You may remember these fingerless mitts that I knit for my sister’s Christmas gift.
I finished editing the pattern yesterday. It’s been tested by some of the wonderful test knitters in Ravelry’s Free Pattern Testers group. (The FPT group is a great resource.) I’ve included links in the pattern to my new tutorials on paired lifted increases and cabling without a cable needle. You can see all my tutorials on my tutorials page.
More information about the pattern is available here.
Happy knitting!
Posted in Knit, pattern design, ravelry, tutorial
Tagged fingerless mitts, Knit, ravelry
Ahhh, symmetry. Love that.
Christmas was grand. Christmas eve found the boys still scrambling to find a gift for me. They had lots of ideas, but nothing was panning out. They drove all over town for days. At 3:45 p.m. on Christmas eve (with us due at a friend’s for dinner at 4), DH bailed them out by suggesting that they sign me up for next year’s Single Skein Club at Twisted. Everybody wins! I’m looking forward to it.
Gift knit update
Let’s see. I gave the broken garter stitch cowl to my friend Carole; I chose the color with her in mind. I designed the cowl for next month’s knit party at Twisted. She’ll be helping with the party. The cowl comes full circle!
I gave the red cashmerino cowl to my pastor. I hope she likes it. Christmas eve is a busy night, with two services; I’ll catch up with her next week. (The Day Old Pastries sang at the family pageant service and led the congregational music. Fun! Then I went to the late service, too, to just…be.)
I gave the blue Quincy hat to my niece; I thought it would be cute on her. My sister says that it frames her face perfectly, and now she wants one, too. For her birthday. In red. To match these fingerless mitts that I made for her.
As soon as I saw this yarn I knew that it had to be fingerless mitts for her. It’s Mirasol Tupa, 50% merino, 50% silk. The color just glows. These pictures don’t quite capture the depth of color, though.
At first I thought I’d do a heart design, because she loves hearts. But then I decided to go with an OXO cable for a hugs and kisses theme, because it suited the yarn better. I’m really pleased with how they turned out. And she loves them. I’ll be writing up the pattern soon.
During the design process (and fine tuning), I also made a pair in white, and I gave them to my mom for Christmas. I wanted her to have some new mitts to replace the Fetchings that have gone AWOL. I can nearly make these in my sleep now! And I’ve become a master at cabling without a cable needle. I have a photo tutorial in my tutorials section on the sidebar, and if I get to it, I’ll make a video one, too.
So now my needles are pretty empty! I’m looking for the perfect red yarn for my sister’s Quincy, but haven’t found it yet. And I want to cast on something for me, but I can’t quite commit to the Heather Hoodie yet. Don’t know why not. I went to the yarn store to order the yarn, and didn’t. Hmmmm.
Oh, there is one little thing on my needles. I’ll tell you about it next time…
Ready or not, Christmas is coming. I’m as ready as I’m going to get. Tonight is a whirlwind of activity, and then we’ll have a quiet Christmas morning. Bliss.
I’ve knit several gifts this year, although I didn’t set out to do so. Knit just happens! My favorite one is a new design, and I can’t show it until after Christmas. But here’s another version of one of my cowls. This one is knit with Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky, and it’s lusciously soft. A gift for a non-blog reading friend.
The Cashmerino Chunky is a lot lighter than the Malabrigo Chunky, so this was knit on a US 9, as opposed to the 10.5, and on fewer stitches. It took about 1.5 balls of yarn (50 gram balls). I loved knitting with this yarn.
Mookie wishes you a very happy holiday. We’ve celebrated Hanukkah, and are about to celebrate Christmas. Which reminds me, I still have to go get her a new catnip slug to put in her stocking. She loves them.
Almost as much as she loves this Log Cabin blanket that she’s claimed for her very own.
Did you finish all your gift knitting? Is it time to start something for you? I’m still toying with the idea of a Heather Hoodie (ravelry link), but I want it to have sleeves. I have a skein of Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky to swatch, and if I still like the idea after swatching, I’ll order a sweater’s worth of it. What do you want to knit next?
Merry Christmas!
I’m having a knit party at Twisted next month as a fund-raiser for our high school booster club. I did this last year, too, and wrote the Checkerboard Scarflet pattern for that party. This year’s party will feature a pattern for even quicker neckwear. These cowls are designed to be knit with Malabrigo Chunky. What’s not to like?
The pattern is called “As You Like It.” There are two cowls worn three ways. This one is my favorite. I love the fabric and the texture. Knitting this was heavenly.
