Spatterdash Wristwarmers
You can find this free pattern on Ravelry.
I used about half a Schoppel Zauberball called “your blue eyes” to make these. To accentuate the shell pattern, I switched between dark and light parts of the yarn every two rows.
Sewing on the 28 buttons seemed to take forever (two evenings in fact) but they give them that certain something I think…
Fortunately they were finished before winter was over and I already got to wear them. They are warm and cozy – I love them.
Box with felted lining
It’s been awhile again since I’ve last written here. I have done some knitting and will finish a few pieces in the next days but the only thing I can show you today is this box that’s been sitting on my bookshelf for months, waiting for a lining to come along.
When I saw it at the shop, I thought it would be perfect to contain all those single glass beads that still await inspiration or might serve as inspiration themselves.
But the painted wooden surface of its interior was of course to rough for my dear beads, so I decided to line it first. As I said, that was months ago. Yesterday I took half an hour to get to work, using a single sheet of thick felt I had once bought at a sale and that sat waiting its use on another shelf in my office.
I simply cut the felt to the right size and glued it in, adding stripes around each compartment to make it more cozy.
It turned out to be enough for the top level, but I will have to buy more felt for the bottom one. What you see on the picture is all that was left.
With those dark red lining I now think it looks more like a jewel box… and the beads can only be stored in it if I decide not to move it from where I intend to put it to use since they would risk rolling around and smashing into one another.
Serpentes
It is done. My first pair of socks has jumped off the needles. It was a slow motion jump since it took 20 months to complete them… Well, socks might not become my favorite kind of knitting project. Maybe wearing them will me convince that hand knit socks are really a must-have?
The pattern is Alpenrose’s “serpentes” – a free pattern that can be found on Ravelry or directly on her blog.
Serpentes are easy enough (no heel), and quite fun to knit. The Zitron Trekking Yarn had first been intended to become a scarf for my son, but I frogged it after 20 cm since it was too scratchy for a young child’s neck. Maybe this fact stopped me from finishing this pair earlier. Now I’m happy that another project has found it’s way out of my knitting basket and into the wardrobe. One UFO less.
Wedge hats and worm
I don’t like hats… no, I don’t like to wear hats. I don’t like my looks when I wear a hat.
But since ”Winter is coming…” 
, I have to get prepared. So I knit a hat I thought might have a chance to look good even on me.
Wedge hat the 1st: (free pattern on Ravelry)
I must not have gotten the size right… It looks like a giant pancake running down my head.
Second try: same pattern, different yarn, smaller size:
why does it ruffle? I have no idea… except that the yarn is a bit stiffer, I followed the same instructions, gauge was the same… hmmm.
Still, I needed a hat. So the third try was a pattern knit about 8000 times – on ravelry … is HAS to have something to it. And the worm sure has. It is an easy pattern (the hardest part being the double layered brim). It is forgiving in the shaping. It looks even acceptable on me. Great! 
The kids already ordered some as well. Maybe I get around to them after knitting some mitts. …and frogging the first wedge hat
Möbius cowl
My first Möbius! It is done 
Like a Möbius strip, this cowl only has one endless side.After casting on, you don’t have to pay that much attention to the repetitive pattern that unfolds all on its own. It starts in the center of the strip and is knit in rounds towards the edgings and is quite a fun project.That is the reason why the colored stripes are mirrored and the “upper” half on the picture below appears as purling stiches and the lower half as knit. Casting off this (almost) endless edge took three TV evenings, since the pattern calls for casting off knitting small triangles.
It is also my first Mohair project. As was foreseeable, the cowl leaves small, hairy traces everywhere it touches rougher surfaces, but it is quite acceptable. I had bought much too much wool. 2 skins of Lana Grossa Silkhair. And I used less than half of one…
The cowl is incredibly soft to wear, does not scratch and is quite warm while being light as a feather.
The pattern (in German), called “Nelke” can be found here. It looks very different when it’s knit using “normal” yarn…
Blooming Khaos
Khaos is a Double Helix Glass Color that’ I’ve recently toyed around with, using my (still quite new) torch. And indeed, with this one, I can tickle out some more colors of the glass. I experimented with making wheels using Khaos and clear side by side, or rather one on top of the other. I then shaped those into wavering disks using heat and tweezers. The reduction didn’t work as well on those as on the doughnut I made, with drops of clear melted down to break the light in a different way over those sections.
On this side of the doughnut you can even see some purple accents.
And yes, this is really only clear glass and one other color… Glass is quite an amazing material! An I don’t get to spend enough time at the torch at the moment. *sigh*
angel and demon
in one.
OK, in three pieces… there may even be more to follow since I haven’t yet exhausted the ideas on this subject.
Inspired by Thirty Seconds to Mars’ Stanger in a Strange Land…
other side of the same bead:
And that’s it for beads 3, 4 and 5 on the new torch.
I have yet to decide which one I like best. Which one is your favorite?
Mack's creative corner 