I just finished a felted mittens class at Unwind Yarn Shop, and I am ecstatic about how my mittens turned out! This was not my first attempt at mittens, but it was definitely my first successful attempt. The class was a lot of fun, and the pattern (Snow Country Felted Mittens) was really easy to follow. I even felt confident wielding the 4 double point needles by the end of the class.
I spent a great day today snowed in because we got about 10 inches of snow here in Richmond. It was a beautiful, wet, dense snow that stuck to everything and made for some amazing photos.
I also started another new knitting project from “One More Skein“. I am knitting myself a new washcloth using the Pencil Sketch pattern. I started using one of the knitted washcloths I made for the Co-op sale, and I fell in love. It is so much nicer than using the store-bought kind, so I am making myself a second. This way I can actually wash my first washcloth 
.
I recently completed yet another in my recent string of knitting projects and while it didn’t turn out how I hoped, I am pleased enough with the end result that I wanted to share.
I had a once in life time experience when it come to knitting. I started a scarf for my husband a year & 1/2 ago using gorgeous bamboo yarn I got from Unwind Yarn Shop. I made the mistake of letting my non-knitting husband pick out the pattern so it turned out to be a little more complicated that I intended. It requires my undivided attention so I haven’t worked on it much. Sunday night I picked the scarf back up and after doing some math realized I would not have enough yarn to finish.
Very Exciting News: I have finished my first hand knitted wool sweater. I started this in February, and I just finished sewing up the sleeves at 9:30pm this evening. I still need to take the time to block it, but it is totally wearable at this moment. For all you non-knitters, blocking is dousing a completed project in water and pinning it out into the final shape you want. This helps to work out uneven stitches, ensure proper length and width, and generally improves the final look of your project.
As I finish knitting projects (most recently a baby sweater and set of wash cloths), I record my new projects in Ravelry. Ravelry is a perfect union of two of my strongest areas of interest: knitting and the internet. It is an online community for knitters and crocheters that goes way beyond social networking. Ravelry allows its users to post and track projects, search patterns, store information about stashed yarn, search forums, keep a list of needles owned, join groups, see what others are making, comment on other users’ projects, and much much more.
I just finished the largest knitting project I have undertaken thus far. I completed the Big Bad Baby Blanket from Stitch-n-Bitch for a wonderful couple. Lee and Ashely Saylor are expecting the birth of their first child, Thomas, next month, and I spent the past four months knitting a baby blanket for them as a gift.
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