Here is the other one/two. Knit it once, you can wear it either way.
They’re fairly simple projects, since the party is for knitters of any skill level. I hope they like them! We’ll also have needles donated by Lantern Moon to work with. Again, what’s not to like? The patterns will be for sale as a set.
And now, back to my Christmas knitting! I need to finish the stealth project, and then write up the pattern. I’m really pleased with it, It’s turning out just the way I wanted…after three tries.
Do you have knitting to finish before Christmas?
Happy Thanksgiving! We’re at the point in the day when the turkey is roasting (on the grill) and everyone is just hanging out. Must be time to blog…
I’m working on a set of cowls for a pattern for the auction knit party at Twisted. I finished one yesterday, and today was a picture perfect day. Too bad the other cowl isn’t with me; I guess it will have a photo shoot later.
This is knit with Malabrigo Chunky, colorway Noviembre. Pattern coming as part of a set. The yarn is really fun to knit; it’s big and chunky like al dente pasta.
And pretty fun to wear!
The teen likes it, too.
We took a walk this afternoon and saw this persimmon tree.
And the neighborhood football game.
I looked up and saw this:
I don’t think I’ll be taking a nap outside. They’re circling…
Wishing you lots of turkey and pumpkin pie!
I bought a little more Malabrigo Chunky the other day. I’m still working on a pattern for our knit party auction event, and I needed to try one more variation on a theme.
Isn’t this gorgeous? The color is called Noviembre. And yes, it looks like fall. These are so not my colors, but they are gorgeous, and I’m sure I can find a worthy recipient after the pattern is written and the pictures are done. And this yarn is so much fun to knit with; it’s firm and bouncy like knitting with al dente pasta! Speaking of food…
I posted on Facebook that I was baking applesauce blueberry bread; a lot of my posts seem to be about food. There were a couple recipe requests, so I’m posting it here for your enjoyment.
Applesauce Blueberry Bread
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup blueberries
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs. Blend in applesauce.
Blend dry ingredients, fold into applesauce mixture only until blended. Fold in blueberries.
Bake in greased loaf pan at 350 degrees, about 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean. (Mine usually takes at least an hour and 15 minutes, especially if I’m baking two. You really don’t want this to be gummy on the bottom.) Cool in loaf pan on wire rack for about 30 minutes, then turn out onto rack and cool completely. Scrumptious!
ETA: The reason mine takes so long to bake is probably because I put the berries in frozen, directly from the freezer. These are the berries that we grew last summer, and they are wonderful!
Oh, I almost wore the clear Converse sneakers today. I tried them on again, but I still felt clunky and flat-footed. So back they’ll go. Well, it was worth a try, anyway!
Posted in Knit, pattern design, recipe
Tagged applesauce, blueberry, bread, Knit, malabrigo
All the cool kids were at Rhinebeck last weekend, and I was way over here on the left coast, just hanging out. But I walked to Twisted on Saturday and bought some yarn, so I didn’t feel so left out. I came back with these.
Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky, 55% merino, 33% microfiber, 12% cashmere. This is incredibly soft and squishy to knit with. One ball makes a very efficient neck warmer (kind of like a mock T-neck), but it’s not very big. I don’t really want to use two for this project, so we’ll see how it goes. The color is somewhere between the two pictures: deep, vibrant, wine-y.
Malabrigo Chunky, 100% kettle dyed merino, 100 grams. It’s slightly heavier. And also really fun to knit with. The stitch definition is divine.
And I have one more on hand; it’s a bulky 100% merino yarn from Knitted Wit. Why am I suddenly obsessed with chunky yarn?
I’m hosting another party for the high school Booster Auction. Twisted is supplying the venue, and Lantern Moon is donating the needles. (Thank you to both!) Last year, I designed the Checkerboard Scarflet as a party project. I need a new project for this year. Yes, it’s above and beyond hosting the party, but it’s fun and for a good cause.
I’ve decided that I want to use a chunky yarn this year, to get near instant gratification. The project needs to be beginner friendly, but interesting enough for an experienced knitter to get some joy from it. I don’t want another flat scarf/scarflet. Fingerless mitts would be great, but you have to make two. I think a single item would be better. I think it’s going to be a cowl.
Next step: The perfect stitch pattern. I want to give options, so I think I’ll have three of them. I want at least one of them to be simple enough that a relative beginner will have a successful experience. I want something easily memorized. I want it to be elegant. Soon, with these chunky yarns!
