Projects with sticks & string

We've been indoors doing creative projects with the latest attack of winter. My daughter gifted me at Christmas with this gorgeous cable knit purse and I have finally attached a terrific button & crocheted the button loop. The yarn is a lovely Rowan Colorscape Chunky in rich colors of blue, forest green, violet and pink, which I had purchased a couple of years ago intending to knit a sweater vest, but the yarn continued to linger in my stash. Since we were planning a budget-cautious Christmas, my daughter wanted to knit all her gifts. Coincidentally, she owns a nifty cabled purse I have admired, envied and basically wished was mine so, by providing the yarn, this is the beauty I got in my basket under the tree...

Instead of starting on our Spring sock-a-thon I am knitting Val a pair of fingerless mitts first. Lately, I have been hooked on Brown Sheep Company Lamb's Pride Worsted, 85% wool & 15% mohair, the website http://www.brownsheep.com/ . I can't gush enough about this yarn, reasonably priced, the colors are terrific, it has a springy twist and it's a pleasure to the hand. It is factory spun but still seems to have a bit of yarn variation which gives a nice character to the project. For the mitts I am using Clara Parkes' excellent pattern, Maine Morning Mitts, from her book, The Knitter's Book of Yarn and also available as a free PDF download on Ravelry, here http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/maine-morning-mitts . I adjust the length to the base of the thumb to between 5"-6" and the only other change I make is to pick up extra stitches at the thumb gusset to prevent any holes in the knitting. The Lamb's Pride color I'm using is M-225 Elderberry Wine, a skein with beautiful lavender to deep violet variegation. These will be my fourth pair of mitts and by far, the Lamb's Pride is my favorite yarn for this project.

Noro yarn mitt on the right, same pattern

It has been snowing off and on the whole weekend with the sunshine absent these last couple of days. The over 21 kids and I decided to go to the Shlafly Taproom in downtown St. Louis for the Cod & Cask Festival; an evening of Icelandic cod, local brew and music. Nothing like good food and a live band, the Trophy Mules were playing last night, http://thetrophymules.bandcamp.com/ to shake out those winter blues. Also, here is a link to the Shlafly site http://schlafly.com/tap-room/taproom-brewery/  it's one of our best local breweries. Well, I think that is enough links... Novelty that is what you need during the winter greyness, stuff like yarn re-discovered from your stash, new library books and a night on the town! Don't let ol' man winter getcha down.