Fleece Navidad Part 22

Burt nodded as he leaned his head beside hers. "I called Dan this afternoon. Sheila has retained counsel here in Fort Connor after consulting with her Florida attorney. Dan says she's been advised that she's the prime suspect in the vehicular homicide of Juliet Renfrow and warned not to leave the area."

"When will they hear back from the state crime lab?"

Burt shrugged. "They don't know, but hopefully, they'll hear within a week. Without any blood evidence on the cape, the case against Sheila is entirely circ.u.mstantial. And you never can tell what a jury will do with that."

"Well, we did our part, Burt." She volunteered a smile. "It's up to the justice system now."

"Absolutely, Kelly, it's-hey, it's snowing !" Burt's face broke into a grin.

"You're kidding!"

"At last!"

"About time."

"Uh-oh. My tires are bad."

Kelly turned around and saw the fat white flakes outside the shop's windows. Flurries of white outlined against the black night.

"Now it's officially winter," she declared, pus.h.i.+ng back her chair. "Come on. It's the first snowfall of the season." She grabbed Steve's hand. "Outside, everybody. Let's celebrate."

"Kids," Curt said with a wry smile. "Wait'll they have to shovel out from the first blizzard."

"Got that right," Jayleen agreed with a chuckle as Kelly and all her friends tumbled from the shop, laughing and threatening each other with s...o...b..ll fights.

"Whoa, look at this!" Kelly skipped down the steps and danced into the driveway. She stared above into the flurry of snow. Flakes were falling faster and thicker.

"Good thing you finished my scarf," Steve teased as he caught her about the waist.

Kelly looked around at her friends, cavorting like she was in the snowfall. Megan and Marty were laughing and catching snowflakes on their tongues, while Greg was sc.r.a.ping snow together into a s...o...b..ll. Lisa was right behind him, though, hands already filled with snow. Jennifer held her face up to the heavens, into the flurries. Pete stood beside her, laughing. Even Mimi and Burt were watching from the shop doorway, arms about each other's waists.

Despite the frigid air, Kelly felt warmth all around her. She slid both arms around Steve and pulled him close.

"I want to take a sleigh ride. I haven't done that since I was a kid and Helen and Jim took me out there in the pastures." She glanced toward the golf course. Pasture no more.

"We can do that. How about the day after Christmas? I know just the place. They have horse-drawn sleighs, complete with bells, blankets, and hot chocolate afterwards."

"Just the two of us?"

"Yeah, why don't we spend the day in the mountains? Take a snowshoe hike and a sleigh ride, then come home and warm up by the fireplace."

Kelly smiled at the picture he'd painted. "That sounds fantastic. Mountains, sleigh rides. Only one thing. We don't have a fireplace."

"We don't need one," Steve said with a grin, then leaned down to kiss her.

HOLIDAY KNITTING PATTERNS.

Lambspun Easy Cozy Mittens SIZES:.

Children 7-10 (Instructions for adult size are shown in parentheses.) MATERIALS:.

3-5 ounces bulky yarn or 2 strands worsted weight yarn, to be knit as one bulky strand 1 set of #9 or 10 7-inch, double-pointed needles or size to obtain gauge Tapestry needle Approximately a to 1 ounce of accent color yarn, for decoration GAUGE:.

3 sts and 5 rows = 1 inch INSTRUCTIONS:.

Cast on 22 (26) st.i.tches. Arrange st.i.tches evenly on 3 needles for knitting in the round as follows: 7 (9) sts on the first needle, 8 (8) sts on the second needles, 7 (9) sts on the third needle. Join your round and begin knitting, taking care not to twist your cast-on st.i.tches.

Decorative Cuff (Optional): Knit 7 rounds of the main color. Pick up the second yarn (a thin decorative mohair, angora, novelty, etc.) and knit 10- 12 rounds or until the cuff measures the desired length. Another option: Purl 1 or 2 rounds to end the decorative portion of the cuff.

Mitten Body: Continuing on theright side of work, knit 10 more rounds or until the mitten is the desired length to the base of thumb. Try the mitten on, leaving it on the needles, to determine thumb placement.

Thumb Opening: Child's Mitten Thumb: Knit 9 st.i.tches (7 from the first needle and 2 from the second needle) and place the next 4 st.i.tches on a st.i.tch holder or piece of sc.r.a.p yarn. Cast-on 4 st.i.tches on the needle with 2 st.i.tches (the second needle) and then knit the 2 remaining st.i.tches and continue knitting the round. Knit a total of 18 rounds or until the mitten reaches the last joint of the middle finger. Begin decrease rounds.

Adult's Mitten Thumb: Knit 11 st.i.tches (9 from the first needle and 2 from the second needle) and place the next 5 st.i.tches on a st.i.tch holder or piece of sc.r.a.p yarn. Cast-on 5 st.i.tches on the needle with 2 st.i.tches (the second needle) and then knit the 1 remaining st.i.tch and continue knitting the round. Knit a total of 18 rounds or until the mitten reaches the last joint of the middle finger. Begin decrease rounds.

Decrease Rounds: Round 1: Knit together the first 2 sts on the first needle (k2tog), and knit until 2 st.i.tches remain on the needle and knit these 2 together (k2tog). Repeat this process for needles 2 and 3. Total sts decreased=6.

Round 2: Knit 1 round even.

Repeat Rounds 1 and 2 until 10 (14) st.i.tches remain. Break or cut the yarn, leaving a 12-inch tail. Thread the tapestry needle with tail and slip it through the remaining st.i.tches twice. Remove the needles, and pull the yarn tight. Tie off and weave in the end on the wrong side of the work.

