August | 2011 | Italian Dish Knits

Archive for August, 2011

Turn a Square Beanie

August 17, 2011

I love Jared Flood’s patterns and so I added this men’s hat to my Christmas knitting. I’ve made this for one of my nephews. I love this little hat. The decreases at the top are really nice.

I used some Ecolana that I had left over from these fingerless mittens. The yarn matched nicely with the brown Shepherd’s Wool. Shepherd’s Wool is made right here in Michigan. I love this wool – if you’ve never used it, it’s worth buying some. It’s a worsted that incredible soft and knits up so nicely and comes in a lot of colors.

The hat was just a tad too large, so I picked up stitches and added a lining with the Shepherd’s Wool. It made the hat fit perfectly and just made the hat a little nicer and extra warm – linings are so nice.

Pattern: Turn a Square
Yarn: Ecolana Natural and Stonehedge Shepherd’s Wool in Brown
Needles: US#7, circular
Ravelry Page

Posted in finished objects, gifts, guy stuff, knitting, magic loop | 1 Comment »

Borealis Fingerless Cuffed Mittens

August 7, 2011

Am I boring you with my Christmas knitting FOs? Well, here’s another one. This one is for one of my nephews and, of course, it has to be fingerless so he can text on his phone!

I’ve knitted these up with Berocco Borealis, a really nice chunky yarn that is a blend – 60% acrylic and 40% wool. This is new for me, because I never buy yarn that contains acrylic but I couldn’t help myself when I saw this squishy yarn in my LYS. HAD to get it! And it is yummy feeling. And they have lots of really neat colorways.

I’ve knitted these mittens before, making a modification to the pattern by knitting extra on the top and cuffing them. I love that. They feel warmer that way. I also used a chunky yarn this time (the pattern calls for worsted) and I just decreased the cast on stitches to 27. It was perfect. The K2, P2 ribbing is really nice and stretchy on these mittens. A favorite pattern. I used Magic Loop for these mittens. As usual.

Pattern: Maine Morning Mitts by Clara Parkes
Yarn: Berocco Borealis in Grindvik
Needles: Addi Lace US #10
Ravelry Page

Posted in finished objects, gifts, knitting, magic loop, mittens | 4 Comments »

Wonderland Fingerless Mitts

August 2, 2011

Another Christmas FO! I’m knocking these out and have about 6 more to go, I think. It’s funny to be sitting around in 90 degree heat, knitting things up for winter. These are another pair of fingerless mittens designed by Jenn Wisbeck. I knitted two of her designs now, and I love both of them.

For this pair, I stuck with using Berocco Ultra Alpaca Light. The pattern called for a fingering weight yarn, but when I looked at the gauge, I knew I couldn’t get it with a fingering weight yarn – the mittens would be too small. I know a get a gauge of about 7 stitches to an inch in two stranded colorwork when I use a DK weight yarn on #2 needles, so that’s what I used. And my gauge was right on. I love these mittens so much, it will be hard to give them up!

Pattern: Wonderland
Needles: US#2 circular, using Magic Loop
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light, in Winter White and Rose Spice
Ravelry Page