An overnight surprise...

After a full day of steady rain, snow melting...seemingly washing away winter, I woke up this March 6th morning to Winter's surprise....

...a blast of cold north air and a fresh dusting of snow...have to admit, it's kind of pretty...
Coincidentally, I happened to finish this lovely snowflake of wool just in time...
...a winter's beret for Lydia

Pattern (free): Meret by "Wooly Wormhead"
Wool: Patons Classic Wool (approx 3/4 of a ball)
Needles: 4.5 round and double-pointed

Extreme Cold Weather Alert

Just in time for yet another extreme cold weather alert...and hot off the needles is the "Gap-tastic Cowl". It's big, bulky, and best of all very warm.

The pattern is free on ravelry.

I used 3 balls of Lion Brand Thick and Quick in colour Oatmeal. Cast on the 131 sts on 9 mm round needles as suggested and just kept going around and around...

Thorpe'd again

It seems everyone wants a Thorped hat so....here we go again....

I chose to go a size smaller for this one - using the medium size which has 72 stitches on the needle once you have made all the increases. Again I used double-stranded Patons Classic Wool - colours Jade Heather and Aran (both from my stash). Again I used 5.5 mm dpn's for the body of the hat, but switched to 4.5 mm circular (16") for the garter stitch band as it seemed a bit loose on my first Thorpe project (ravelry link). The trim is in single crochet due to the thickness of the wool.The top tassle...just for fun...

More snow = more mittens...

It's snowing again...

I love my red mittens.

Pattern: 3 Stitch Waffle Mittens

Wool: Nashua Superwash Wool

Thorpe Hat Just in Time...

It may be a little late for Christmas but Owen's Thorpe hat and matching mittens are finished, just in time for the new snow that fell overnight. What a great pattern. I made it a bit large but, double stranded, it is definitely warm.

Hat Pattern: Thorpe by Kirten Kapur

(free pattern!)

Mittens: My own generic mitten pattern

Wool: Patons Classic Wool in "Forest" (one strand) and a solid brown wool from my stash (second strand)

Waffle mittens

Finished just in time for Christmas .... one pair of waffle mittens, made to order for Thomas

And he likes them!
What can I say? He picked out the colours : )
Mission Falls 1820 Wool
Pattern on Ravelry: 3 Stitch Waffle Mittens by Zortified (a free Ravelry download)
This pattern knits up quickly and the waffle stitch adds some nice thickness and warmth. My only modification was to do plain knit thumbs versus the knit-2 purl-1 that the pattern calls for. I found the plain knit looks better when adding the make-1 stitches for the thumb gusset.

A different beach...another sock

It's amazing how much knitting you can get done during an 18-hour drive to the sunny south...
"Algonquin Socks" started on the shores of Pog Lake, Algonquin Provincial Park, and...

...completed on the sands of beautiful Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

I love this place they call "The Strand," with it's glorious sunrises -

seemingly endless beaches -

and, lo and behold...a local yarn store (and a lovely one at that!)

Needless to say, with the socks finished I had to pick up a little something for the 18 hour drive back to Ontario...