Black and White and Color

 Here's some of what I've been working on the last month. I guess I was mistaken in thinking that I wasn't getting anything done. (Mantra for 2012: the glass is half full...) First up, a modification of the clever Toast Wrap by Madeline Bourque (adapted from a cowl in the English catalog/shop Toast).

 Knit in Rowan Pure Wool DK on a size 4 needle. I cast on 126 stitches and worked 3 1/2 repeats of the pattern. And instead of grafting the two ends together, I worked a 2x2 rib on each end. One side is black, the other is white, so that I could use up the yarn that I had left.

Next, catnip mice. This is the best way to dry them after felting: on chopsticks stuck into the glass that usually holds the toothbrush and toothpaste. Festive, no? The one on the counter (in Jo Sharp DK Wool, color Owl) looks a bit too lifelike - I'm not sure whether I'll ever want to sew him up into the finished toy.

 The pattern is Felted Mouse by Jo Chandler. I knit these in Noro Kureyon on size 7 dpns, and could get 6 or 7 mice from one skein. Modifications: I worked 10 rows instead of 2 1/2 inches after completing the increases, so that I would get a nice, chubby mouse and one not so lifelike. Also, I decreased to 3 stitches for the tail and worked the I-cord until the tail was longer than the body. I made little packets of catnip on the sewing machine, stuffed them, and seamed up the opening. Oh, and I didn't bother to sew up the mice for felting, and things came out fine. Very cute.

 And Belle likes hers. I am keeping the catnip packets and finished mice in a ziplock plastic bag to deter extra partaking of the catnip.

And not a homemade, but my daughter thought to send a present to Parker for Hanukah, and he loves it. He has been sleeping with it tucked under his arm (leg?). Do you think he sees it as his baby?

 And one more: tiny socks knit out of Jamieson and Smith two-ply, then strung on a cord. The pattern is Sockology Roll-Top Sock Bookmark. (The title is longer than the sock.)

My fellow weavers in my guild study group, who saw me finishing these at our last meeting and starting what was going to be a tiny steeked Fair Isle vest, suggested that I do a different miniature piece of clothing for each night of Hanukah. I loved the idea, but instead have been knitting up mittens for a shop model. No picture; the pattern is Ann Norling's Mittens on 4 needles. I can turn out a mitten in about 3 hours - a world's record for me - and am lured instead to knit mittens. Knit, wear, appreciate the warmth and beauty. Isn't that what making things by hand should be about?