Sunday, November 26, 2006

Schmittens Redux


Here are lego guy mittens, for our nephew. Hopefully he'll think they are cool enough to wear. Off soon to the fabric store to find fleece to line them with.


New mittens while I await the arrival of more Satakieli from Schoolhouse Press. This pattern is #58 from Lizbeth Upitis's beautiful book, "Latvian Mittens." Satakieli again (good thing I bought six skeins at Camp last summer), brown with pale green (the original calls for brown and grey).

When working stranded colorwork like this I like to work the piece inside out, like so (Jackson had to have a look, too):

You knit normally, but the working section is at the back of the work instead of at the front. This forces the strands to follow along the outside of the circular piece, a greater travel of circumference than if the piece was worked right-side out, which helps prevent puckering. Working inside-out also helps at the corners, where I can stretch the stitches out with my thumb to prevent that dreaded corner puckering that can be so hard to avoid:



Another FO, drying:

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Mittens schmittens



These heart mittens are meant for our niece, who will be visiting Maine for Christmas. She lives with her family in a warm place, so I figure she and her brother could each use a pair. I plan to line them with fleece for softness and extra warmth, although this wool (Yates Farm Yarn, Brownsville, VT, dyed and spun by Bartlett) is incredibly soft. I used Marcia Lewandowski's basic mitten pattern in Folk Mittens. Next up, a pair for her brother, and then a few holiday presents need to be worked. Photos soon of my EZ circular Aran--it's finished and just needs to be blocked! Yippey!

Happy Thanksgiving!