Not what I planned

First I want to thank all of you who visited my blog on Wednesday.  Evidently posting a tutorial, albeit a paper and not a yarn or knitting tutorial, was a good thing.

My plan for yesterday (after work) was to stop and pick up some paper supplies to maybe, just maybe, make my Christmas cards.  I bought some cards a few weeks ago and, well, they were not exactly what I want to send.   There are nice inexpensive cards and then there are cheap cards.  Really cheap cards.  My name is not going on these cards.

We got some snow.  Unexpected snow and it was slippery snow.   It wasn’t a lot of snow but it was the right kind to cause havoc all over the place.  Cars were off the roads and in ditches.  By the time I got to our neighborhood, I knew there would be a problem getting up the hill.  The half mile hill.  The half mile snow-covered steep hill.  I saw tire tracks all over the road.  Then I saw brake lights at the top of the hill.  That’s never a good sign. Someone (not me) was spinning their wheels at the top.  Since everyone had to stop on the steepest part of the hill until the first person got to the flat part, we all got stuck briefly but eventually got moving again.

Mr. Aitch was at work so our driveway hadn’t been touched.  I tried to go up and into the garage but it was too slick.  So I parked the car at the bottom of the driveway and walked to the house to get the shovel.  Fortunately the snow was dry and light instead of the heavy wet stuff.  It only took about an hour and fifteen minutes to clear it.

I was too tired to make the cards so I sat down and knitted another hat.  An unplanned hat.  No charts, just simple no-brainer knitting.

My plans for this evening include making cookie dough, making the above mentioned Christmas cards, working on the felt ornaments, knitting Mr. Aitch’s Musica mitts, and finishing two hats.

Well, that’s my plan…

Musica mitts cast on

I started the Musica mitts over the weekend when I wasn’t getting ready for our early Thanksgiving dinner…which will be tonight.  My son has to work on Thanksgiving so he and his family are coming to our house for dinner tonight.  Mr. Aitch is in charge of getting the turkey in the oven as I have to work today.

I’ve already got the pumpkin pies, candied yams, cooked/baked and the stuffing is made.  Green bean casserole and mashed potatoes will be made as soon as I get home.  I hope I can leave for home a little early today.

Anyway, back to the Musica mitts.  I am making these for Mr. Aitch for Christmas so he can smoke his cigars outside in the winter and keep his hands warm at the same time.  He is a retired band director, still directs the church choir and plays in several community bands so I thought these would be fitting with his musical life.

Musica Mitts overview

I’m using Knit Picks Stroll in fingering weight.  Knitting on size 3 (US) needles instead of the 2.5 as instructed.  I want them to be a bit larger than the pattern.  I repeated the first few rows as well to make them longer.  I also might make fingers for the ring finger and pinky.  We’ll see how it goes.

Musica Mitts closer

Sorry for the low quality pictures.  I used my phone and the lighting was poor.

It’s funny how much I contemplated over the colors: Dusk and Midnight Heather.  Mr. Aitch is partially colorblind so all he’s going to see are blue and black.  Whatever.

I hope I can work on these this weekend.  I also have to finish the soakers and Ms Ida Mittens.  The twins’ birthdays are this month and I have a few things I need to finish.

It will all come together, right?

WIP and a not quite FO

Some people reserve Wednesdays for WIPs (work-in-progress projects) and Fridays for FOs (finished objects).  With me you get a WIP or an FO when I remember to post one or the other or, in this case, both.

I’m not quite finished with the orange seamless slippers I knit  but decided to take a picture of them anyway.  I just need to sew on the soles (black oval shapes) and make pom poms.

Orange seamless slippers

These were originally for me so I decided to cast on another pair using free green yarn and the variegated color to put away for later use or gifting.

Green seamless slippers WIP

 The green is much brighter than this picture shows but since I’m a green person, I love the color.  Mr. Aitch is a blue person.  Anyway, I have two  mistakes in these slippers.   The first mistake I discovered is the unslipped stitch on the back faux seam.  It’s hard to see in the photo but it’s very obvious in person.  A rib of stockinette stitches run up the triangle faux seam.  There’s a big bump there.  The second mistake is that I increased a stitch on the sole.  Not that big of a deal but I know it’s there.  So I decided to put away the orange ones and keep the green ones for me.

Ms Ida mittens are slowly coming along.  The slippers are semi mindless knitting and I needed something like that this weekend while I was trying to declutter and clean my house for a party we’re having this weekend.

Don’t forget to leave a comment about how you feel about your birthday (or birthdays in general) to win the five October Stitch markers.  Deadline is midnight EST tonight.

October Stitch markers