In the meantime, I’ve returned to the piano bench and am picking my way through a Clementi sonatina (hey, I can still read music!) for relatively instant gratification, as well as trying to resurrect old repertoire. Hello, Mozart? Are you still there?
And I’m playing this guitar, just for a couple days. I have it on temporary swap with a friend; it’s new and I may want one of my own. Yes I have a guitar, but it’s not this nice! (Thanks to the Teen for being guitar model. He plays way better than I do.)
Baby Hat Palooza!
We’re having a little baby boom at church. The music director’s baby received the pink baby bolero last month. We’re having a baby shower for three new moms this weekend, so I did a hat trick! (hockey, anyone?)
This is the tomato cap from Ann Norling’s Fruit Cap pattern (Rav link). It was my standard baby gift for a long time.
This is my own watermelon cap. Here’s a link to my free pattern.
And this is Elsa. The little knot in the pattern makes me think of Elsa Schiaparelli’s Bow Knot sweater, even though it’s nothing like it. It’s just a little decoration. I envision the knot worn above the ear, but anything can happen once it leaves my hands! Front and center? Down the back? Whatever!
I’m offering the Elsa pattern for free. It’s a simple pattern, quick and easy to knit with dk weight yarn. I used Sublime Yarns Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK, so mine is quite the little luxury knit. I hope you like it!
I don’t know. But this is what I was knitting in my “how to carry two colors in your right hand” video tutorial the other day.
It’s a shop sample for Twisted; I’m teaching a Christmas stocking class on Saturday, December 5, 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. The class is based on my pattern, which I finally wrote up this week! I made the first of these in 1996, but didn’t write it up until now. Here are all the variations at my house, made over several years.
The pattern is for the snowflake stocking; I wanted to keep things simple since it’s for a class. I dropped off the stocking and patterns this afternoon. Sivia Harding says that the stocking is perfect! That made my day. How could you not want to knit this pattern after such an endorsement? And yes, Sivia is now working at Twisted!
Patterns are available at Twisted and through Ravelry download; you can find more information on the pattern page.
It’s been quite a swatching week here. It’s like speed dating. Isn’t it tough when you know exactly what you want, and just can’t get it? I bought a bag of Noro Silk Garden Lite at Sock Summit with a project in mind. The yarn is too heavy for the intended project, so I went searching for something else. The Jojoland Melody wasn’t it; it didn’t have enough color change. Then I thought I had found it in the Noro Kureyon Sock. The colors were perfect.
The swatch was gob-smackingly pretty. But as I knit on, I found myself with doubts. Would I wear a garment that was gorgeous, but scratchy? I’ve already found that I prefer my Malabrigo Ishbel to my Shetland Triangle, because it’s so soft. Hmmmm.
I voiced my concerns in an email exchange with Melanie. I told her I was dreaming of something similar to Noro in the way color is treated, but as soft as Malabrigo Sock. She suggested Crystal Palace Mini Mochi. Not quite as soft as Malabrigo, but that’s hard to live up to.
Back to Twisted. I briefly eyed the Zauberball, but the colors were too eye-poppingly bright. Malabrigo Sock? The color runs were too short. Mini Mochi?
More swatching. Similar color palette, beautiful colors, and a long run of each color, with the colors gently shading from one to the next. Just like the Noro. But much softer to the touch. We may have a winner. I thought the extra Noro was going back to the store, but in the morning light it’s still really pretty and it’s not as horribly scratchy as I thought. It’s more of an art piece, though. Do I make two? Is this how stash starts? What am I making? I can’t show you yet; it’s my stealth project. Don’t you love surprises?
Speaking of surprises, the blue silk laceweight Ishbel has made it to its recipient. I made it for Susan as a thank you for guiding us through Vietnam. She says she’s going to call it Ishmael. I knit part of it on the trip, but I was so jet-lagged all the time that there wasn’t much knitting!
And one more surprise. The community baby quilt was presented to our music director, the mom-to-be, and she was very touched. We started this on our women’s retreat in May. The theme was hearts, but you could go anywhere you wanted with it. Each person there was asked to make a square. I see mine! It’s the heart-shaped music notes in the upper left corner.
My aunt called yesterday to ask about Sock Summit. I told her about Cat Bordhi starting class by asking our names and who taught us to knit, and that I had shared that she had taught me when I was 16. She thought that was pretty neat. So now I’m sharing it with you, too. Thank you, Aunt Rose!
PDXKnitterati 