Tag Archives: Knit wrist warmers

Shepherd’s Harvest is just around the corner!

Knitting, My original hand knitting patterns, On My Needles, Original Patterns, , , , ,

I have been having fun with a new knitting pattern I’m developing. I’m not going to say that I’m the only one who has thought of it, but I haven’t seen it before. The concept is very simple:

using two different colors of yarn, knit one row on a circular needle. Then slide the stitches back to the other side/end of the needle, and purl with the other color. Repeat these two rows. The result is a very fun ribbon like fabric.

One of the projects I knit with this technique is a pair of fingerless mitts:

fingerless mitts

And the good news is!!! I will be teaching a class at Shepherd’s Harvest and we will be knitting these mitts.

If you live in Minnesota or Wisconsin come to the festival and learn to knit this very fun easy ribbon stitch. Here is a link to register for the class.

I love Shepherd’s Harvest! It is such a good way to start the summer. . . lots of vendors selling yarn, roving, and finished items are available too. Lots of animals to pet and food to eat. I’ sharing a booth with Gale Woods and will be selling my original patterns. I’ll have lots of samples there too. I’m hoping to have a shawl pattern in this style of knitting too. My mom is test knitting the pattern for me. Hope to see you there! Look for me in the middle of Barn C.

Patterns at Patternfish

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WooHoo!
You can now purchase my patterns on line at Patternfish.com. I have my Noteworthy Fingerless mitts pattern up and ready to buy. I’m adding all my available patterns as I have time to do so.

Patternfish is a really cool site. It has over 4000 patterns for sale and more are added every day. You can find your favorite knitting designers there.

I look at their home page everyday because the new patterns show up and I like to see what folks are doing.

Check it out!

Another pair of noteworthy mitts (fingerless that is)

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A lovely guitar playing friend of mine ordered a pair of my mitts. . . I’ve made quite a few pair of these and always in wool. However, my friend is allergic to wool. So I just jumped in and decided to knit them in cotton. I knit these fingerless mitts in Comfy Sport from Knit Picks – colors are Cypress and October.

I wasn’t sure how they would work up in cotton and I must say they are really soft and worked up quickly. Cotton sure doesn’t have the memory of cotton though. . . I’m afraid the ribbed cuffs might splay out on her. I did wash and dry these once and the blocked out nicely.

Hand knit fingerless Mitts
Cotton knit fingerless mitts

You can find this pattern in Ravelry

or at my Etsy Store

New knitting pattern available & a new love!

Knitting, On My Needles, Original Patterns, ,

Charlotte’s Tam pattern is now available on my etsy site! I’ve made three of them now and they work up so nicely!

The one shown on the pattern is knit  in Gale Woods Farm’s sock yarn and it was perfect. I knit another one using two skeins of  Mission Falls 136 Merino and that turned out very nice as well. 136 Merino is sooo soft and fun to work with.

I tried one in a worsted weight to see what would happen. . .it is a bit big! The diameter across the top is 13″. . . looks a bit funny on my head!

twined knit mittenI’ve found a new love!!! Twined Knitting.

While at the library at the Minnesota Textile Center I found a book  “Twined Knitting, a Swedish Folkcraft Technique”. The book is full of great pictures, mitten, glove and hat patterns and history. I became so entrigued I started a project right away. I have some New Zealand wool I picked up at a sale somewhere and it is perfect for twined knitting.

This must be the definitive book on Twined knitting since I’ve been searching on line for one and the cheapest one I’ve found is 86$. . ouch. . .too much or my book budget, but I’m keeping it on my wish list.

Fingerless Mitt knitting pattern for Musicians!

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I often play the fiddle in colder conditions than I would like and have been craving an “appropriate” pair of fingerless mitts.

Now I have three to choose from!

I am really excited about this pattern! Notice how the foreground/background colors change from one mitt to the next?

One has a blue treble clef on beige background, the other has a beige treble clef on a blue background.

Noteworhty Fingerless Mitts for me!

Fingerless Mitts
Fingerless Mitts

Fiber: Le Fibre NobiliTajmahal, 70% superfine merino, 22% silk, 8% cashmere; 170m[50g]1 3/4  oz: 2 skeins blue, 1 skein ecru
Needles:US 3 & 4 dpns or circulars   7 1/2″ circumference, 9″ long

Fingerless Mitts
Fingerless Mitts

Fiber: Kimmet Croft Fibers, Fairy Hair, 40% Angora/60% Merino, 2 ply-laceweight, 2oz/375 yards, 1 skein each color
Needles: US 1 & 2 dpns or circulars
Size: 6 1/2″ circumference, 8″ long

Fingerless mitts
Fingerless mitts

Fiber:Louet Gems, 100% Merino, fine-sport weight, 100g/225 yards, 1 skein each color
Needles:US 2 & 3 dpns or circulars
Size: 7″ circumference, 9 1/2″ long

The treble clef pattern is charted only and the pattern is available in Pdf form from my Etsy store

or Ravelry

I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.

