Refreshemnt Routine

Borrowing a phrase from Chez Lizzie, my next 'project' is my 'refreshment routine'. Some of my sweaters need to be refreshed.

This one

needs to have buttonholes tightened up. An easy fix, I will take a sewing needle and thread to sew a stitch or two at one end of each buttonhole.

Lloie's cardigan needs a tightening of another sort. It suffers from, as I say in my sock book, 'gaposis'. Knit with Alpaca, which has less 'memory' than wool, the gaps at the end of the short rows are beginning to show more than I'd like.

A little tweaking with the same yarn should bring those stitches closer together. Another not too difficult fix.

This last fix however, will be, if not difficult, then, at least time consuming. The back neck on my Waterloo Fairisle rides too high.

Not uncomfortable when standing, it becomes quite uncomfortable when I sit. Not prepared to stand wherever I go when wearing Waterloo, I need to fix it. To do that, I will have to rip the button/hole bands on both sides, then the entire neck trim. Once the sweater is freed from it's trim, my plan is to cut - yes, cut - a deeper back neck. A bit of guesswork as to how much needs to be cut, but after experiencing the discomfort of the 'too high' neck, too low seems a better option.

Somehow, the 'refreshment routine' isn't nearly as much fun as the initial knitting routine. But without it, these sweaters might spend way too much time in the time out closet. That would never do.

Mittens To Match

With Katie's hat done, except for the decoration, I moved on to mittens. She didn't request mittens, but when I saw 'A Tinker's Dam' version of Juila Meuller's Chimera mitts, I couldn't resist.

These double layered mittens are delightful. With Katie's hat being red and her coat black, of course I chose black and red - again in Kertzer's Rejuvenation.

The little black stitches you see at the top of the cuff are there waiting to be picked up to knit the outer black layer. Like A Tinker's Dam, Katie's mittens will have two entire layers. Black over red. And as any hip and current 20 year old would want, there will be buttonholes near the tip of the thumb for quick and easy exit for texting.

Request Number Two

Daughter-in-Law, Kim's request for a 'rabbit fur hat' was request number one for 2011. The second request came from niece Katie.

20 year old Katie is a third year, U of T student. It never would have occurred to me that she might covet the same hat I knit for 'more-than-20-year-old' Dorothy. But covet it she did. At our Christmas gift exchange, where we practise the crafty art of 'stealing', Katie asked if she could steal Dorothy's red hat. Sadly for Katie, it was not part of the exchange. I knit Dorothy's hat just for Dorothy.

A little quicker on the uptake with this second request, I asked Katie if she would like a hat like Dorothy's. Her big grin was my answer. "Red?" I asked. Another grin. "With a big, gaudy, flower decoration on the side?" "Yup!" she said.

Second off the needles, then, for 2011 is Katie's hat. Another Bonne Marie Burns Felted Bucket Hat

Last night I knit what I thought would be a perfect, decorative flower for it. The Interweave Press flower pattern, knit with one strand Mission Falls black and one strand of very fine metallic yarn.

But I'm not so sure. The flower seems as if it might be better suited to a crocheted hat/skull cap from the hippy era.

It lacks the sophistication I feel this hat needs.

I'll check out 'stuff' at the dollar store and then perhaps give Katie a choice. Thanks, Katie. I love requests.