Again & Again

This has been a wonderful winter but enough already. As I look out the window this morning I have a feeling that I've seen this scene before-snow (again)! Winter is a wonderful time to cuddle up by the fire and  knit while listening to a good audible book. But enough already. Even the deer are getting tired this.

Something tells me we should be seeing signs of Spring around here soon. I was just looking over my yarn stash, and the various projects I am working on and I quickly saw a pattern. I have been knitting the same  stockinette stitich again & again. It must be time for a change.

I'm working on a lace weight merino wool cardigan for myself-all stockinette stitch. Great for watching TV (especially during March Madness) but it doesn't do much for the creative side of my brain.
And then there is that second sock waiting patiently to be knit.

 The interesting thing about knitting socks is that once you knit one-yup, it is time to knit the same thing AGAIN.

Since my last post I have finished a few projects. A few baby cardigans for some special little ones.

And I did manage to get out of the knit a row, purl a row pattern for a bit. I am in need of another pair of good warm wool mittens (lost my favorites a month ago). Found this pattern from my favorite designer at Knitspot called Fat Tire Mittens. I must admit is does have a little more going on then the plain stockinette stitch.

So Spring bring it on.....ready for some sunshine, thoughts of the garden, and new projects. I've got my journal started with my projects listed and I made the journey yesterday to get some new yarn for  these projects.

Happy Spring.....I'll be knitting....again & again.

A Chest of Wool

This wonderful winter weather has me thinking of all of the wonderful projects I might knit. For some reason I've been thinking about knitting myself a sweater. This got me thinking about all of the sweaters I have knit in the past and there have been a lot of them over the years. I decided to open the cedar chest to see what woolies are still there.

The navy blue in the upper right was a wool gansey I made for my husband, the pink sweater I knit for my daughter (over 30 years ago), the green pullover I knit for my son when he went to college, and the light grey pullover I knit for my husband when we first got married in 1972. I made myself a cardigan in that same pattern but eventually wore it out.

The bottom shelf holds my navy snowflake Icelandic sweater made from Lopi wool. The navy & grey patterned vest I made for myself many years ago (an early attempt at color work). My favorite of all of these sweaters is the green one-a plain simple Brooks Brother pullover pattern, made for my husband. Over the years I think I have made over 6 of them for him and he wore them every day to work. He still wears this one and it is over 20 years old!

Knitting is a part of me and looking back on some of my finished projects I realize that knitting is a part of my family too.

So I think it is time to replenish the chest of woolies with some new sweaters. But first I need to finish up this hat-Woodcutter's Toque, designed by Anne Hanson.

And then there is my leather bucket filled with projects.

Just looked out the window and it is snowing-perfect for cuddling up in the chair and knitting.

Finishing & Starting

Welcome 2015! It has been awhile since we here at Needle and Hand have checked in with you. It was a busy fall that had us traveling to visit family. The Holidays filled us with great joy and surrounded us with lots of handmade goodies & warm wool.

This year we decided to draw names in our family and I drew my daughter's name. I immediately knew that I wanted to knit her a sweater made with Brooklyn Tweed's Shelter wool.

I was excited to get the sweater on the needles, given I only had three weeks to start it & finish it. Well, here it is "Trillium" from Brooklyn Tweed's Wool People. As you can see we haven't decided on buttons yet (those are markers used as place holders).

The perfect cozy winter sweater.

Other projects that were started & finished for the Holiday season were several pair of socks. I think my total count for the Holiday was four pair. Here are three of them plus a cozy hat designed by Anne Hanson.

We all love our handknit socks so there are always a few pair on needles around here. Another wooly project that seems to always be on needles are handwarmers or mittens. These soft pair made their way to Northern California.

Cowls are another quick knit that I find interesting to make, plus they provide that extra bit of warmth when needed. I made two of these "Botanical Cowls".

And here are my favorite "Chicken Coop Cowls" designed by Anne Hanson. They made the perfect gift for our dear friends, who just happen to raise chickens!

I've spent alot of time with my knitting the past few months and now I have the perfect leather bucket to keep my projects in. My creative son-in-law designed and made this for me for Christmas. Every stitch made by hand-no machine work here.

Now that my Holiday knitting is finished I'm working on starting several new projects. This little ear flap hat is on its' way to a Williams College alum, who just had a baby boy.

And this project is a wooly baby blanket for another friend. Big chunky wool-so much fun to knit with.

That's it for now. Waiting for a nice snowstorm so I can use my new snowshoes.
Happy 2015.