New knitter in the fold

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I am proud to note

A new knitter on the block

Niece Ellie knows how!

About a year ago I got a very long text message from my 14 year old niece, Ellie, asking me how to cast off her scarf. I laughed out loud at the prospect of “texting” back the instructions. Like most of my generation, I’m more comfortable and efficient with a phone conversation than hunting and pecking a text message on a phone. The letters on the phone are so small I can barely make them out!

Ellie taught herself to knit. . . back and forth for a very long time. . . but didn’t know how to stop. I helped.

Also, I just happened to draw her name for our Christmas exchange. Voila! I had the perfect gift! Knitting lessons!

Being a young city hipster, what do you suppose she wanted to knit for her first project? Wrist warmers, very long wrist warmers. Great! We knit a swatch, on which she purled for the first time. (a good knitter knows ribbing is required on wrist warmers) We measured her stitches and rows and decided how many stitches to cast on. Then I taught her to knit on two circulars. “Okay,” I said, “Call me when you want to start the thumb.”

She was on holiday vacation from school and had nothing but time. . . one week later she was ready to start the thumb gusset.

Now she knows how to increase (at least one way to increase). She knit the gusset during that night’s lesson and we put the thumb stitches on a piece of scrap yarn. “Okay,” I said, “Call me when you are done ribbing above the thumb”.

Well, back in school, she doesn’t have as much free time. It took three weeks to knit the 1 1/2 inches of 2/2 rib for the palm. Last night we knit the thumb. Unfortunately that was all we had time for, since her homework was calling. “What kind of homework” I asked. “Math, Biology, English, and History”, was the response. Oh how happy I am NOT to be in school and have nothing but time (ha ha) for knitting!

The results of Ellie’s knitting:

Ellie's first knit wrist warmers
Ellie's first knit wrist warmers

And a fuzzy picture of her gusset! (I can knit. . . but digital cameras tend to get the better of me. Sorry about the image quality)

First Thumb Gusset
First Thumb Gusset

Ellie, welcome to the fold!

Shawn

fingerless gloves and cowl

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I had a great time knitting these gifts!

cablewristwarmers.jpgknitcowl2.jpgsnowyknitcowl.jpg

The fingerless glove pattern I found on line. It was a joy to knit, especially since I could finish one in a night.

The blog that contains this pattern is in German but if you scroll down she has also provided it in English.

The yarn is a sock weight from Fairy Hare fibers. . . a blend of Angora and Merino. I love the saturated color too.

The cowl I made up myself. I started at the head end and worked down. I worked short rows over the back of the head to avoid bulk under the chin. Then I did a few rows of ribbing at the neck to pull it in a bit. The bottom is a simple lace pattern with increases worked in. I wanted a lace pattern that would scallop the edge but when I started I wasn’t home with my pattern books, so I guessed at a lace pattern that might work. It didn’t scallop like I wanted, but looks nice none-the-less. I added about 5 rows of garter stitch on the shoulder edge so it wouldn’t roll. It turned out okay and I have a general idea of what I would do different next time. The important thing is that the recipient loves them and has worn them both!! (Even though the cowl makes her look a bit like the flying nun.)

What did Santa bring me? With a small dent in my checkbook, my knitting library has expanded!!
I got “Handknitting with Meg Swansen” from Schoolhouse Press. This is a cool little book. It has a pattern for gloves in which the fingers are knit like an I-cord. Then stitches are picked up along the “float” to open up the tube to fit your fingers. I can’t wait to try this!

Book #2 “Poems of Color, Knitting in the Bohus Tradition” by Wendy Keele. Over the holidays I fell in love with Bohus Knitting. While rooting around on Ravelry I found a few site links to some Great pictures of Bohus sweaters that took my breath away. Had to know more about it and this seems to be the definitive book about this Swedish Tradition.

Book #3 “KNitting in the Old Way, Designs & Techniques from Ethnic Sweaters” by Priscilla A. Gibson-Roberts and Deborah Robson. I’ve started reading this one too. Lots of good general information about sweater construction. Seems I can never get enough of this kind of information. One of these days the info will actually stay in my head.:)

Book #4 “the Art of KNitting, Inspirational stitches, textures and surfaces” by Francoise Tellier-Loumagne. I”ve wanted this book forever. A gift certificate to Borders, a trip to the knitting section where I saw this book and snatched it right up!! It is full of color photos of landscapes and knitting and stitches. I saw this book 5 years ago when I took a class with Prudence Mapstone. She had one and I’ve wanted one ever since. This is a truly inspirational book. It was only yesterday that I saw past the pictures and realized there is text in the book too. Now I wish I had a week off to read!