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Archive for the ‘mittens’ Category

Honey Tapestry Mittens

October 4, 2015

How I love this mitten pattern. I just finished these for my future daughter-in-law’s birthday. I love the two-color knitting pattern and it has a lining, which makes them so warm. They took me quite a long time to knit, but were so worth the effort.

Instead of the I-cord cast on, I did a picot hem cuff, which I took from Post War Mittens. I really like it. And I love the contrast between the stark black and the honey/white of the mitten.

These were knit in the beautiful wool from Quince, a wonderful little company in Maine that makes U.S. yarn. The yarn is super soft, squishy and a joy to work with. The lining is a blend of super warm alpaca/wool, Berocco Alpaca Light. So these mittens have a good three layers of warmth!

I knit them entirely in Magic Loop, which I love for mittens. You can try the mittens on for size as you go, unlike if you use double points. It’s also great for the thumbs. I use Addi Lace circulars and they are so pointy that picking up stitches is a breeze.

Tapestry Mittens
Needles: Addi Lace Circulars #4, #2, #1
Yarns: Quince Chickadee n Honey and Egret
Berroco Alpaca Light in Black
Ravelry Page

Posted in finished objects, knitting, mittens | 8 Comments »

Cozy Mittens Knitted Flat

January 5, 2015

This has to be the craziest pattern for mittens I’ve ever seen – and the easiest. Mittens are almost always knitted in the round, on circular needles or DPNs, but these are knitted flat – and not a mirror image flat, like you would think and then just folded together. When I first saw these, I couldn’t figure out how they were seamed up, so when I knitted them I took photos to show you how to fold them.

The pattern calls for these mittens to be knitted with worsted weight yarn. When I did a mitten the first time, they were way too thin and way too small. So I experimented and knitted another mitten with the same worsted weight yarn, only held double and they were perfect! As I was knitting the piece, it looked huge, but after it was seamed together, it was just right. It makes a double thick, warm mitten this way and the cuff comes up a full 3.5 inches on my wrist. They’re a nice size.

After you knit the flat piece, the mittens are folded up by seaming them together with a crochet hook, contrasting yarn and using single crochet. This was simple as could be – but a couple of tips for you: the pattern says to do it in two intervals, by crocheting across the top and down to the thumb and then cutting the yarn and then crocheting up the rest. I did mine in one pass – I started at the top and crocheted all the way to the bottom and then went around the cuff. Also, the single crochet looks better on one side than the other – so be sure to begin it with the top of the mitten facing you. You can see the sequence in these photos:

Fold the mitten together, aligning the top halves. Crochet the two halves together along the top. After you crochet down to the the thumb crotch (above), turn the whole piece over:

now flip up the thumb on the left (above),

then fold over the thumb on the right to match the thumb on the left and continue to single crochet them together (above)

crochet down the thumb, the lower side seam and then just continue right around the cuff.

I hope these photos help you if you want to knit these. These mittens knit up incredibly fast! I loved this pattern.

Pattern: Cozy Mittens
Yarn: Cascade Yarns 220 Superwash Worsted, held double, Doeskin Heather
Malabrigo Merino in Indigo
Needle: US #8, circular, Addi Lace
Ravelry Page

Posted in finished objects, knitting, mittens | 5 Comments »

Chinook Fingerless Gloves

October 1, 2012

Can you stand another Jared Flood pattern? I can’t believe what a roll I’m on with his designs. What can I say – I love this guy’s stuff. I’ve knitted a lot of fingerless mittens but I wanted to do gloves this time, with individual fingers, but without the tips so I can still use my phone. So when I saw his Chinook gloves, I knew this was it.

I just did one modification to the pattern – I did not rib the fingers. I just don’t like that K1, P1 rib for the fingers, so I did a plain stockinette stitch and knit them until I liked the length. I did them a bit long because really, all you need is the very tip of your fingers to stick out to use your phone. The next pair I knit may even have full pinky fingers. I don’t care for the K1 P1 ribbing on the cuff and I may do a K2P2 ribbing on the next pair, like I did with these.

Also, I put the live stitches on stitch holders for the second glove because picking them up from waste yarn was too hard. The stitch holders were easier. I also knit the entire glove using Magic Loop, which I love and allows me to try on the glove as I go, which you cannot do with DPNs. I even did the individual fingers with Magic Loop – so much easier than trying to manipulate DPNs around a little finger. Using Addi Lace Turbo needles makes working with the fingering weight yarn super easy.

I did a little stash busting by using Dale of Norway Baby Ull, although it is not one of my favorite yarns. There is just something about that yarn that I don’t like – it doesn’t have enough structure or something. I’m not buying any more of it, for sure.

As soon as I got finished with these gloves, although they were intended for me, my 16-year-old son wanted them. What could I say – I love anyone appreciating my knitting, so off he went with them. I would still like a pair so you’re going to see another set up here in the near future. I’m trying to get some Quince Chickadee for my pair, but they are still having production problems. It is a yarn so worth waiting for, though. I love all the Quince yarns.

Pattern: Chinook Fingerless Gloves
Needles: US#0 and US#2 circular Addi Lace Turbos
Yarn: Baby Ull in black, white and charcoal
Ravelry Page

Posted in finished objects, knitting, magic loop, mittens | 8 Comments »

Slouchy Mitts

January 22, 2012

I saw some mitts earlier this year in the Sundance catalog and clipped them out. I thought, “gee, I could really make those so easily”. The only thing I feared was the stripes – I have a loathing of weaving in ends. That’s why I don’t knit stripey things – I do mostly two color stranded work. And since I am knitting my Granny Stripes Blanket at the same time, I have really put myself to the test. That blanket has some serious ends to weave in.

Sundance Catalog Mitts

I probably didn’t even need a pattern but thought I would look on Ravelry to see if there was anything similar. Sure enough, there was – “The Ultimate Fingerless Mitts” by Erica Lueder. I used the pattern as a guide and kind of did my own thing with it.

I looked through my fingering weight stash and came up with some similar colors, mostly in Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine. I liked the greens because I thought they would go with my Stockholm Scarf.

First of all, the pattern calls for casting on 60 stitches. I did that but it soon became apparent that was going to be a little too big, so I decreased right down to 50 stitches. This is what I cast on for the second mitten and it was just right. Of course, I knit them using Magic Loop instead of DPNs. Those days are over.

Also, the mittens in the catalog used 1×1 ribbing for the entire length of the forearm. I debated about doing that and decided to just do pure stockinette stitch. I would still be interested in knitting a pair and using the ribbing and see if I liked that any better.

I really like these mittens. I like the rolled stockinette ends a lot. Since they are knit in a fingering weight and without any stranded colorwork, they are a light mitten and will be for milder weather.

Pattern: The Ultimate Fingerless Mitts
Needle: #2 Addi Lace 32″ Circular
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine in Black, Pea Soup, Salt & Pepper, Peat Mix
and Yarn Hollow Bitty in Jade
Ravelry Page