Brighter

The days are getting longer and even the gray days seem less gray. I'm a big fan of February. After all the holiday craziness, people seem to have found their footing again. Things seem "regular." Sometimes there's snow, but here on the east coast, we know that spring is right around the corner. Oh, and it's my birthday month so there are flowers, and treats, and good wishes.

The best part though, is that it's still great knitting weather. You can still whip up a pair of mittens and know that you can wear them right away. But if you are going to knit mittens in February, they should be pretty and hopeful. Kind of like these:

Pattern: All the Water by Kristin Kapur
Yarn: 1 skein of Blue Sky Alpacas Suri Merino in "Sky"
Needles: US size 7 (knit on 2 circulars)

Never one to pass up a good bandwagon, I jumped all over Kirsten Kapur's "All the Water" Mittens as soon as she published the pattern. It's a fun fast pattern and the Blue Sky Alpacas suri merino knits up like spun cloud. My distracted knitting didn't do justice to the pattern--there's a stray cable on one mitt, a too-short thumb on the other--but I love them nonetheless.

Cozy

My dear neighbor and I did a sweater knit-along for the kids.  Here's mine--nothing too fancy, just a warm gray sweater that the kiddo loves.  I love this pattern.  It's mindless and easy but is nicely proportioned for kids.  I've made a wee one out of cotton, but love the way it looks and feels in the Nature Spun.  It softened up so much after a nice warm bath and it was easy to block away the fact that one sleeve was a 1/2" longer than the other. 

Pattern:  Child's Placket Sweater from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts

Yarn: 2 skeins of Nature Spun worsted in Charcoal

Needles: size US7