This is the beginning of the Evangeline Mitts (Ravelry Link) that I'm doing as part of a knit-a-long with a few friends who have recently moved away. Katy came up with the idea; Liette set up a page for all of us to keep in touch, and Samera told us all about the lovely yarn shops she was finding at her temporary residence. I have been the great procrastinator in the group - I only wound my yarn into a ball on Friday - but I am finally started and already done one repeat of the cable pattern. My yarn is Cascade 220 in Red (#2413) and I think it is going to show the pattern very well. I am going to make the elbow length gloves so that I can wear my short sleeved shirts more comfortably this winter. I might even try making up a new blouse just to show them off better (I'm thinking of cute elbow length sleeves - maybe with bows on the cuff). I wonder what I have that would look pretty with red?

Everyone in our family has a stocking made from these patterns.  Everyone ... aunts, uncles,  cousins and spouses. Most of them were made by my grandmother. My sister got married last fall and wanted one for her husband but Darney isn't able to knit anymore. Jane asked me if I thought I'd be up to it. I got out my stocking and looked at how it is made: knit flat and seamed up with some stranded colour work and some picture knitting. The only new skill would be the picture knitting and I thought I could handle that so I told Jane "yes, I could" and we called Darney for the instructions.

Darney sent me a package with copies of all the patterns (there are five different designs), her hand-written instructions and a bunch of yarn bobbins to help me deal with all the different colours. Each design has the names of everyone Darney knit it for written across the top and, frequently, drafted out onto the graph paper to be knit into the top of the stocking.

I choose Cascade 220 for my yarn. I like working with a pure wool and this one is sturdy and comes in lots of colours.

It's been a lot of fun knitting this so far (a little confusing at times but still very fun). The back side is not as neat as the stockings Darney made because I'm still learning how to deal with all the floats and ends but it makes me smile every time I see the front and realize that I really am knitting a stocking just like she did so many times. I feel so honoured that I'm able to carry on a family tradition.

We got a hole bunch of snow yesterday and Rob and I discovered that our front hall is crazy slippery when your shoes are full of snow. I had gotten some felting yarn a while ago with the idea of making a rug for our house but now I'm going to make a door mat. My idea is to knit strips, felt them and then sew them together. I'll need to put something grippy on the back so it doesn't slip around when we step on it. I think a felted rug will be washable (in cool water) and should be able to suck up a lot of icy water before it runs all over the floor.