Noro Silk Garden, color 269

Now I've seen this colorway twice today, and I love it in both projects. This may be the most muted colorway that Noro makes, but it's gorgeous! However, it seems to be discontinued! There is a similar colorway in Kureyon that would work in the patterns.

First pattern: Deille by Mathew Gnagy in Knitting of the Axis. This lace cardigan is knit sideways so that the striping occurs vertically. The subtle monochromatic colors work nicely and don't stand out too much.

Second pattern: Oyster Mittens by Rebecca of "Dolies are Stylish" -- They do look like the pearly inside of an oyster shell or the oyster itself.

I'm Still Crafting!

I know, I've been missing from this blog for awhile...there haven't been many finished projects, while there are a few in progress. Under the "Finished" heading: a pair of slippers for my friend Marnie. She mentioned the "corn cob" slippers her grandma used to knit, so I resolved to find a pattern and make her some.

I used Stitch Nation by Debbie Stoller Washable Ewe in Clover and Duckling. My original plan was to knit a pair of slippers that looked like corn cobs. But the pattern recommended holding two strands of worsted weight yarn together (and it did make a nicer fabric). The pattern I used was Aunt Maggie's Slippers by Beverly A. Qualheim. (Links are to the Ravelry information.)

Heels and Toes

Today I spent some time learning some new techniques for knitting sock heels and toes. Donna Druchunas has spent quite a lot of time researching knitting traditions in Lithuania. I can't wait for her book! I learned tons and have some samples to photograph and post. But I'm worn out...commuting is hard work.

Haute Knits

Showing up in fashion, knitters know how easy these would be to create...if you wanted to.

via Outsapop Trashion

Beer Squirrels

I've been wanting to make these for awhile, but I hadn't gotten around to trying to make a pattern. Fortunately, Jessica Correa did the work for me. Using her free pattern on Ravelry, I got started with these little fellows. They need to be washable, so I used Red Heart "Soft" in Toast and Red Heart "Fur Sure" in Camel. (I don't expect them to go through the washing machine, though.)

D&J Hobby in Campbell used to be my go-to store for googly eyes, but while I found 8mm sew on eyes, they are really phasing out the craft side of the store and moving towards radio controlled models. Affordable Treasures in Los Gatos is a good source, or I may just have to buy online.

About the squirrels, I made four so that you can have a few friends over for drinks, and everyone gets a cozy. There is plenty of the body yarn left over, there's almost 200 yards in a ball. I used small amounts of Cascade 220 Superwash for teeth and tongues.

There were lots of fiddly bits to knit. I knit the ears, teeth, and tongues directly on the body, but knitted the arms and tails separately, then sewed on. The pattern calls for a few different needle sizes, but I used just two: US 7 for everything except the tails, and US 13 for the tails (the long pile of the "Fur Sure" made it very difficult to use anything smaller).

Squirrel Beer Cozies