens. I bought these from Tanis fiber arts off of etsy. I love her yarn. I've bought several skeins from Mouline in Montreal. The pattern is from Hello Yarn. I've been coveting the pattern for quite some time now. When I saw the pairing of one of my favorite yarns with this beautiful pattern, I just couldn't resist. These will be mine. The great thing about these mittens are that they are fully lined. Essentially like knitting two pairs of mittens, but oh so warm.

The second mitten is called 'Mittens Interupted'. They are an Interweave pattern written by Eunny Jang. I've been meaning to knit these for some time too, but never had the correct yarn. I got a knitpick order this week and it had some Wool of the Andes Bulky. So, I cast on right away. Two pairs of mittens on the go at once. One pair is TV knitting (specifically Criminal Minds, my new favorite). The second pair requires a little more concentration. I must admit to enjoying both patterns immensly. Enough to knit them again maybe. (Easy to say that when I've only gotten about 1 mitten done on each right?) Isn't that slipped stitch pattern very sharp looking? There is not much stretch to it. Its almost like a woven fabric. But very dense and warm. Great for all that snow.

Magnificant!

At least I think they are. I said earlier in the year that my knitting goal this year was to do more colourwork. Here is a fine example of this. They are called Smargagdi mittens - a free pattern that I found through Ravelry.


They are knit in Noro Kuryeon sock (thats the self striping part) and Knitpicks Palette (the grey part) The pattern actually calls for both parts to be knit in the Kuryeon but in all the finished mittens that I saw on Ravelry that used just kuryeon looked very different. That is, each mitten was beautiful, but looked nothing alike. Fraternal twins if you will. But, I wanted identical. So I used the Palette as a base. I ended up have to hack and slash away at the kuryeon to make the second match, but I think I did a pretty good job. Except..... they are exactly the same. And of course our hands are reverse images of themselves. So I have one mitten with grey diamond print on the palm and the other has the grey diamond print on the palm. The inverse image on opposite sides. See what I mean?



I should have realized that when I was so meticulously trying to match the colour runs. But its okay. They are still beautiful. They are even beautiful inside out.

Of course we have reason to be wanting mittens. This is the view of the mighty Churchill River from my workplace. Beautiful! A bit early for this crap, but beautiful nonetheless.

And Now for something totally different

Fondant. Marshmallow fondant. No, I didn't make it. My friend Karen did. She even made the cupcakes. I got to play with the fondant. Here is the result.



She says its not too hard to make. But I've been fooled by Karen before. But those cupcakes were dead easy to decorate. With results like that, I might be foolhardy enough to try making the fondant on my own.

Some sets of things and other stuff

Been a while since I posted. Who knew? Well, remember that stuff that was on the bobbin? Its now off. I can now officially say that I can spin with a backwards long draw. Not well, mind you, but I can do it none the less.

Here is proof.
















Also, I've been knitting a little. I will admit to a decline in the knitting mojo. I don't know whats going on. Its fall. That time of year when knitters just about go crazy with desire to knit. Not me. I haven't knit a thing on the vine yoke cardigan since I came back from vacation. Instead I've been content to fritter my time away with knitting little projects on huge needles. Instant payoffs. Oh, and crochet. Proof again.















That's a crocheted version of the 'Bainbridge Scarf'. And here is proof of some quick bulky knits. These are from a free pattern off of Jimmy Bean's website (who I just placed an order with for the first time) called Neckies.














They are cute. Here is what they look like when worn. I love bulky neckwarmers. Especially if garter stitch is involved.















Cute or what?