Recent knitting and Lucy Neatby classes

Last night I finally finished the first Egyptian mitten. I am not sure why I am not enjoying knitting these as much as other stranded mittens. I think it may partly be because of the scratchy Jamieson's Spindrift yarn. I am sure these mittens will hold up very well, but working with it isn't as much a pleasure as using softer yarns. I'm taking a short break, but should certainly have the second one done before the cold weather sets in again! Seeing the first one done is motivating, as I do like the way the motif looks.

Just before this, I was on a hat kick--two for a hat exchange, and one, the Hurricane hat, for me. I saw one done in a lovely light blue/light green/turquoise Poems colorway, and just had to have one for myself! The pattern was a delight to knit, perfect for listening to a book on tape, as nothing very complex was going on. It knit up very quickly. Since the Poems is less heavy than the called-for Malabrigo, I knit the ribbing on 92 stitches, rather than 80, then dropped to 91 for the body of the hat (rather than 81). My only other modification was to shorten the body of the hat by 1/2".



The stranded hat is one of the ones I made for the swap (the other hasn't been received yet, so it is under wraps). My exchange partner made me a lovely lace hat out of Artful Yarns Jazz, in a colorway I just love! She also sent along three wonderful handmade soaps. What a great first swap experience!



On Wednesday I took two classes with Lucy Neatby at Webs--one on buttonholes and one called Hallelujah Grafting. They were great classes, and nice and small, so we got lots of personalized attention. I've been longing to take a class with Lucy since I started watching some of her DVDs, and was not disappointed at all. She is a fabulous teacher, and an amazing knitter. I broke down and bought another of her DVDs (Finesse Your Knitting 2) and put in an order for the first Finesse DVD. Because the classes were small, and we actually got through everything she wanted to teach us, she spent a little time showing us how to do the Swallow Stitch that is found on her Fiesta patterns. It looks really amazing, and isn't hard. So I just bought her Fiesta Mittens pattern off Patternfish, and hope to start soon (though there is that second Egyptian mitten waiting...)

My knitting books are absolutely overflowing all their allotted spaces. I would love to go through them and find even just 10 that I could put up for sale. But what strength of purpose that will take! What if the pattern I just have to have someday is in one of those books? Are there any words of wisdom you can share on this rather frightening undertaking?