Italian Dish Knits

This may be my favorite mitten of all time.  After I finished all my Christmas gifts for my family, I felt I had the time to knit one last pair of mittens for another friend. She loves the lined mittens I make so much that I figured she deserved a pair.

This design is by David Schulz, who runs Southern Cross Fibre in Australia.  The pattern is just about perfect – it has a braided edge, which I love, rather than a ribbed cuff.  The thumbs have gussets, which are more comfortable to wear and the pattern is so well written.  The pattern includes charts for two kinds of mittens – dark/light or light/dark.  Most patterns don’t do this and it is SO helpful.  Thanks, David!

I used one of my all time favorite yarns, Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light.  50% wool, 50% alpaca.  So toasty warm.  The lining is of luscious Brushed Suri by Blue Sky Alpacas.  Brushed Suri is the most incredible yarn to use in the lining of a mitten – so lofty and soft. The color I chose is called “Snow Cone” and I thought it complimented the colors of the mitten so well.

The pattern calls for a braided edge done in one color, which I think kind of loses the purpose of doing a braided edge.  So I did the edge in two colors.  If you do a two color edge, make sure to do a two color cast on or it won’t come out right.  The two color cast on will be your set up row for the braid.

I even do the thumbs using Magic Loop

If you’ve never knitted lined mittens before, you should give it a try.  They are so special and warm to wear.  You can have all kinds of fun with the colors.

Pattern:  Northman Mitten
Yarn:  Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light and Brushed Suri
Needle:  #4 circular, using Magic Loop
Ravelry Page 

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

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