How The West Was Spun

Pattern Release: Viviane Mittens and Hat

The Viviane Mittens and Hat is now available through my Ravelry pattern store.

Instructions for both accessories are included in the pattern, and it is knit from one 325-yard skein of a light DK/sportweight yarn (my Freya BFL DK in the shop, colorway "Wisp").  If you have more hair than my stick-straight version, or just want a slightly looser fit for either the hat or the mittens, you can up-size the pattern by using a light worsted-weight yarn like Cascade 220.

The inspiration for this set came from the legend of Viviane (called by this and several other names, depending on which Arthurian legend version you read).  Despite the fact that Merlin foresaw his demise at her hands, he taught Viviane all his magical arts and she learned them so well she imprisoned him within a gnarled tree trunk.

The patterns are suitable for an intermediate knitter.  They are both knit in the round (the hat on a 16" circular and DPNs, and the mittens on DPNs), and assume some knowledge of reading charts and basic gusset-thumb mitten construction.

All for now.....

WIP Wednesday: February 1, 2012

SPINNING PROJECTS:

Finished up the Funky Carolina batts, and I'm moving on to the February 12 lbs in 2012 challenge.  The goal for the February challenge is to spin up at least 8 oz of something - enough for a garment.  I'm tackling what I think will wind up being an ongoing project this year to spin up enough 3-ply worsted weight of a pretty charcoal-gray CVM fleece I purchased at Taos S&W in 2010 and was processed for me by Stonehedge Fiber Mill.

No specific goal for this, although I have started the first 2 ounces, and would love to get those singles spun.

KNITTING PROJECTS

I have gotten the Vitamin D cardi to the point I'm ready to put the sleeve stitches on holders and start the body.  I'm hoping to at least get a few rows done of that this week, chipping away at this bit by bit.

I also finished up another foot for the froggie.  I'm going to try to get the final foot finished up this week.

DESIGN PROJECTS

I finished up the SIL sample socks.  Those are ready to go and the pattern is off at the test knitter.

I am still waiting on yarn for the project I've got a deadline of February 21st for.  If... no WHEN.... that yarn arrives this week, that project is going on the needles as top priority to get finished ASAP, so it may be quiet regarding every other project, when I can get going on that.

But until that yarn arrives, I started a pair of slightly slouchy gansey-patterned mitts out of Terry's Snowshow Farm sock yarn.

I'm thinking some other accompanying accessory to go with these.  What do y'all think? A coordinating hat? A cowl?  A scarf?  Something else?

All for now......

FO: Thicket Cowl

I took advantage of some couch time this weekend and finished up my Thickets gloves and cowl set.  The Thickets gloves you've seen already - they appeared in the Ennea magazine over the winter, but I reknit them in the sportweight SW merino I carry in the shop and then designed a matching cowl to go with them. 

This is one of my favorite colorways (what can I say, I'm a gray girl), and hopefully will suit my mum as well as these are destined for holiday gifts for her.

The gloves:
 

And the cowl:

 

I wrote two versions of the cowl.  One with one less repeat in case you like yours to fit more snugly, but I know my mum prefers a looser version, that she can secure with a pin if she wants it to seal out more winter drafts.

The set is available on Ravelry here.  I was able to squeak out a set from one skein of the Belisama sportweight (each skein is 250 yards), but that was cutting it very close on yardage.  If you are making the smaller version of the cowl, you'd likely be fine, or if you have small-ish hands (I do not and neither does mum), you'd likely be fine with 250 or so yards, but for insurance, 300 is probably a more realistic estimate if you're knitting yourself a set.

All for now.....

What I'm Working On

As the Tour is winding down soon, I've been also looking at knitting projects.  I am still slogging along on the (insanely large) Sekret Lace Knitting Project, but I am hopeful to get to the final border in the next week or so. 

I find that I cannot work on said SLKP if I am tired or distracted.  I just wind up having to tink too much, so I also started another more mindless project, which I can share with you.  You might remember I designed a pair of gloves for Ennea last year - the Thicket Gloves.  I wanted to reknit these in a commercial yarn, and I have a nice, springy SW merino sportweight I carry in the shop that works up perfectly for these. 

While I was at it, I thought I'd also design a matching cowl since the gloves don't take an entire skein of the yarn, so I've cast on for that as well.  I've finished up one of the pair of gloves and I've knit two full pattern repeats of the cowl so far.

 

(This is the Belisama sportweight in the colorway "Chaplin", BTW.)

