Overdue projects

So, for the past few days I've been scanning fabrics into the shop computer in an attempt to get the online shop up to date.  As a sidenote, scanning fabric with a regular scanner makes the colors come out way better than taking photographs of the fabrics.  This was Jake's idea, and it's really really cool and I don't find scanning every single bolt of fabric in the shop monotonous (yet), because it surprises me every time how good the fabrics look.
Anyway, as a result of scanning fabrics all day every day, I have nothing exciting to blog about.  I'm just going to show you a couple of projects I'm working on, that I have been working on for a really long time, and I'm pretty sure the recipients are getting tired of waiting for them.

The first project is a scarflet.  I had originally intended for this yarn to be a full-fledged lace scarf.  However, it was getting close to Christmas, so I decided to make a shorter scarf that would button instead of a long scarf.  I guess we can all see where I am on that.  I used this Basic Recipe for a Scarflet, along with some Cascade 220 superwash wool from Fiberphilia in Orono, Maine.  I was very specific in what I wanted for yarn, and I had been looking for a long time for just the right thing.  I have this notion that when I get an idea to do a project, I will know the yarn and pattern when I see it.  So, this started with "I'll make a scarf for Chelsea."  Chelsea is a friend of mine who is really trendy and likes to accessorize.  One of her favorite colors is purple.  So, I had to find a pattern that I thought was perfect, and then find a yarn that was perfect.  Back before I decided that I needed to not make a full scarf for Chelsea, I chose this scarf:

It would make a nice accessory, and it wasn't very long, so I figured I'd be okay.  I just had to find the perfect yarn.  After a very long time of searching, the Cascade yarn won my heart for this project, and I was ready to go.  However, there is something that is a big part of making lace, called a yarnover, which creates the holes in the lace.  I have this need to pull every stitch tight after I knit it, which is perhaps why I knit so slowly, so my holes disappeared and the scarf didn't look right at all.   It was pretty bad, actually.  Someday I would like to try this scarf again, because I do think it's rather fetching, but for now I am not doing lace.

The stitch used in this pattern is called the linen stitch, and you really can't see it in the pictures.  This next photo might show it better, but all it really does is show what a difference turning the flash on and off can make with color.

These pictures are, in fact, the same scarflet.  I really like how the stitch pattern is coming out, it has a really nice texture.  There is a garter stitch border to keep it from curling, but I added stitches to the middle without adding stitches to the border, so mine is still curling.  I hope blocking helps.  Here are the buttons I'm going to put on it:

I think they're really cute, with the little dried flowers in them.  I feel sad for Chelsea that she has waited so long for this, and by the time I get it done it will probably be too warm to wear it.

I always have two knitting projects going at once, even though my husband is trying to cure me of that so that I won't complain about knitting so slowly.  The other project that I'm working on is a pair of mittens for my brother in law, who is actually Chelsea's boyfriend.  My husband's great grandmother knit everyone double thick mittens when they were kids, but now her hands are so crippled with arthritis that her knitting days are over.  Last time we visited, she was showing me a crochet project, however.  The woman is approaching 100, and her hands are crooked and bent, but by golly, she is still going to do some sort of fiber art.  I hope to be like that.

Anyway, I was commissioned by my brother in law, Gabe, to make a pair of mittens for him EXACTLY like the ones Great Grammy used to make.  I pretty much decided to wing it for the first pair, and ended up making a pair that fit my sister.  I'm currently working on a pair that should be more his size, and am almost finished.  My husband graciously agreed to model them for you:

One of them needs to be closed up at the top, and they both need thumbs.  But I'm so close!  The two different colors is what makes the mittens double thick, because you carry the color not being used behind the stitch you're knitting.  It creates a very cushy material.  I used the Basic Men's Mittens from the Knit with KT blog.  I had to heavily modify the pattern because I knit super tightly, and because you get a different gauge anyway when knitting with two colors, or at least I do.  Pip is not as excited about these mittens as she was about Jake's scarf...

I'm hoping to finish these projects up very soon, because next on my list are...more mittens.  So excited.