After knitting 26 or more autumn leaves for the KnitXperience Retreat, I had a ton of odds and ends left over of the Silk Garden DK yarn because I wanted each one to be a different color so I pulled the balls all apart to get to the colors I wanted. Needless to say I had a mess (which our cat Click loves) and I really did want to do something with the remains. I needed a pair of fingerless mittens for myself and voila, got one done and on to the next one. (The drawback being the nasty number of ends I had to secure at the end.)

I used this pattern I found on the internet (scroll down on the right side of her blog), changed it a little because I didn’t want the flip top and wanted my thumb to have some air. Other than that, I knitted it the same. I tell you, this is the easiest pattern for mittens. Try it out. And if you’re striping in the ribbing, don’t forget the neat trick when you change colors, to knit that first row with the new color to avoid the color change bumps. Oh yes, the magic loops is grand for this!

We had a wonderful group of ladies attending the KnitXperience 2010. They knitted cabled bookmarks as their intro to cabling and then launched into a reversible cabled scarf. All was fun, a little challenging, and the location was lovely. Check out the photos below.

Our group.

Just some of the lovely scarves and bookmarks created.

As always, the mountains did not disappoint us with their beauty.

To view all the photos from the weekend go the KnitXperience 2010. Mark your calendar for next year’s event, KnitXperience 2011, Nov. 11-13, and plan to join us.

Reversible Cabled Scarf

The road trip did yield ample time to try out the new Cosmo yarn that we received last week. It became very interesting trying to knit on the PA turnpike. Boy! Is that ever a rough road. I decided to make a reversible cables scarf, and crossing the cables while crossing the potholes was a feat. But I worked a large enough sample to judge what the yarn is like. Besides making a scrumptious, soft, and all around lovely scarf, the yarn is great to work with, not splitty and moves over the needles very well. Definitely one to knit with.

This is a simple pattern with a 4 stitch reversible cable. We are teaching cabling and reversible cables at our KnitXperience Retreat in November.

Don’t forget that the Cosmo yarn is currently our Featured Product. Find out more here on the Blog under Featured Product post.

Once Upon a Cable

Here’s a photo of the scarf we’ll be knitting at KnitXperience this year. Melissa is modeling the scarf knitted in llama yarn which has a reversible cable pattern. We will learn cabling by completing an easy bookmark and then, using the simple idea of using a knit/purl combo on the cable itself,  make it reversible. Perfect for those scarves, collars, anywhere both sides will show. A detail of the scarf edging shows the lovely scalloped cable edging. Wouldn’t you be thrilled to complete this scarf in the scrumptious yarn we are providing.? It really is not complicated at all.

Once Upon a Cable

Information and registration is now ready on the website for KnitXperience 2010.

Cables flummox a lot of people but actually are very simple with the use of markers and an excellent instructor. We’ll have both at KnitXperience so that you will be confident  including cables in your next project.

And don’t forget the location, Graves Mountain Lodge. The scenery is spectacular in the fall and you’ll want to take advantage of the trails for hiking or just sitting on the porch letting the world go by.

KnitXperience Miters

Melissa was working on this afghan when we were at KnitXperience in November and just finished it. She used Elsebeth Lavold’s Chunky AL yarn and designed the pattern herself. She added a knitted edging when she finished. The sides definitely needed blocking when finished, so she threaded Lysley Solomon’s blocking needles through each side, then blocked with a steam iron and a damp cloth. The wires held the afghan in place and made an arduous task considerably easier. You can see what a difference it makes in these photos. These wires are too long for us to ship, but we will have them at the Mancuso Show in Hampton in February.