And a modeled shot of the glove.  I'm working these up to fit my mum as a holiday gift.  She is a strong proponent of anything black or gray, so I think these will suit her wardrobe quite nicely.  I'm also thinking of including a little shawl/scarf pin for a little bling along her jacket neckline.

 

Anyway, these are a nice travel/TV/semi-mindless project.  The updated pattern for both items will be available once I get them knitted up.  Just the gloves will be available as a stand-alone thru the Ennea pattern collection as well.

All for now......

Ennea Collective - April 2011

The newest Ennea Collective edition is live!  The theme for this edition is Celtic and natural wools.  We had a lot of fun with pattern concepts for this one.  There's a great article on CVM sheep by Nancy Zeller at Long Ridge Farm, and we've profiled FatCatKnits as our Indie artist this month. 

In this issue, I've got three patterns.  The first is a lacy stole knit in 3 natural colors of CVM handspun (from Long Ridge Farm), but it'd be great in any DK or light worsted yarn in a solid color too.  (If you had something like a Silky Wool from E. Lavold, or even Cascade 220, those would be great to use.) It knits up quickly on size 8 US needles.  That's the Currach stole.  Knit on a lot of our driving trips to and from Texas this winter.

 

Then, I worked up two smaller projects.  The first is the Ballycastle Tam.  And MANY thanks to Christina for test-knitting this sucker.  The charts took some finagaling, but we got them there!. This is knit from 5 different Shetland fingering-weight wools.  It has two traditional peerie patterns and a star-shaped crown.  If you don't wish to spin your own fiber, you can easily substitute in something like Harrisville Shetland or Jamieson's Spindrift yarns in any color grouping you like.

 

Finally, the Triskele Mittens, which are also knit in a fingering-weight yarn, this time a colorwork kit of BFL from Two If By Hand in Fawn and Cranberries.  Again, Harrisville Shetland or Jamieson's Spindrift yarns would be great substitutions if you don't wish to use handspun.

 

Look for our next edition to be out this summer!  We are also planning a spin-along of an exclusive colorway with another indie artist for that issue, so details on that shortly.

All for now.......

FO: Blackberry Mittens

Here are the finished Blackberry Mittens.  They have had a bath and are already in the to-be-gifted box.

 

PROJECT SPECS:
Pattern:  The pattern came in the kit with the yarn.  It's Blackberry Mittens from Blackberry Ridge Mill. (They do still carry this kit).
Yarn:  150 and 125 yards of 2 colors of sportweight yarn.  I used the kit yarn, which is a 75% wool and 25% mohair blend.  It's nicely rustic and works great for colorwork. The mohair content isn't really noticeable in terms of halo, but I suspect it will make these wear like iron.
Needles:  US size 3 DPNs.
Mods:  None.  I was knitting these mostly to move them out of stash, but if I did knit this pattern in the future, I would end the increase rows for the thumb gusset back by about 6 or 8.  It's a very shallow thumb otherwise.  The length itself is fine; they just don't sit snugly down in the bend of my thumb.  My only other gripe is that, while I get that not charting the top of the mitten decreases means you can customize the length, it's annoying when you just want to knit a pattern to have to figure out those and how to keep the colorwork in pattern while adding the decreases in.  And then remember to make good enough notes you can duplicate it for the second mitten.

At any rate, these are done and are VERY nice and warm, so I'm sure they will be a good charity gift for someone who needs a pair to keep their hands toasty!

All for now....

WIP Wednesday: March 2, 2011

Since I had finished up the Milkweed Shawl, I also cast on for another stash-buster project on our travels to and from Texas to get the horses picked up.  These aren't the best easy knitting project, as I do need to follow a chart pretty closely, so I think my next project on the needles that isn't a design-in-progress will need to be something that requires less mental effort.

At any rate, I dug deep into the stash - I think this kit is around 5 years old?  Ish?  It's a pair of colorwork mittens from Blackberry Ridge Woolen Mill, a pretty pair from their sportweight wool/mohair yarn blend.  The kit came with the pattern and the preselected color choice. I finished up one of the mitten pair last Friday sitting with my IV running.

 

The pattern is Blackberry Mittens and they are a fairly quick knit on size 3 US needles despite the colorwork. I like the design a lot - I find it quite pretty, but I don't care for the thumb shaping at all.  I have a very deep thumb joint, and these don't sit down in the bend of my thumb very snugly.  If I were to make them again, I think I'd probably modify the thumb increases/shaping, but they ARE nice and warm with the colorwork, so I think I will probably finish them up and pop them into the give-away box.