Thumb: (Use contrasting color if desired.) Leaving a 6-inch tail (which marks the start of your thumb round), join a ball of yarn, using a crochet hook to create (or "pick-up") one st.i.tch at the left side of thumb opening. Transfer the new st to a needle. Repeat this step to create 4 (5) st.i.tches above the thumb opening. Pick-up 1 st.i.tch at the right side of the thumb opening. (You will have picked-up a total of 6 st.i.tches.) Transfer the sts that were on the st.i.tch holder or piece of yarn to a needle. You now have 10 (12) st.i.tches. Distribute the sts evenly among 3 needles as follows: for a child's size: 3, 4, 3; for an adult size: 4, 4, 4. (For a smaller child's size, knit together the center 2 st.i.tches on the second needle (the one with 4 st.i.tches) for 9 st.i.tches total.) Knit around until work reaches the tip of the thumb (approximately 9 (11) rows).

Thumb Decrease: Round 1: Knit 2 together at beginning of each needle. 7(9) st.i.tches remain.

Round 2: Repeat Round 1. 4(6) st.i.tches remain.

Break or cut yarn, leaving an 8-inch tail. Using the darning needle, thread through the remaining st.i.tches once. Tie off and weave in the end on the wrong side of the work.

Finis.h.i.+ng: Weave in all loose yarn ends on wrong side of work. At the base of the thumb, use the yarn end to close any holes or loose spots.

Embellis.h.i.+ng: Use your imagination and embroider your mittens with fun colors and fine yarns. Suggested embroidery st.i.tches: Blanket St.i.tch * Stem St.i.tch w/Leaves * Feather St.i.tch * Daisy Flower St.i.tch * French Knots.

Felting: If desired, you can felt your mittens (before embroidering) by rubbing them in warm, sudsy water while wearing them. Mittens will pull in, tighten, and shrink up. Shrink to fit and rinse in clear warm water. Dry flat.

Notes for Knitting Bulky Chenille Mittens: Use #9 needle.

Use 6-ounce chenille.

For adult-size mittens with bulky chenille, use children's-size pattern.

Pattern courtesy of Lambspun of Colorado, Fort Collins, Colorado.

Sweetheart Gloves You will love this simple pattern for knitting with 2 needles.

YARN:.

1 ounce of Lambspun Summit Silk 100 yards KiwiWool or worsted weight yarn of the color of your choice MATERIALS:.

US #3 knitting needles 1 darning needle 1st Glove: CO 49 sts Work in k1, p1 rib until cuff measures 3 inches or desired length.

Ending with the right side facing, work 3 rows in stockinette.

You will now be caring the yarn through charts 1, 2, and 3.

Row 4 (WS): p10, start chart 1, p18, work chart 2, p6, work chart 3, p12.

Row 5: work in stockinette following the charts.

Row 6: work in stockinette following the charts.

Row 7: work 27 sts, make 1*, k1, make 1, work to end of row not forgetting the charts (51 sts).

Rows 8, 9, and 10: work in stockinette with charts.

Row 11: work 27, make 1, k3, make 1, work to end of row. Repeat rows 8 through 11 until you have 61 sts.

Work one row in order to finish on a WS row and be ready for the next RS row.

(* to make 1, knit in the bar before the next st.i.tch) All 3 charts are now complete: chart 1 and 2 on row 9 and chart 3 on row 15.

Make thumb: Row 1: k40, turn. Leave the rest of the sts unworked.

Row 2: p13, CO 4, turn (you now have 17 sts).

Work these 17 sts for 16 rows (or desired length for thumb) in stockinette.

Next row: k2tog (k1, k2tog) 5 times.

Next row: purl.

Next row: (k2tog) 5 times, k1.

Next row: purl.

Break yarn, threat ends through remaining sts, draw up, and fasten securely. Sew seam.

With right side facing PU 5 sts from CO sts at base of thumb. Knit to end of row (you now have 53 sts).

Begin with a purl row, work 17 rows even in stockinette st.i.tch ending with RS facing for next row.

Make 1st finger: Next row: knit 34, turn.

Next row: p15, turn, CO 2, turn (17 sts).

Work 18 rows in stockinette.

Next row: (k2, k2tog) 4 times, k1.

Next row: purl.

Next row: (k1, k2tog) 4 times, k1.

Next row: purl.

Break yarn, threat ends through remaining sts, draw up, and fasten securely. Sew seam.

Make 2nd finger: PU 3 sts, knit 7, turn.

Next row: p17, CO 2 (19 sts), turn.

Work 20 rows in stockinette.

Next row: (k2, k2tog) 4 times, k3.

Next row: purl.

Next row: (k1, k2tog) 5 times.

Next row: purl.

Break yarn, threat ends through remaining sts, draw up, and fasten securely. Sew seam.

Make 3rd finger: PU 3 sts, knit 7, turn.

Next row: p17, CO 2, (19 sts), turn.

Work 18 rows in stockinette.

Next row: (k2, k2tog) 4 times, k3.

Next row: purl.

Next row: (k1, k2tog) 5 times.

Next row: purl.

Break yarn, threat ends through remaining sts, draw up, and fasten securely. Sew seam.

Make 4th finger: PU 3 sts, knit 5, turn.

Next row: p13, turn.

Work 14 rows in stockinette.

Next row: (k1, k2tog) 4 times, k1.

Next row: purl.