Put-it-all-together Gloves

I wish I could say that the colors are wrong in these gloves but alas they are real. I desperately need to get more colors of Cascade 220 to avoid this in the future. Anyway, I did knit them in less than 48 hours so I won my speed challenge.




These are the "Put-it-all-together Gloves" from Kristin Knits by Kristin Nicholas. The duplicate stitch took almost half the time.

Also, I wanted to let everyone know that the Red River Gloves are indeed available for sale in two sizes and two colorways HERE at my Lulu store. I've had several questions about them because I wasn't clear about that.

I think I'll do something in alpaca next.

Dreaming of Kandinsky


Last night, I dreamt that I met Kandinsky. He kept whispering in my ear to look at what was in front of me. He directed my head with his strong hands in the direction of what he wanted me to see. This was a very intense dream. So this morning, I decided to look at his paintings, and I know that they will be the inspiration for this Sunday's SockPixie Colorways.
I can be attracted one week to the feminine hues of Marie Laurencin, and the next to the bold colors and abstract work of Kandinsky. It is really an attraction, for every week, I become infatuated with a different set of colors, and color combinations. I think of these colors only, and I seek them. I get to know the colors, I sit down,look at them, and write them. I am always a little scared before I start dyeing the yarn, but after that short moment of doubt, I immerse myself in the colors, and dye the yarns. I feel so much joy, and so much love for the colorways that emerge. I inspect the skeins as they dry, and often while I hold the yarn, I will feel that has to be it, that I can never like any other color sets. But sure enough, the day after I sit down, and I forget last week's love, and fall in love all over again.

This Sunday's Update...Marie Laurencin



This week I am taking you back in time, and maybe in some ways out of time, with the paintings of Marie Laurencin. I love her timeless women, in floral translucent colors.
Above is a picture of the painting called Valentine, and its colorway.
I hope you will join me and that you will enjoy this week's SockPixie Marie Laurencin colorways.

Inga Hat

Here is the Inga hat. (The free pattern in PDF form is HERE.) It uses Knitpicks' Merino Style DK but I went up to worsted weight wool to fit my large head. I was originally planning on adding more shades of purple in duplicate stitch. The width is perfect for my head but as you can see it is quite long.



I used four colors of stash wool but it is kind of hard to tell.



Surprisingly DH says he wants the hat. I am amazed he's willing to wear periwinkle. He insists the hat should be worn smooshed down as shown below.



My next project is a speed project. I'm going to immediately start the Put-It-All-Together Gloves from the book Kristin Knits in a zillion colors of Cascade 220. It is currently 4:30 pm Saturday and I'm vowing to have these to show you by Monday night. This should be easy to accomplish as they're knit in thick yarn and I will be watching tons of baseball between now and then.

Now I'm off to collect all our candles. We're celebrating Earth Hour by turning off the lights tonight between 8 and 9 pm.
Today I have photos of all of us except DH.




Bubbles is greatly enjoying her newest toy - a chewable willow tunnel.



Jack is very annoyed by the whole concept of babygates and separate rooms for each pet.



Here I am. I'm still trying to figure out the secret to taking photos in our bright high-altitude sun.

Red River Gloves



My friend Joelle recently asked about the pair of gloves I made for her using the design from one of her Navajo rugs. I realized I had to hurry up and finish the second pair and write up the pattern. The Red River Gloves are made from 6 colors of Palette and have a sore thumb gusset, knitted hem, and rounded fingertips.





Now that I've taken some photos I can give the tan pair to her. Of course I kept the bright red pair for myself. Because I only have 450,977,090 pairs of handknit gloves for myself as it is.

Done! Sunday's Update...


It seems that I have spent my whole Sunday racing the clock. But I am relieved. The SockPixie Sunday is done. And the colors are fantastic. I created each one after a famous woman.
Women are the colors of life, and colors are freedom! What would our life be without them?. Above, is a picture of the colorway inspired by Toni Morrison.
I hope you will join me in this ode to life, to women, and to colors!
I have a new glove design to show you and also another FO, the Inga hat so popular in the blog world. Unfortunately I keep forgetting to get batteries for the camera.

