Michigan Interlude

Last week I was in Michigan with my mother, and had the added benefit of seeing my niece and nephew, and getting to take care  of them for a bit.  While there, my mother was complaining of cold hands.  Personal experience with Dan and Sofia told me exactly what to do—make fingerless mitts! Not possessing a GPS or smart phone, I still rely on printing out old-fashioned maps.  Grand Rapids is not a city that I am familiar with, but it is not that big. Googling yarn stores turned up  A Grand Skein, and I drove there during a break to purchase yarn for those fingerless mitts.  I loved this yarn store, and the owner could not have been more helpful and nice.  So, I purchased yarn to make 2 pair of mitts, and noticed something on the way out.  The mitts were very simple, and the yarn was so soft, Mendocino by Crystal Palace, not a yarn that I had tried before, but I really loved it. What does not show up well on the photos is the color range of the yarn, a rainbow effect, plyed with a pink color, they were very pretty.

My mother loved them, and within a short period of time, her hands felt warmer.

What kept coming back to me was the thing I saw while at the yarn shop.  A big skein winder, with amazing ball-bearing gears, it spun so smoothly.  You know where this is going… I went back the next day and mulled it over for a bit and decided to purchase it.  The skein winder is made in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and I could not locate it online, I did find this demo video, and this one however.  Over the years I have learned when I find something I really like, especially if it is unique and not readily available, just purchase it.  This would have been too hard to ship, so I splurged and brought it home with me.  The winder came with either a table mount or a stand with the option of a table mount, I went full hog for the entire set.  If I want to become a custom yarn dyer, I might need the dyers 5′ winder!!  The workmanship on this is wonderful, and has been improved from the video to include pegs to wind a 1 1/2, 2, 2 1/2 and 3 yard skein.  The walnut detailing is just a plus!

And I purchased this yarn also for fingerless mitts, Ella Rae Lace Merino worsted, but did not get them knit up prior to leaving…

Latvian Mitts

When I took the “Twined Knitting” class from Beth Brown Reinsel a few weeks ago I purchased this kit for making a pair of Latvian Fingerless Mitts.

I finally completed them, they are really stunning.  As you can imagine, there were quite a number of ends to weave in, I spent one entire SnB night just weaving them in.  I used the needle for the smaller size, so they do not fit my hands.  These are being gifted shortly. There might be enough yarn left to knit another pair…

Pattern: Latvian Fingerless Mitts
Pattern Source: Beth Brown Reinsel
Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport, 5 colors
Needles: US 4
Date Started: 3/9/13
Date Finished: 3/25/13
Finished Dimensions: Women’s small/medium

Handspun Mittens

I made these mittens for Cass for Christmas.  The fiber is handspun Shetland from Into The Whirled.  I do love spinning Shetland.

I spun two braids of the multi and ended up getting a third braid from someone’s destash to get a nice 3-ply yarn.

They knit up into a fun pair of mittens (and I have enough left to make a pair for myself), the pattern is my own standard improvised as I knit pattern.  This one was on size 3 needles, cast on 48 sts, rib for 24 row, 6 rows of straight stitch, increase for the thumb to 24 stitches and knit to desired length.

So now he can give my Mom back the ones that I gave to her!

Travel Knitting

Last weekend we took my son back to school in Wisconsin, and gave ourselves a night away in Mineral Point.  I love that town, currently an artist community, and formerly a mining town.  We stayed in one of the 1840 Cornish Miner’s cabins that is now part of a B&B.   I loved the cozy space, and we took a dinner with us to cook there and spent the evening in front of the (fake) fireplace knitting, reading, playing scrabble and enjoying a good glass of wine.

And the main reason for our little retreat was so that Dan could go to a remote Wisconsin town that had an amazing selection of electric guitars.  He is so excited to have this new toy.  Might make that spinning wheel that I covet easier to get.  It is fun to see him so excited, and to have the time now (just finished his Master’s) to enjoy his hobby.  I do understand the importance of a hobby, and having the best tools at hand.

Along the ride, I worked on my mittens with handspun.  This was the second time starting.  I am not sure if I will keep them or rip them out again.  They are a bit large, I think that I overdid it on the cuff length.  I have had so many mittens that are too small.  I need to think about this a bit.  A lot of work in here….

Finally photos

I finished this sweater soon after Christmas and my husband has been wearing it, but between dreary days and him being out of town, I have not had a chance to get a good photo.

Project Specs
Pattern: Chess Sweater
Pattern Source: Hanne Falkenberg kit
Yarn: #2 Shetland by Hanne Falkenberg, colors Aubergine and coffee
Needles: US 2
Date Started: 8/15/10
Date Finished: 12/28/11
Finished Dimensions: Size Men’s large

And I have been working on my mittens, I think that I need to reverse the colors, as it is not detailing well.  I thought with windows and doors being light, it would look like nighttime with the lights on.  I don’t think so.  All of the other patterns knit up on Ravelry have followed the chart.  So much for being a maverick, ripping back again.  This time just to the cuff.

Keeping Warm Indoors

My daughter has very cold hands in the winter, and her office is definitely not over-heated.  When she told me that she had to type a bit, then sit on her hands to warm them up, then type, I knew she needed some fingerless gloves for working.  Last year I made my husband a pair, and he now brings them back and forth from work (need to get a second pair for him also).  Even though I had been promising her flap mittens, I thought that these were in order first.

