Mona's Knitting Room

For the last week of the year, I am vacationing with my family. We're staying in an apartment on the beach in Palm Coast, just south of St. Augustine, Florida. It's beautiful here with a lovely ocean view from the living room. I can lounge on a couch with a good movie on TV and knitting in my hands and look up to see this:




Walks on the beach clear the mind and the wonderfully hot jacuzzi tub is so relaxing. Just being here is very relaxing for everyone, as evidenced by the puppy, who came with us on this trip. How can he sleep like that?




I had my special, vacation knitting project picked out in October and I've been waiting, waiting, waiting to start it. The project is for me, a sweater from Vermont Fiber Designs:

I selected two yarns to combine for this project, Manos del Uruguay #63, Heliotrope (a bluish purple), and Classic Elite La Gran #6593, Electric Blue.

I'm using Addi Turbos in size US #10.5. I decided to knit this sweater in the round and because of the large gauge, the project is moving along pretty quickly. After a couple of days, I've gotten through a few inches of the body of the sweater. The color variations in the Manos show through the mohair really nicely.

My son hates to be left out of anything. So, after watching me knit the mittens for my daughter, he asked if I would knit him some, too. Of course, he had very exacting requirements for the yarn. Not too fuzzy. Soft. Good color (whatever that means). How do you shop for yarn that way? You make the intended recipient come with you and pick it out themselves. That's exactly what I did. After looking at and touching everything, Andrew picked Classic Elite Wings (55% alpaca/23% silk/22% wool) in black. Very soft, luxurious yarn. Although it isn't the classic, durable type of yarn typically knit into mittens, how could I resist that cute face pouting at me? The look of joy on his face when he unwrapped them Christmas morning was priceless. I knit these mittens using two strands held together and Addi Turbo needles in size US #4. The resulting fabric is soft and smooth and not too dense. After working with this yarn, I'd like to use it again.


The pattern is from Ann Budd's book The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns: Basic Designs in Multiple Sizes and Gauges.

I decided to knit my daughter a pair of mittens for Christmas. I've never made mittens before but had a mitten kit in my stash from Classic Elite with four skeins of La Gran Mohair (76.5% mohair/17.5% wool/6% nylon) and a pattern that calls for the yarn to be held doubled when knit. Very fuzzy, very warm. I knit the mittens using Addi Turbos size US #5 on the cuffs and Tahki Bamboo double points size US #7 on the hand section of the mittens. I cast on 28 stitches for the cuff and increased to 33 stitches for the hand. When I finished, there was over a skein of yarn left and so I knit a lace scarf to match -- 8 feet long! For the scarf, I cast on 9 stitches using Balene size US #35 needles. The pattern is k1, yO, k2tog. Pretty!

My friend Kay and I went on a road trip this weekend to Meredith and Center Harbor, New Hampshire. "Where is Meredith/Center Harbor?", you ask. These towns are situated on the northwest shore of Lake Winnipesaukee in the center of the state, which is about two hours north of Boston. "What is so special that you would drive 2 hours to visit?", you further ask. What else? Shopping! There is a lovely Christmas shop in Meredith and Patternworks is in Center Harbor. The views of the lake are absolutely spectacular and alone make the trip worthwhile. We had a great time talking and shopping, followed by a yummy fresh seafood dinner.


Although I tried to resist the call of the yarn, I did buy yarn for a sideways knit vest that was sampled in the shop. The yarn is Blue Heron Yarns Silk & Rayon Twist (80% mulberry silk/20%rayon) in the colorways Rainforest and Mossy Place and the pattern is free with purchase of the yarn.

I'm very glad to say that I'm back online with the acquisition of a new digital camera! So, what have I been up to in the past couple of months? Let's see. I took a class on how to knit Judy Pascale's Beaded Shapely Shawlette. It is a fun pattern to try because rather than stringing all the beads in advance, you run each stitch requiring a bead through the bead using a crochet hook. I made the larger size using size US#10 needles, Cherry Tree Hill's Super Sock yarn in the colorway Pastels and magenta glass beads. Nothing pastel about the colors but I liked them. I finished the shawl in just a couple of weeks and really like how it turned out.

I felt guilty about the Garter Ridge Shapely Shawlette that had become a UFO and so finished that at the same time.

So, I decided to block the two shawlettes along with the Spiral Petal Shawl. I now have three FOs!

My Crayon Box Jacket parts are completed. I decided to line it but the shop was out of silk lining fabric and I'm waiting for my special order to arrive. In the mean time, I'm thinking about how I want to trim the edges.

I also picked up another UFO from my basket. It's the Classic Male Cardigan from Sally Melville's Knit Stitch book. I'm using Cascade 220 yarn in an olive heather, 9459, and size US#4 and 4mm needles. I had the back, fronts and one sleeve completed and then set the project aside because of concern about how to get the sleeves the right length. Silly me. Of course, you just need to try it and see (not having another sweater with drop shoulders as a template). So, I knit the second sleeve and then realized that the rate of increase I used on the second sleeve was completely different than the first. To the frog pond to rip it, rip it. I've finished the second sleeve now and need to knit the saddles and assemble the sweater. The end is in sight!