Italian Dish Knits

Spartan Mittens

March 28, 2011

I’m trying to knit everyone in the family something for next Christmas and I’m starting now! There will be about 15 people that I want to knit something for and I hope I can do it. These Spartan Mittens are for my mother-in-law, who is going to get two pair of mittens – one lined and one not. She likes mittens. She is also an Michigan State fan and the colors are dark green and white.

These mittens are knit up with a yarn that is made right here in Michigan, Shepherd’s Wool at Stonehedge Fiber Mill in East Jordan. It’s a worsted weight and comes in tons of beautiful colors. The yarn is very soft and so nice to work with.

This particular pattern, Tweed Mittens, by Nichole Reese is a great knit – it looks like you’re stranding, but you’re just slipping stitches. Love that! And the mittens are lofty and thick. I knit these using my beloved Magic Loop technique.

Pattern: Tweed Mittens
Yarn: Shepherd’s Wool
Needles: US #7 Circular
Ravelry Page

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Frogged Lining

March 26, 2011

Well, I’ve done it again. I’ve chosen a yarn that’s too thick to line my mittens WIP with. Oh, well. Part of knitting is being willing to rip out. I’m knitting these Andalus Mittens for my MIL for Christmas next year (yes, I’m working on Christmas gifts already) and I lined them with Rowan Kidsilk Aura, a worsted weight yarn. It just was too thick for that mitten size, so I’m ripping it out and ordering some Kidsilk Haze, which is a lace weight. It also comes in a pretty apple green color and should work fine. The question is: should I hold it double or knit it single for the lining? On my Northman Mittens, I held it double but I’m not sure if that will be thin enough for these mittens.

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Flicker Wayfarer Scarf

March 25, 2011

When I first saw Berroco’s new yarn, Flicker, I knew I had to knit up a scarf with it. I had been thinking of knitting a scarf, maybe with matching fingerless mitts, with a sparkly yarn and here it was! The perfect yarn – super soft alpaca with a filament of sparkle running through it.

I’ve had J ared Flood’s “Wayfarer” scarf favorited on my Ravelry for a long time and I thought this would be the yarn to use for that scarf. The pattern calls for a tubular cast-on, but I couldn’t bring myself to learn it. I was too impatient to get started. It’s a technique I would still like to learn at some point. I did a regular cast-on, but with #10 needles, so it wouldn’t be super tight and then I switched to #8 circulars, and knitted the scarf on that.

The scarf is a favorite now. So soft, and I love the length – plenty of scarf to wrap twice around my neck. Unblocked, the scarf knitted up to 6″x86″. After blocking, it grew to 103″ in length. Whoa.

Pattern: Brooklyn Tweed “Wayfarer”
Yarn: Berroco Flicker (2 skeins)
Needles: 10″ to cast on. 8″ circular for scarf.
Ravelry Page

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Green Mountain Spinnery

March 23, 2011

I love the people at The Green Mountain Spinnery. It’s a worker-owned cooperative in Vermont where they make beautiful yarns on vintage equipment. I just received this lovely yarn, Sylvan Spirit, from there and I plan to make their Leafy Lace Shawl with it. I couldn’t resist when I saw this photo of the shawl in one of their ads: