Purl Up With A Good Yarn

Look Ma, No Fingers!

Pattern: Maine Morning Mitts (Link takes you to PDF of free pattern)

Yarn/Fiber: 160 yards of my handspun worsted weight made from Spunky Eclectic BFL in the Thermograph colorway.

Needles: 7

Gauge: ~5 sts/inch

Very quick knit and easy pattern. The thumb gusset is cleverly done and keeps in pattern. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to make a gift in a short amount of time.

Made from my own handspun using a Spunky Eclectic Club Colorway from 2008, Thermograph.

 

Click the picture for Ravelry page.

One Mitten

Long time, no see! Click on the picture for ravelry project details.

Quick Information

Pattern

Classic Mittens by Bernard Ulmann

Yarn Used

Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted in Stone

Comments

One down, one to go! This one was started during the Steelers playoff game on Saturday and finished up this morning. Embelishments are crochet chains tacked down in circles.

 

Smitten With Mittens

Must. Knit. Mittens.

Pattern: Modified Manly Mitts from knitty.com
Yarn : Brown Sheep Nature Spun
Needle Size : US 4 Brittany DPN's (I love these needles)
Started/Finished: November 2005

Once I made mittens for Heather, I had to have some for myself. I very nearly kept the ones I knit for her! They were really warm and I wanted something equally as warm. My hands and feet get really cold.

I also knit these  to match a hat and scarf set that I already owned. The mittens match the hat & scarf set wonderfully but since I didn't use 2 color stranded the whole mitten, they are not as warm as I would like them.

The search for the perfect mitten continues.

On Sunday, we celebrated Christmas with my inlaws since we'll be driving to Massachusetts on Friday to spend the holiday with my family. My mother-in-law is a knitter and she gave me Magnificent Mittens as a gift. I must have looked through that book 3 times that night, oohing and ahhing over the gorgeous mittens. I highly recommend the book. You don't have to knit the mittens with the long cuffs like the author does and the book is filled with pretty charts for color work. There are already a couple of designs I'd like to use for a border on a sweater.

I cast on one of the practice mittens from the beginning of the book so I could learn the techniques for these top down mittens on Monday.

I finished it last night :

I really like this one. They are very cleverly constructed from the top down. There are no gusset increases for the thumb so your number of stitches stayes the same throughout the whole mitten so you can use elaborate color patterns on the whole thing. And since the thumb is knitted seperately, you can use the color pattern on the thumb and it makes the thumb look invisible.

I love the vintage look of this mitten. I love how it's a little tighter than my other pair and my fingers get warmer faster. I was only going to make this one mitten before I moved onto a more complicated color pattern but I think I'm going to make a second mitten so I can have a pair.

Finally

Pattern : Manly Mitts from knitty.com
Yarn : Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted
Needle Size : US 4 Brittany DPNS
Started/Finished : October 2005/November 2005

I can finally show these mittens on the blog! They were gifted to Heather last night at our holiday party. I've been waiting for so long to post these here but she reads my blog and admitted that she would peek if I linked to them here, so I had to be patient and wait it out.

I modified the Manly mitten pattern by casting on 40 sts, and then increasing up to 48 stitches. I also used more colors and changed them more often than the pattern calls for. I reallly love these mittens and I have to make a pair like these for myself, in different colors probably.

Heather, it was really difficult to give them up but I know you will give them a good home and get use out of them when you are out with the llamas this winter. Glad you liked them! Mwah!

More on the holiday party tomorrow when there's better light for taking pictures of pressies and cookies!