mittens mittens mittens

You guys know the drill by now: I have an exam, therefore I spend a weekend locked in my apartment with my knitting and (several) cups of coffee and learn as much as I possibly can.

This is the knitting that came out of this weekend’s studying.

For a long time, I was against fingerless mittens sort of on principle. I didn’t really understand the point of them – if it was cold enough for mittens, I figured it’d be best to wear the kind that covered my whole hand, instead of just a part of it. But then I started biking to school, and now I totally understand why, in the fall, it’s really nice to have something to keep my hands warm, but lets me bike safely.

The pattern is Wild Growth, the aran weight version, and I knit it up in indigodragonfly Aran Merino, in Deep Thoughts. They’re very blue-green, which suits my tastes just perfectly. The instant gratification of knitting with worsted weight yarn again is kind of fantastic, too.

I was going to say ‘Sharpay Evans’ instead of ‘Barbie,’ and then I realized nobody would get it.

I went to the Frolic this weekend! With Laura, which was both awesome and a little intimidating, because she knows like everybody. But I bought a ton of yarn, and other yarn-related paraphernalia, and overall it was a pretty rad time!

From left to right: cat, Tanis Fiber Arts MCN, Madelinetosh Tosh Sock, new spindle (!!!), some really fluffy Shetland roving from Waterloo Wools, and St. Denis Nordique. I am very, very pleased with my big bag of yarn. My cat is obviously more into the bag, but that’s okay. She can’t knit.

And then, omgomg. So, I saw Kim of indigodragonfly at knit night, weeks ago. And I know she dyes yarn, so I was all, “Hey, you know what colour you should dye? Pink. Pink sock yarn. It’s my favourite.” And then I didn’t think anything of it – at least not until she emailed me this week to let me know that she had dyed some yarn that was really, really, really, pink, and would I like some.

Obviously, hell yes I would like some.

Guys, this yarn is bright. So bright, in fact, that my camera got confused and won’t photograph it properly – but I want you guys to imagine what would happen if Barbie ever took up knitting. It’s pretty much that. I am in love. It’s electric, electric pink, but also subtly variegated somehow, and it makes me grin every time I look at it.

I’ve already wound one of the skeins. These are going to be the best effing socks, you guys don’t even know.

if you own any orange, get rid of it.

I don’t know about any of you, but for me, what and how often I knit is usually really closely linked to what’s going on in my life at any given time. If I’ve got a lot on my plate, I want boring knitting – plain stockinette, garter stitch, soft yarns and easy to memorize patterns. If I’ve got a bit of free time on my hands, I want elaborate lace charts and interesting garment constructions.

This week was a little much – I’ve got a lot going on at school, and I sang (at age 23) in a talent show the other night, and I’m moving this month – so I switched from Goose Rocks to something a little simpler and a little more mindless.

The cat helped with this one, too. (That’s a hole in my screen, not a cat door. I’m really stoked about moving.)