Earning My Stitches

I finished knitting two sets of fingerless gloves for gifts!

The yarn I used (Cascade 220) is scratchier than I thought it would be, especially worn close to the inside of the wrist.   I’ve investigated some ways to soften the yarn and had some success.

But I hate to give handmade gifts hat might fall short.

So I decided to knit two new pairs of gloves! Different patterns too!  Yay, more fun knitting!

As soon as I get them done and mailed, I’ll  share pictures and patterns. (I don’t want to spoil the surprise if the giftees happen to come across my blog.)

In other knitting news, I am still working on the Dragonwing shawl.

Here is the yarn I’m using. (It has more green tones in real life.)

The pattern isn’t hard, but lace is my nemesis.

I’ve pulled out the same section four times.  I keep picking up a stitch toward the end and throwing the pattern completely off.  I’m going to rip out a few rows and try again, keeping an eye out for that extra stitch. If I can get through this section, I think the rest will fall together pretty easily.

And hey, at least I’m getting lots of practice picking up lace stitches and memorizing the pattern. Once it’s done, I think it’s going to be a beautiful wrap.

Now if I can just get TIN SWIFT finished and off to my editor, I might have more than fifteen minutes a day to work on my knitting!  As a matter of fact, I think that’s going to be my reward for the next couple weeks of hard work.  Every page written earns me more knitting time.  Score!