A simple pattern.  Since I am a numbers person, all multiples of 4.  Adjust lengths as needed…

FINGERLESS MITTS

• Use a fingering weight yarn of your choice
• Size 1 needles
• Cast-on 48 sts, join in a round
• K2, P2 for 24 rows
• K 12 rows St st.
• Increase for thumb gusset as follows:
  • K 23, PM, inc 1 st (by lifting up bar below)
  • K2, inc 1 st, PM
  • K23
  • Knit next round plain (26 sts, 4 for thumb)
  • Increase row by doing one increase inside each marker
  • Knit 1 row plain
  • When there are 22 sts for thumb, place thumb sts on holder after st st row

• Knit hand portion, CO 2 sts at thumb area (48 sts total).
• K24 rows st st
• *For top of mitt, Purl 1 row, K 1 row (to obtain garter st pattern) for 8 rows, last knit row is the bind-off row*
• Put 22 sts from thumb on needle, CO 2 sts at opening and K 4 rows
• Repeat * to* as for top of mitt.

Fractal mittens

I finished a pair of mittens with my fractally handspun yarn.  Post about the spinning here.

They were done in the nick of time, as the temperature dropped 20 degrees in one day.  A bright cheery addition to my walks with Lloyd.  And, they complement my purple hand-spun shawl very well, thank -you.

This photo shows the color progression in the yarn, as I started with the cuff of the mitten on the left, and moved to the end, then started the cuff of the mitten on the right.  I am not exactly happy with the large blue pooling section on the right (it was longer and I broke the yarn  and shortened it), but it will do.

The end of Fall

I took this photo a few days ago, and didn’t get around to posting it.  Wind gusts blew the last of the leaves off the trees this weekend.

Working on my “Fractal Mittens”.  There are some longer blotches of similar colors, but I am generally happy with their progress.  The bright colors will be cheery on a bleak winter day.

And I finished spinning up some superwash fiber, yet again from Fiber Optic.  Color is Stormy Monday.  I don’t seem to be as successful spinning a fine yarn with the superwash fiber.  It is drying, but finished photos tomorrow.

Great weather to hunker down, and knit and spin.

Modern Mitered Mittens

I was given 2 skeins of Noro yarn recently.  While I was intrigued by this yarn when it first came out, and even made a shrug and a sweater out of it many years ago, and although I like and still wear those projects, this is not a yarn I would purchase today.  Many new knitters love this, as it makes a simple pattern look more interesting, although there are a lot of manufacturer’s putting out long repeat yarns now that did not exist a few years ago.  The yarn is weak (easily pulls apart), and can be scratchy.  Wanting to make something out of this yarn, I searched on Ravelry, where the new search engine lets you put in the type of yarn, yardage, and what you are looking to make (sweaters, accessories, etc.).  The Mitered Mitt pattern which blogger Kathryn Ivy wrote about adapting, and using Noro yarn was the perfect pattern for me and my 2 skeins.  The original mitered mitt was published in the Knitter’s Almanac by Elizabeth Zimmerman, May project.  I had to check this book out of the library, I can’t believe that I did not own it, I am sure my husband feels the same way if you saw my knitting library.  Perhaps it is in there somewhere, I am famous for purchasing books that I already own.

This book gives pithy directions for a variety of projects, one every month.    I adapted my mitered mittens to work for modern-day living of needing to unlock cars with a press key, text (not me for those of you who know me), and access that appendage that sets us apart.  I am giving these to my friend Theresa, just have to show them at knitting tomorrow night.  I made the gloves very long, so they would tuck into your coat and keep wrists warm.  I also used a size 3 needle versus the size 6 used in the aforementioned blog post.  The density of the fabric appealed to me, and  I had a bit of trial and error to find out what worked best.

Project Specs
Pattern: Mitered Mittens
Pattern Source: Knitter’s Almanac by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden #249, 2 skeins (220 yards, with a small amount left over)
Needles: US 3 DPNs
Date Started: 2/12/11
Date Finished: 3/6/11
Finished Dimensions: 13 1/2” inches long

They did a pretty good job of matching up.  And the texting thumb:

And it snowed again yesterday.  Cold all week, and I need spring.  A bit for each room of the house:

Mittens with Words

Andrew,

Finished!

I was going to wait to see if you actually read my blog, but you redeemed yourself yesterday.  I am sure that you forgot about these, or maybe not.  I know that this weather does not make one think of mittens, but it is the best time to make them as they are small and light.  When I first agreed to someday make these mittens for Andrew, his mother had recieved a pair of mittens from a friend and was telling him about them.  Not to be out done, Andrew announced that his mittens would have words!  So, here they are.  Also, notice the item they are photographed on…

I do have to say that there must be something about this pattern, as I had a slight issue with dye lots AGAIN.  Since Andrew is a colorist, I am going to fess up right now (but not rip back).  The thumb tips and the top of one mitten are a slightly different light blue.  You would have to point it out to others, but the 2 of us would notice it right away.  They is what they is.  Enjoy.

Yarn was Baby Ull by Dale of Norway.  Machine washable, dry flat.