The pinnacle of achievement

I couldn’t help myself. I just had to make these gloves. I was surprised how quickly they knit up, and the results are spectactular. Aren’t they fantastic?

The pattern is the Emperor’s New Mitts by Louise Zass-Bangham (pattern available for download here, Ravelry herd here). The yarn is handspun phoenix down in “Gold.”

I might as well stop making things right now. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to top this.

More projects

Thought I’d share some recent projects. Just some small things.

 

 

The pattern is Slouched Tuva Hat by Turvid. I made this for a friend at work. The yarn is SWTC Bamboo. It’s very soft and drapey. Maybe a little too drapey for a hat, but it’s cute.

 

 

These fingerless gloves were made from a pattern and yarn I got on the 2009 LYS Tour. They’re Evergreen (Everpink!) Mitts from Renaissance Yarns, and the yarn is Punta Yarns Merisoft.

 

My mother came to visit last month. When she saw a felted booga bag I made a while ago (pictured at left, below), she had to have a camera case just like it (duh, at right). Fortunately, I still had the yarn, Paton’s Classic Wool Merino.

 

I measured her camera, knit a bag 2-3 times its size (items shrink when felted!) and tossed it in the washer. It felted down perfectly. I made a little stretching frame out of wire hanger to make it dry square, and voila! For the fastener, I attached a black elastic hair tie to the flap before felting, and added a plastic button after it was all done. I even cut a hole in the top for her wrist strap to poke through. It worked great, and it was finished in time for her to take it home.

 

While my mother was here, I took her to my LYS, Renaissance Yarns. She’s not a knitter, but I think she appreciated it all the same. She saw a little neckwarmer they had on display, and of course I had to get the yarn (Elsebeth Lavold Silky Cashmere) and pattern to make it for her.

 

This brings me to a side rant, a common practice by LYSes that bothers me quite a bit. The pattern for the neckwarmer is presented as a shop pattern: Silky Cashmere Neck Warmer. It’s free with purchase of the suggested yarn. When I went to find the pattern on Ravelry, I found an almost identical pattern called the Paddington Neck Warmer, a totally free pattern available for download on Ravelry.

 

What the yarn shop had done was to take the Paddington Neck Warmer pattern, swap in a different name and yarn, adjust the measurements (the original pattern was meant for bulky yarn, the shop pattern for worsted/aran), and print it as their own, down to the shop info on the sheet. The wording of the pattern itself was the same. Even punctuation and capitalization was the same as the original pattern. I love this shop, but as far as I’m concerned, they have plagiarized the pattern. They are profiting on another person’s work–by making money on the sale of the required yarn–without the designer’s permission. It’s unconscionable.

 

So of course I give full credit to the original designer for this pattern: Paddington Neck Warmer by Roxanne Wood, proprietor of Windy Spirits Woolery. Great pattern!

 

 

And finally, here’s a bubble hat, or, if you prefer, Boblehuen, byt Vridd Vrang. (Yes, it’s written in Norwegian, but there is an English version available for download on Ravelry.) I made this for a friend at work. The yarn is Jojoland Rhythm.

 

So, we’re all caught up for now. I’m currently working on a new shawl for myself, but who knows when I’ll ever get around to posting that! ;)