Your greatness is not what you have, it's what you give.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Everything is white outside but inside....

 I love these frigid cold days when the sun shines so brightly that it casts sharp shadows of the bare trees against the pure white snow-covered hills. I love to wrap myself in my hand knitted scarves and hats and venture out to see the beauty in the cold.
But I know not everyone shares my sentiments. This is for all my friends who are sick of winter. My orchids brighten the inside just as the sun brightens the outside.




I hope this helped to brighten your day.
Carole and I had a few finished pieces to show you this week. I completed the fingering weight scarf with the keyhole. It is knitted with The Great Adirondack Yarn Company (the multi-colored) sock weight yarn and my friend's hand dyed yarn, Periwinkle Sheep- Mallards by the Boathouse (the dark green). The pattern is my own.
I was inspired by two different patterns to make this ear warmer. I adapted a headband pattern and then googled a crochet flower tutorial on YouTube for the adornment. It's a great way to use up those leftover balls of yarn in your stash.
My linen stitch cowl is finished too. I knitted this flat with I-cord edges and then grafted the live ends together to make it seamless. I have some of this yarn left so I'm going to have to find a solid yarn to work with it to make another scarf.
Here is my go-to pattern for a very quick knit. It's called Totally Biased and it's free on Ravelry.com. It calls for a bulky weight yarn and I think looks great if the colors are variegated. This is also knitted flat and grafted together to make it seamless. This was such a quick knit that I finished it in two days of knitting.
Carole's headband-ear warmer looks so warm and cozy! Her stitch definition is beautiful and really shows off that big cable nicely. Turban'd is a free pattern on Ravelry.com too. It doesn't take a lot of yarn so here is another use for those leftover bits of yarn that you don't know what to make.
Her next project is this lovely cowl called The Bridger Cowl, another free pattern.
The front has a pointy bandana style contour.
You can see it better from the back. I can't wait to try this one too.
But first I have to finish this Reversible Stripes Scarf, using the leftover yarn from the keyhole scarf I showed you earlier in this post.
Whether you are snowed under or enjoying warm weather, I hope my orchids helped to lift your spirits. I'm going to sneak out for another brisk walk before I settle down to finish this scarf.

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