Pattern: Mitered Mittens from EZ’s Knitter’s Almanac
Yarn: Some delicious handspun I bought years and year ago
Needles: US5
A very, very long time ago (2004?) I bought some handspun at a yarn expo. About 200 yards of not-quite-aran weight yarn. It is purpley, blue, & cranberry and destined for this pattern for forever. I don’t know why I didn’t cast on sooner probably because six years ago pithy instructions intimidated me and the lack of needle guidance REALLY intimidated me. Now I am pretty confident with what gauge I will get with what needle and certain weight yarn….particularly heavy worsted.
Hello? Lamb’s Pride Worsted.
The pithy instructions are not that pithy since it is an easy garment. The only thing I didn’t do was knit all the way to the top then snip a stitch to unravel for a thumb hole to pick up. Call me a pansy, but I opted to knit some waste yarn on seven stitches to designate a thumb hole then later took out the waste yarn to knit the thumb. Worked out nicely and because of the miter, the lack of thumb gusset is not that uncomfortable.
I DID knit them at a smaller gauge than called for. I didn’t want largish mittens, but a closer fit so I could still help small children with their mittens or zip zippers. Overall, I really like these mittens and see them as being very practical for the month of February.
On a personal note, man are we sick. Usually this means the small children are lying around with fevers. Nope. Not this time. The adults are ill. Poor Terry has had a fever for five days now. Very nasty cough. We are off to the doctor this morning for him. Now I have been married to this guy for 13 years. He has NEVER been this sick. He was contemplating going to work because “I’ve never missed this many days of work” – can you say big, new project at work he’s behind on? I finally talked some reason into him that adults who have a 101 degree fever deserve to be at home despite having missed three days of work. I don’t have a fever so I am holding down the fort. The kids are bouncing off the walls.
Yarn: From 13 mile Farm Montana Lamb and Wool…predator friendly, plant dyed
Needles: US 7 and US 9
So, remember how I said I don’t have any knitting resolutions? That is not true….I need to knit up some of the gift yarn that has been given to me. Over the last year I have received some very nice yarn as gifts from people. People who have gone out of their way and hunted down something they knew I would like. It is all beautiful and I plan to go out of my way to make sure I knit it from the stash instead of hoarding it. This yarn is a start….it is a gift from Jessie who visited several yarn shops in Montana and
even toured a mill. It is plant dyed and very rustic. Have I ever mentioned how happy I am to find vegetable matter in my yarn? I reminds me that the material comes from a living thing. Rustic yarns rock. It is my first plant dyed yarn ever. It did bleed quite a bit on my hands while I was knitting; however, when I soaked them for blocking they didn’t bleed too much so we’ll see how it goes wearing them.
The pattern is from
Indigirl, Amy Swenson. I love all of her designs because they are simple in construction but still beautiful. No complicated seaming and usually lots of cables. Anyway, I am sure you are all familiar with her. I have been reading her blog for forever. As soon as she put this pattern on her blog, I knew I needed to knit them. My above photo makes them look goofy. On your hand they are just gorgeous….I tried my best with photo below. Does not do the arrowheads justice though.
Good news? There were two hanks of this yarn…now I will knit a pattern from a book I received as a gift from my friend
Katrina.
It is cable-y too but calls for a smaller gauge, but I think it will work nicely with this yarn.
Pattern: Super Mittens from Weekend Knitting
Yarn: Leftover Lamb’s Pride Bulky
Needles: US10
Oh, bulky mittens how I love thee. You are warm. You are squishy. And you knit up super fast. Bubba’s teachers are not fingerless mitts kind of gals. They are super active women who ski an incredible amount. In fact, after finishing them I felt kind of lame. Cowls would have been VERY useful to them. Oh well. Hindsight is 20/20. They are also the kind of people who will appreciate anything handknit and will find a use for them no matter what.
Very lovely women.
So, Christmas knitting is rapidly coming to an end. One mini sweater, another pair of fingerless mitts, and a hat to go. Good thing. Do you realize there are only 12 days until the big day? Just a mere 11 days of knitting time left? My tiny 1500 sq/foot home is Christmas central this year, and I need to start planning. My brother arrives with my nephew in tow on the 20th. CAN’T.WAIT. It has been almost 2 years. Anyway, I suck at feeding people. I never get enough and never think of everything. It is tough being my mom’s daughter because she is awesome at it. Menus need to be planned and lists need to be made. Do you have ham or turkey for Christmas? Do you eat the celebratory meal on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?
