Ekstremi(teti) / Extremities

It took me years to muster the will and energy and sort out my stash. And then, after I'd done it, my friends showered me with yet more yarn! It seems I'll need another 30-liter box after all! Ain't life a bitch? ;)

But before the stash event and before I got those lovely, lovely birthday presents, I managed to finish two very extreme knitting projects. Extreme in every sense. A pair of socks (my first ever, would you believe it?!) and a pair of mittens to cover both pairs of my extremities - hence the title. The former in light fingering weight, the latter in super bulky - hence, too, the title.

The socks were an adventure I've wanted to plunge into for some time now but couldn't find any suitable sock yarn. And then, when they got PEKA Salo at my local yarn shop, I knew my destiny was determined! I got down to reading about different construction techniques, various cast-on methods, etc. and opted for Stefanie Bold's Amy Lee socks as they seemed simple enough, suitable for a beginner sock knitter. Besides, I got a self-striping yarn and didn't want a fancy complicated pattern which would only be obscured by the yarn.

And let me tell you one thing, socks are faster to knit than you may imagine, I finished the first pair in 7 days of light evening knitting. And they are certainly easier than they look. But what these first socks really did for me was that they made me fearless - I now know that I can knit anything! I mean, if I can knit a pair of socks in fingering yarn, what is there out there in the knitting universe that I cannot do?! At least this is how I felt when I finished them.





The mittens were an upcycling project. Once upon a time there was a hat. A beautiful hat. A warm hat. A loved hat. Knit in a fabulous, colourful yarn. But made for a head that didn't get along with it very well. Now, I'll avoid frogging finished objects at all costs but there was no point in keeping a hat I didn't wear. So, after a lightbulb moment, I decided to frog it and make a pair of superbulky mittens by Drops. You can choose what they remind you of: oven mitts or astronauts' mittens, but let me assure you that with this snowmageddon outside, they were certainly appreciated and got many an envious look :)