Warmth in the North

dear yarn

    I know it's a lot to ask but I need a favour - do you think you could knit yourself?  What I'd really like is a pair of these mittens.  You wouldn't even need to turn into the little pocket for the subway card, just a plain version is fine.  Someone is waiting for you and I just can't knit fast enough.  
    I realize that this request is out of the ordinary and in the real world I need to do the knitting.  Really I'm not opposed to knitting you myself but it's a time factor with a little bit of stupid mixed in.  You see I forgot the winter is ending for most people and my sister won't need mitts very soon.  As the queen of mistimed gifts I'd love to be able to get these to her before spring really sets in.  At the very least could you get winter to hang around for a bit longer?  I'll take any help you could give me.

thanks...

tamzin

    A few days ago I noticed that my Ravelry projects still listed Tamzin as unfinished but when I tried to find pictures there were none.  Suddenly it dawned on me that I hadn't even written about it - weird.  So I made myself take these pictures today even though the light was horrible, according to the weather network we're in for a lot more snow yet.

    My Tamzin is full of mods, most obvious are the bust darts.   I'm really happy with them since they get rid of my usual problems of a too big waist or a too small chest when it comes to tops.  Although the yoke is my favorite part of the sweater from the back I'm a bit iffy on it from the front.  This isn't a make it or break it thing, just one of those oddities I notice once in a while. 
    As soon as I added the bust darts I realized that the pattern would need to be lowered below the bust line.  I think it works and gives the bottom a bit of texture without being overwhelming.  The only other major addition are the buttons all the way down the front.  I think the original only calls for three at the top but I didn't want another a-line sweater. 

    The only real mistake is in the button holes, for some reason they are out of whack at the bottom.  I need to add another one to the mix to even things out but getting up the courage to try an afterthought button hole is taking some doing.  For now it's ok and at some point I'll get my act together and fix things.  The colour is most accurate in the last picture but I took what I could get from the cloudy sky.

just in case...

pattern ~ Tamzin by Katya Frankel (Rav link)
yarn ~ Queensland Collection Uruguay DK in Plum... I have no idea how much, maybe 15 balls
needles ~ 3.5mm (US4)

more of everything

    Recently very nice knitters have been posting little tastes of spring, buds on trees, grass or even the ground free of snow.  Thanks so much, when you live in the snow that never melts it's nice to have a bit of sunshine.  All I have to give in return is a snow covered horse, all the horses had  blankets of snow on their backs as more fell all around them.  Maybe someday spring will come here but not quite yet.

    As a concellation prize I've started another Ishbel because nothing soothes a soul stuck in winter like more knitting.  And this pattern worked so well for me the first time it should be a sure things this time around as well.  I'm still plugging along on the sweater but Ishbel is perfect for travel knitting although it's the larger version and will end up taking more time.  This may very well be the first thing I've knit twice from the same pattern so I hope I don't get sick of it during round two.

least favorite

    I've recently come to the understanding that I hate casting off.  It takes me forever and needs so much concentration that I avoid it at any cost.  Most people look like they get to the end of a piece so easily but my bind offs are so tight that it takes lots of time to get a nice stretchy finish.  For the most part I've come to terms with my deficiency  but I'd love for it to go away, especially after the half hour devoted to this cast off.
    This sweater is coming along alright and I just need to knit the sleeves which will take a while I'm sure.  Since I'm winging it I've yet to decide if I'll add a section of garter stitch to the edge for a button band.  The button holes are already in place since I wanted the buttons to pop out of the twisted ribs.  It's really just the other side that I'm thinking about although a decision doesn't need to be made for a while