I've got the cuff knit on mitten #2 and I'm going to work on getting the second one mostly, if not totally done this week.

I've also gotten the big project of the 3 I'm working on for the April Ennea magazine edition finished (just need to finalize the pattern), but I am trying to keep a sort of clean slate as I'm going to be also test-knitting for another designer, and her project is also a larger-sized one.  I have a couple of other smaller designs for April also in the works, but while I have a wicked case of startitis right now, I am trying not to put too many things on the needles that I will likely not have time to work on in the near future with any sort of focus.  It makes me wonder if startitis and spring fever are first cousins in some way.

All for now......

Ennea Collective: February 2011

Our February edition of the Ennea Collective magazine (www.enneacollective.com) is live!  We had a lot of fun putting this edition together.  It features a great selection of fun, bright projects to knit for the doldrums of winter, plus we have an article on Corriedale (one of my favorite fibers!), a great article on handspun in weaving from Sara Lamb, featuring the first of four element-inspired weavings she's working on, a great how-to on felted mittens, and lots of other creative ideas to get you thru until spring!

I've got three patterns in this edition:

My Thicket Gloves, which are a quick and easy knit in sportweight yarn, with a twisted stitch pattern across the back of the hand.

 

The Whirligig Hat knits up quickly in a heavy worsted/Aran-weight yarn.  (My test knitter - Thanks, Marcia!!- knit hers from Montera, which is pretty spot-on for gauge).  This design features simple knit and purl rows to form undulating spirals on this beret-style hat.

 

And finally, a perfect project to use up some scraps, my Scandal in Bohemia bag.  (Sherlock Holmes fans will take note that my muse for this project was the only person to have bested Holmes, according to Watson, the infamous Irene Adler.)  This bag used 4 ounces (about 225 yards) of worsted weight for the bag itself, and then used up smaller scraps for the Crazy Quilt patterned front.  This project would work great with something like Cascade 220 or another felt-able 100% yarn.  I used some great little brass Chinese dragons I found on Etsy, but this would be a fun project to add buttons from a button collection, or embroidery, or really any small embellishments you've got knocking around. 

 

Please do pop over and take a look at our February issue!  And, as always, we welcome comments, suggestions and submissions for future editions!

All for now......

FO: Arachne Mitts and Cowl

I finished up the Arachne mitts and cowl set I had been working on for Terry at Snowshow Farms.  (And if you are planning on going to SPA this year - please stop by her booth and say hi!  She'll have the pattern kitted up with some of her decadent 100% alpaca fingering weight there too.)

You already saw pics of the cowl, but here's a reminder:
 

The original yarn used is one skein of Terry's Snowshoe Farm Alpaca fingering-weight yarn in the "Tweed" colorway. However, the pattern is suitable for any soft fingering-weight yarn.  It takes approximately 125 yards for the cowl and there are notes for adding beads if you'd like to do that as a little added detail.

You can also get a pair of the fingerless mitts from the same skein of yarn - they take approximately 135 yards.  (I had probably 40 yards or so left over from the 300-yard skein I started with).  The mitts have the lace stitch used for the cuff (which may also be beaded or not - knitter's choice), and a simple stockinette hand which knits up very quickly.

 

If you've already got a skein of luxury yarn to use up, I've got the pattern already set up on Ravelry as a downloadable PDF (and includes both the mitts and cowl pattern).  Lots of pictures, both a chart and written instructions, and some technical notes to help you add beads if you decide you'd like to do that.  You can find the link to the downloadable PDF here.

All for now......

FO: Toast Mitts

After I finished up the Northumbria Cowl, I had 2 ounces of yarn left over and really wanted to make myself a pair of Toast mitts. These are insanely easy, use up a bit of pretty handspun or luxury yarn you might have laying around, and are very easily adjustable for the yarn weight.  They are basically just a simple tube, but you can add a thumb opening, as I did, if you'd like.

 

PROJECT SPECS:
Pattern:  Toast mitts by Leslie Friend.  I knit mine on 40 stitches, adding a 4-stitch buttonhole (c/o 4 stitches, and then cast the same number back on when working the next row using the backward loop method) after knitting 16 rounds.  I just knit until I had used up just about half my remaining yarn, so these are just under 1 ounce of yarn for each mitt.
Yarn:  Handspun mixed BFL/silk from roving hand-dyed by Two If By Hand, in the "Stringtown Grocery" colorway.  This was a 2-ply heavy DK-weight yarn.
Needles:  Size 7 DPNs.

 

All for now......