Toasty Hand Warmers

November 16, 2012April 18, 2014 | Verónica

My husband has a true appreciation for handmade items. So as I considered my knitting queue, I decided to make him a pair of fingerless hand warmers for the cool weather ahead. He has a wonderfully warm charcoal gray coat so I wanted yarn that would complement it. I found this hank at Nimblefingers, one of Houston’s local yarn stores.

Heritage Quatro by Cascade Yarns. Fiber content: 75% Merino Superwash, 25% Nylon. Yield: 437 yards, 100 grams.

For the pattern, I went to The Purl Bee and fixed on their Ribbed Hand Warmers. It is a nice gender-neutral pattern. As I started knitting, I noticed that the swatch was too flimsy and it didn’t seem like it would keep his hands warm. So I unravelled my knitting and doubled up the yarn. Much better.

Here is hand warmer #1 in progress.

Once the first one was all done, the second one went quickly.

I think he liked them.

Autumn

October 17, 2012October 17, 2012 | Verónica

After the humid heat of summer, autumn ushers in cooler days and bursts of color.

Just in time for the cool weather, I made up this chunky cabled hat from the Wooli yarn in my stash using this pattern (sans pompom).

Here it is in progress. The top two photos taken with my phone are fuzzier than I would like but I had to show the circular work in progress. I chuckled as I thought of Obey Crochet and hook’s smug comment about how many needles it takes to make a circle.

A close-up.

Here are some gratuitous pictures of mums and the last gardenias blooming in the garden. Those oranges, yellows and ochres brighten up our doorstep.

Aaah, autumn.

In Stitches

June 23, 2012June 22, 2012 | Verónica

Mom had surgery a couple of weeks ago. In the scheme of things, it was a routine surgery. But it was my mom. There was nothing routine about it. Thankfully, the surgery went well. Mom is recuperating quite nicely and I was glad to be there for her. Even my teenage son enthusiastically played caregiver once I returned to work. He made her breakfast, made the beds, and asked her if she needed anything … every five minutes.

We were at the hospital during Worldwide Knit in Public Day so I pulled out my needles and yarn while waiting. I wanted to make a little something special for her; something I could make quickly and that would make her feel good. Lately, I’ve been seeing many posts on wash cloths. It’s like they’re all the rage. This was it. I would knit a couple of wash cloths she could use to clean her face at the end of the day. It would be my way of tending to her even after she went back home six hours away.

I found this 100% cotton yarn in the sale bin at my LYS. I loved the colors and knew this would help hide any lingering make up stains.

photo 2_2_2_3 — Araucania Pomaire Multy and Nature Cotton.

I used two patterns – Dishcloth Boutique’s Bamboo Cloth Variation 1 and Maggie’s Rags’ Chinese Waves Dishcloth.

This is one of the wash cloths still on the needles.

Here is the finished set. I didn’t get to use the solid peachy yarn yet.

The smile in her eyes when I gave them to her was all I needed.

Bubble Gum Hat

May 26, 2012May 26, 2012 | Verónica

After spinning and dyeing my small batches of yarn, my fingers were itching for a project to use it on.

Since I had small skeins to work with, I needed a small item to knit.

So off I went to the wonderful Purl Bee and found their Whit’s Knits: Fun Kid’s Hat. It required just the amount of yarn I had with a little left over.

I started knitting.