Zippy Strip

Sometimes I make things just because the way they are constructed amuses me. That was the case with Frankie Brown's Zippy Strip. You knit a strip, cleverly sew it to a zipper, and zip it up. Voila, a cute coin purse.

I admit that I had to take half of it apart and sew it together a second time. I misread the directions.

It was fun and it used up a little bit from the bottomless leftover sock yarn bin.

52 Pickup

Check out this scarf:

The designer is Alasdair Post-Quinn, the wizard of double knitting. His site states that the pattern's available on Ravelry. Cooperative Press will be offering it in book form and in kit form. I desperately want to knit this. I've got so many projects queued that I'm not going to get it yet. The rule is that I have to finish the Tardis Afghan before I get it.

It's going to be a while.

Van Gogh Inspired Yarns

I like Van Gogh. I like sock yarn. One of my favorite Doctor Who episodes is Vincent and The Doctor. When I found out that Opal had released a series of yarn with colors based on Van Gogh paintings, I knew I was in trouble. I needed to calm down before I went completely bonkers and bought all the yarnz. I put together pictures of yarn swatches and the paintings that inspired them.

Now I can study them and pick one. Or two.

Advent Scarf KAL

There's a group on Ravelry that is doing an advent scarf mystery knitalong. Every day from December 1-24 you get a new clue. I like the idea of having one little project to do each day. The yarn requirements haven't been listed yet, so I checked out what was required for the previous two years. I wanted to use laceweight and I don't have anywhere near enough of a single color in my stash. DBNY has some Rowan alpaca/wool blend on sale for half price. My hardest choice was deciding between rose and mauve.

Beads are optional with the pattern. I haven't decided about them yet. If I have beads already that will work with the yarn, then I might use them. There will be no new beads purchased because oh my Gallifrey do I have a lot of beads for someone who doesn't use them often. Perhaps I ought to use them if I've got them!

Doctor Who mittens

I found the chart for these on Ravelry and of course had to drop everything and make them.

The white yarn's an angora blend so they are very soft and warm. I hope the recipient enjoys them. Now, back to the mystery hat!

Fabric Fun

The fat quarters I ordered from the Spoonflower sale arrived today. For some mysterious reason, I got two extra quarters. My favorite (and one of the doubles) was this steampunk-themed pattern:

I was amused by the Doctor Who toile:

Knitting continues, but nothing new is complete. The sweater's about 3/4 done. 400+ stitches in a single row gets to be a bit much, so I have been working on mittens for a break. It's a Doctor Who chart, with DW logos on the palm and the seal of Rasillon and little Tardises on the back.

Hat band

That's the first step in the mystery hat KAL. Yarn color's closer to the button. Yes, I know Photoshop Elements will help me correct the picture color, but I'm even worse at that than at taking the picture in the first place. Also lazy. The designer gave an estimate of the percentage of the yarn needed for each step. I'm now more confident that I've got enough handspun. Why is it I suddenly heard Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear saying, "What could possibly go wrong?"? That phrase is usually followed by a car exploding or falling into the sea.

Sweater front and sides are nearly to the point where something interesting happens. The thought of doing other than the pattern has me motivated to keep going on it. We'll see how long that lasts.