My first non-scarf knitting project wasn't nearly as complicated as I feared. I wanted to make some nice mittens for my sister for Christmas and found a free pattern on Ravelry (a wonderfully endless source of inspiration) I thought would perfect: Cozy Cabled Mittens. The pattern was easy to follow, except for the thumb part - which I imagine is awkward for a first-timer no matter what. All in all, I'm pretty darn happy with how the project turned out.
Winters are no picnic here in Portland, but they're nothing compared to what I dealt with for the 5 years I lived in Michigan. There's nothing quite like the feeling of single digit temperatures to make you want to stay inside by a warm fire until May. But, when you have to go outside, braving the cold often means sacrificing style for warmth. That's why, when I saw this amazing chunky braided scarf at Anthropologie I knew I had to replicate it for my best friend, Lindsey - whose love of Michigan winters is borderline crazy. I don't have a picture of the original Anthro version, but my version was made by knitting 3 long, skinny scarves (approximately 30 sitches across of stockinette stitch) and then braiding them together. I hand-sewed the scarves together in the back where they crossed to make it more stable, then attached tassels at both ends using all 3 yarn colors.
Sadly the only pictures I have are the ones I took with my old Blackberry (so, sorry about the crappy image quality!):
