Went to Purl!

Yesterday I was in New York to give a talk in the business school and since I was in the area, of course I had to go to Purl! What a nice little yarn store! The yarns are presented really well and they have a lot of selection. I wish I bought more actually, but was feeling a bit conservative and didn't want to buy something that I didn't have somewhat of a plan for it (except for sock yarn). I bought some Manos Silk Blend in the Violets colorway (to make a scarf - but what pattern? oh the choices!) and two different colorways of Koigu (one of which with tons of bright colors, the other of which I like to call Halloween yarn). Perhaps I should come up with a plan for the Koigu that doesn't involve socks. My housemate commented on the fact that I should make more mittens rather than socks so that I can show them off more :)

White Witch Mitts

mittens 004
Originally uploaded by mangokiwi.

My first fair isle project. Frankly it looks a little sloppy. The tension on my left hand is much looser than the tension on my right hand. Also I used DK weight yarn when the pattern called for sport weight yarn and still used US 3 needles which I think was a mistake. Another weird thing is that when I stick my hand in the mitten I can feel all the yarn that was carried across in the back when I was using the other color for a while.

Hedera Socks

I finished this a while ago and started them much longer than that ago. But here are the pictures. I think I am bored of regular sock patterns and need to work on sock patterns that teach me a new trick (such as two at time) or give me more practice with fair isling! Notice the color difference with flash and without flash :) The yarn is STR Tanzanite, I think I like real Tanzanite better :)

White Witch Mitts

I started working on these again and I have started to realize that I really like fair isle. Probably because it it something new and different, it still seems challenging to me. I seem to have gotten the hang of these continental + English style knitting too. And the end product seems like it will look very professional :)

handsome mittens

handsome mittens
Originally uploaded by mangokiwi.

One of the handsome mittens! These were incredibly fast to knit! Too bad I can't show you the other ones with the brown cuff and the orange thumb! :)

broadstreet mittens

broadstreet mittens
Originally uploaded by mangokiwi.

I promised my friend Minh that I would upload some knitting pictures so here they are! By the way, it is really hard to try to photograph both hands when you are showing off mittens! Anyway, I started these mittens 3 years ago probably and I finally finished the base part. Just need to do the shell. I wish I had picked a more interesting color or used variegated sock yarn!

Handsome Mittens

I started making the Handsome Mittens from IK Winter 2008. They are certainly a quick knit! I think I will make mine the complete opposite of each other instead of just having the thumbs opposite of each other. Mine are in fall-ish colors: orange + brown. Pictures soon!