Lily of the Valley

Doilies are fun to knit. This one is Lily of the Valley by Herbert Niebling from the new Anna Burda magazine.

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Details:

• Thread: Kordonnet 80, made in Slovakia, purchased in Prague a few years ago
• Needles: 1.5mm
• 94 rounds
  
• Finished size: Approximately 18 inches in diameter

UFO No More

I started these more than a year ago but stalled after I finished the first mitten minus the thumb. I kept them readily available to remind me to finish them. I am glad that I finally finished them, although our coldest mitten-wearing weather is over for this year (I hope).

I am not crazy about color knitting — give me lace knitting any day — but I decided to challenge myself with these.

• Pattern: Annemor #13 from Selbuvotter by Terri Shea
• Yarn: Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift, 2 skeins black, one skein of a color called Fog
• Needles: Knit the ribbing with 2.25mm needles and the remainder with 2.75mm

Key to success with the patterns in this book is to enlarge the charts so you can see what you are doing and to keep marking off where you stop and start.

These mittens were not the oldest UFO (unfinished object, for you non-knitters) in my knitting bag. And that's all I am going to say about UFOs.

Oooh! Sparkles!

My friend Bridget sends the best, most creative Christmas presents. This year it was a skein of Tilli Tomas Salt & Pepper yarn in a shade called Fitler, which is a square in Philadelphia near Bridget's home. How cool is that? It's spun silk and teeny little beads (hope you can see the beads here).

The pattern is a Turkish Stitch scarf from Loop Knits, knit on US9 needles. Knitting took some care to not split the silk strand and the bead strand (beads are on a separate, very fine thread). The finished sized is about 6 inches wide by 54 inches long.

It's very luxurious to wear. And perfect for Valentine's Day!