Kind of to put a cherry on top of all the comings and goings, my kiddos are sick. Bubba has a fever today and has had a nasty cough all week. Muskrat is unbearably whiny and high strung. We are seriously laying low this weekend, which strangely means I will get a lot done. Hopefully, I will keep from getting as sick as Bubba and just have the bitty cold I have now.
Which leads me into exercising. I admit defeat. Last week was awesome – something like 13 miles. This week, yeah, not so much. I think I worked out twice. Next week does not promise to be any better. While I hate to give up so easily, reality of Christmas season has hit me. I am just in such denial it is happening. Feels like we just did it.
I finished up the Fetchings. There was a moment where I worried there would not be enough of the stash yarn, but there was enough and a yard to spare. So, I wanted to take some pictures of the impossibly black Fetchings.
Someone wanted to help. Someone wants and demands to be the center of attention all the damn time. Terry says it is my fault. That I give in way too often.
But he is so damn cute. All.the.time. Can you say Momma’s Boy?
Pattern: Fetching from Knitty
Yarn: Cascade 220 superwash in Impossible to Photograph Black
Needles: Uh, US 6, I think
I knit these for the preschool teacher who only wears black. Muskrat is smitten with her, but we think in her before-I-had-kids life she was a major metalhead. Now I know people love this pattern, and don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with the pattern, but I would like the finger area a little more covered. In fact, if I had more yarn, I would have ripped and added another cable repeat at the knuckles instead of just the one called for and continue the ribbing a bit longer. The picot bind off is a very nice touch. Like the Maine Mitts pattern better – just my humble opinion.
Two sets of full size mittens and I will be done with knitting for teachers. I decided to scrap knitting a Habitat hat for Bubba’s teacher. A little more complicated than I want to knit right now – the chart required coloring so I could follow it. Not a good sign for a quick knit. Either that or I selfishly want to knit it for myself. Did I just type that aloud?
Photos in the last post. Several people asked how I took them like that. I went out at the brightest time of day on an overcast day, turned the flash off, plopped FO in the snow, and hoped for the best. It worked out pretty well – the colors are true. I saw it on a couple posts last year and realized the snow as a backdrop with mellow light would show the colors pretty true. The white background on my blog helps them look kind of cool too. We have no light right now. I drove home in the dark at 4:15 today. Thank goodness for Christmas lights.
Christmas gift knitting is in full force. I have had a couple things finished for a few days, but the light has been, well, lacking here. As you know, we are in the midst of our darkest days in Alaska. This morning I took Muskrat sledding at 9am. We went down the hill in the dark.
Pattern: Turn a Square by Jared Flood
Yarn: Leftover Cascade 220 and some Noro
Needle: US 6
Both of these knits were SUPER fast. Maine Morning Mitts was the quickest of the two. The pattern is from Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes though she put this pattern out for free. I cannot tell you how much I love Book of Yarn. The information is very valuable and it is full of great patterns. Really. Get it if you don’t have it.
Love, love, love Turn a Square. I have decided it is the ultimate hat for men. I finished it and my husband asked me if it was for my brother – it just looks like a 20-something guy hat. I hope he likes it and that the blues aren’t too girly. Dad, I just might knit you one even though you aren’t a 20-something guy, oh wait, neither is Chris.
I still have quite a bit to go – a pair of Fetching, Habitat, Super Mittens, an undecided hat, and a mini sweater. Really need to knit faster.
On the home front, a major tactical error was committed. We put the Christmas tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving. In my zeal to surround myself with Christmas, I put the boys into hyperdrive. Dude. You would not BELIEVE the energy level in this house. Anticipation for the arrival of the big guy is high. Good thing we opted to put the tree in the corner instead of the middle of the front window. Now we have enough room for romping and craziness. This was a stroke of brilliance on my husband’s part who pointed out to me that we are going to have 5 adults, 3 children, 3 dogs, and our poor cat in our 1500 sq/foot home. Must.conserve.space.for.Wii.playing. Though I do miss driving up and seeing it in the window.
Pattern: Ann Budd’s Handy Book of Patterns (smallest @ 5 sts/inch)
Yarn: Lamb’s Pride Worsted in Orange You Glad plus some stash stuff
Needles: US6
Three guesses as to what Muskrat is going to be for Halloween. These mittens started out in Red Heart to save money and about half way through I realized he is going to LOVE these mittens and wear them all the time, so I changed my mind. Now he has mittens he will love beyond Halloween. Getting the stripes with all the shaping was kind of tedious, but I think it turned out okay in the end. He loves them. “Wear. Nemo mittens? Wear. Nemo mittens?”
