Monday, January 15, 2007

Trying to Knit

















Although I am having a super fabulous time up in the mountains, I forgot to bring some type of hand project with me for nights. One day my DH was headed down the mountain to get some groceries so I asked him to please stop by a yarn shop and get me some yarn - oh, I spelled it all out - red and pink yarn - wool - for felting, the yardage, 11 dpn needles and circular needles too if they had them, etc., etc. DH being the good sport that he is ventured forth into the yarn shop and brought home this yarn... 7 balls of it, plus circular needles, but not the very needed dpn needles. And the wrong size needles too because that is what the shopkeeper sold him - because the yarn is sooo chunky! Hummm.


OK folks - I know this is nice yarn and all, but altogether it cost 40 Euros. And, I want to make mittens for my son. And he wants red and pink mittens and if you know a 3 year old, there is just no substituting this varigated yarn for red and pink - he looked at it and asked - where's the pink?. So - this all went back to the yarn shop next trip down the mountain. In the meantime I went on-line to Joanne's and ordered some very nice wool (1 ball of red, 1 ball of pink), plus the 2 sets of needles (I only need dpn's, but it is a bit easier with the circular too so I got those as well) and it all came to less than 1/2 of what my DH paid (and remember he only got 1 pair of needles), including shipping! Joanne's has great wool for felting (Paton's Merino) and it is $3.99 a ball with a whopping 223 yards per ball! Lots of colors too - including some cool verigated ones.

The pattern I will use is for felted mittens from Carodan Farm Wool Shop in Stanardsville, VA. Judy was making felted clogs awhile back and posted the link - so I went and took a look and ended up getting a few patterns. Looks fast and easy - you knit on size 11 (8 mm) needles using 2 strands of yarn (hence the 1 ball pink, 1 ball red - per my 3.5 year old son's request!) - 120 yards of each color. Believe me, I will have lots of yarn left over so will probably use the extra to make a felted bag or something. FYI - I couldn't find size 11 dpn's anywhere on Joanne's site, so I settled on 10.5 which is just fine because I tend to knit loosely anyway.

The moral of the story here though - I will keep sending my DH to the store to pick up this or that, as needed because - he had no qualms at all about spending $40 for mittens! LOL! Oh yes, I do love that man!

Today's photos - my son giving his snow tractor a ride on the sled (his favorite snow toys are beach toys!). And - the little squirrel that visits our window every morning - he has gotten smart and now bites the string that holds the bird food and runs away with the entire loot!



















19 comments:

Melanie said...

Great Posts....I admired you both.. You for asking him and He for being willing to shop for you. Have fun..

ForestJane said...

Hmm, maybe if you print some pictures from the internet of exactly what you want him to buy... lol

Debby Brown said...

Keep that man! Intentions are more important than results sometimes.

Enjoy your holiday.

quiltpixie said...

at least he ventured forth into a yarn shop... but yes, I can see why you needed to return the yarn. A shame though as it was beautiful, just not for the project you had in mind...

Darcie said...

Too funny! DH's choice is quite nice...but I would rather agree with Little Boy's combination! Can't wait to see!

Jenni said...

Good on him for trying, but they just don't understand, do they? Snow looks lovely.

Cynthia said...

i've enjoyed seeing all the snow photos.

YOur string tulips are lovely. What a great way to use up all those scraps.

Samantha said...

How very wonderful that he didn't blink when it came to 40 euro! Hee hee! I am making felted clogs for my husband, and took him to pick out the yarn, and he almost died when he realized how much his slppiers would cost... Poor guy.

Looking forward to seeing the mittens!

Quilts And Pieces said...

that is one great husband!!!!

Anonymous said...

Great yarn - it's a pity it had to go back to the shop :-)

Finn said...

Hi Evelyn, how wonderful that he was willing to do that, or at least try..*VBS*
I'm sure tne mittons with the replaced yarn will be quite grand!!
So happy to hear you are on holiday! Hugs, Finn

sewprimitive karen said...

Cool squirrel, very European :-)

Unknown said...

That wool is lovely - would love a quilt in all those colours

Cher said...

lovely to catch up with you Evelyn

Granny said...

Evelyn, your baby is growing so quickly. I can't believe it's been a year since I first began seeing your pictures from Austria.

You definitely have a keeper! If I sent my DH to the yarn shop . . well, forget that -- he wouldn't consider it.

Judy L.

Susan said...

I will admit to being a bit slow. I wondered when you replied that you liked Homeport Restuarant also just where on the Cape you had lived. I also knew your picture was hauntingly familiar. Glad to see you again. I ran into your sister last week. Should I see her again I will tell her that we somehow managed to find each other on the WEB. Yes it is a small world.

Darlene said...

Working my way around the Stash Quilts Ring just to say Hi. Hope you're having a wonderful winter!

Shelina said...

That is such a pretty yarn! I think I would have kept it and made something special out of it. So sweet of him to go out and choose something, even if he didn't get the directions right.

Carolyn said...

Hi! I haven't seen a recent post, so thought I'd stop by and say hi. Hope all is well and you're having fabulous winter!