Bubbles would like to tell everyone that even if your Easter basket is empty, just eat the basket!


HAPPY EASTER!

Sunday's Preview...


It is time for this week's SockPixie preview. This week, like last week I decided to just follow my thoughts. I let the memories of the past create their color images, and there you go, you have this week's colorways.
Above is a picture of a stunning colorway called Argentine Tango.
I hope you will enjoy the yarns as much as I enjoyed creating them.
Would you believe I lost the entire intarsia project I was working on? I have no idea what happened to it and I've looked everywhere. I wanted to get some more photos of an interesting method of working in the ends in intarsia. Instead I'll show you a close-up of a photo from the Stuever intarsia book. To deal with intarsia ends, they recommend pulling each end diagonally up or down and then splitting some stitches to secure each end. It really is a neat way to deal with the ends.



Anyway, this method is quite bulletproof. Whatever method you use for dealing with all the intarsia ends, make sure you're not accidentally unlocking the interlocks because then you'll end up with holes in your knitting.

Easter is on its way and I've ordered a special present for Miss Bubbles. She's such a hard core chewer that I bought her a tunnel made out of willow. All of the local rescued rabbits have been pulled out of the Petco stores temporarily to avoid impulse Easter bunny purchases and instead they are sending everyone to the Make Mine Chocolate web site instead.

And speaking of bunnies, check out this article about Humphrey, supposedly the second largest bunny in the UK at around 28 lbs. He's apparently very picky about the brand of digestive biscuits he eats and he even has a favorite tv show!

Website Problems this Morning

Ok, it looks like this is going to be one of those days. The website hosting service is having technical difficulties. I will have to be patient today! I'll keep you posted.

Memories...


This week my inspiration came from the deepest parts of me. For some reason, maybe it was the air, or the light, or just my wandering mind, but I found myself remembering my childhood in Paris, and in a little town on the coast of Normandie called Trouville. The picture above is a colorway called Feu d'Artifice. I created it while thinking of the stunning beauty of the Bastille day fireworks!
I hope you will come and join me on the SockPixie site for a visit of France through the eyes of the child I once was.
Bubbles still hates cats with every fiber of her being. If Jack does dare to try to come in her room (aka the crafts room), she'll actually spend the next hour or so hopping around and growling. Here she is making sure there are no cats under the blanket.




Here is poor Jack checking out some of my Valentine's Day loot.



I seem to have some bad knitting mojo lately. First of all, I've completely lost interest in the intarsia socks. I shouldn't be surprised as this happens Every. Single. Time I knit intarsia. I will have some photos for you on how to work in the ends by this weekend though.

Then I was working mindlessly on a pair of gloves. The part I was knitting was a solid color and I was only working on them at night. One afternoon I picked them up and couldn't believe how weird they looked. I soon realized I was using three different sizes of dpns at once.

Finally I started a simple cotton tank (Knitty's Soleil) for summer. After about five rows I realized I had twisted the yarns and was actually knitting a Moebius strip.
Yesterday DH took me to the Fiery Foods Show at the Sandia Pueblo. It is an annual trade show for manufacturers of hot and spicy foods and I've been meaning to check it out for years. I managed to survive the experience despite forgetting my water bottle.

Here's the Sandia Pueblo hotel and convention center.



The place was wall to wall people so there was no way I could take any photos inside but I did manage a picture of the pool. My favorite samples were some cherry-chipotle-chocolate bars and a delicious fudge habanero sauce. I loved the names like Death Sauce and Defcon and Dragon's Breath and my favorite t-shirt read "We don't need no steenking taste buds."



The pueblo also has a casino and a golf course. The weather was in the 60's and lovely this week so there were lots of golfers enjoying the sunshine.



Alas it is snowing here today.

Sunday's Preview...



Here is a little preview of this week's SockPixie colorways. I was inspired by the paintings of Madame Vigee Lebrun. The colors are very deep, saturated, and luxurious but at the same time feminine.

I hope you will join me tonight at 6 p.m. Eastern time, and travel with me to France, to the time of Marie Antoinette.