skein

Not one but two pairs of finished mitts.

Due to some over exertion in lifting boxes and bins of yarn I have a bad back. This has meant that I'm disinclined to do much knitting or start new projects so I've taken the opportunity to  finish off these two pairs of mitts.

My first pair are knitted, and are the fourth pair this year. 

Pattern:  Koigu Wristers

Yarn: Shelridge Farm Soft Touch Ultra, 42g

Needles: 2.25mm

A very easy mitts pattern, and I'M SO GLAD TO USE UP THIS YARN!    It was hanging arond in the stash, I'm not particular to these colour and had tried many times to knit socks iwht it.  Still have a ball and a bit to use but I've made a start!

Second pair of mitts, my fifth for the year and my first pair of crochet mitts.

   

Pattern: Oxidise

Hook: 3mm

Yarn: Manos Silk Blend, 52g, olive mix

Mods: had to do a dc around thumb slit as my cast on chains were terrible!  

I have actually crocheted THREE pairs of mitts, as the second one was a lot smaller than the frist!  I had changed hooks but not the size of the hook, who would have thought such a little change would have such a drastic result!  It's either down to the hook head, which seems smaller on the second hoook, or the way I am gripping the hook and tightenting up a lot.  I really wanted to tighten up with the second hook, not so with the first.  Odd.  .

This pattern is dead easy. It's really just a rectangle seamed, leaving room for a a thumb when sewing up.  I fully intended doing a little thumb but was a bit fed up after doing three, so just did a row of dc to tidy it up.    Manos is lovely to crochet with, by the way.   A very easy pattern.  Next time I might look for one worked in the round, with gusset shaping.  Or make up one, I like plain crochet, and can do increases! 

 

Polska Mittens

 

My last pair of mittens for NaKniMitMo12.

Pattern: Polska Mittens

Started and finished 25th - 31st January. 

Yarn: Wollmeise, natural, bluebell, farn (I think) and jultomte (red)

Total weight is  g, about   yards.

 

Mods:

I worked the body of the mitten on 70, not 72 stitches.  the repeat is over 10 sts, and these two extra ones just meant the pattern wasn't quite centred and they looked odd, a partial circle on the outer edge of the mittens.  I didn't realise that the pattern wasn't centred until I had nearly finished the first mitten decreases, so had to reknit virtually the whole mitten.

When decreasing I had fewer circles on the palm side of the mitten.  So I changed the thumb placement on the second mitten so that I could work this palm on fewer circles. 

One mod which I didn't mean to do was to omit the first pattern row, worked in blue,  It  would have been a divider between the cream ribbing and the cream circles.  Oh well, should I knit these again I'd work the row!

Thoroughly enjoyed knitting mittens this month. Of course I have a dozen more I'd like to do and idnd't get around to.  Sadly none of these mittens are good for this cold weather.  I've gone for last year's NaKniMitMo11 - a pair of stranded mittens worked in worsted weight at a tight tension.

Carrots & Beets Mittens

My second FO for 2012, and also my second pair of mittens for NaKniMitMo12.

 

Another fun pattern, using up oddments too. 

Pattern:  Carrots & Beets

Started: 7th January

Finished: 19th January

Needles: 2mm

Yarn:  Shetland type, 50g, about 256 yards,  black and oddments of greens, orange and pink.  They look truer in the top photo, they're very birght!

 

This is my favourite type of stranded knitting, lots of little patterns.  A thoroughly enjoyable knit.

These will be a gift for someone who used to grow their vegetables on an allotment until they were too old to do the hard work.  Not sure they ever grew beetroot but they certainly had lovely carrots!

 

 

 

New mitten alert

I've cast on my third pair of mittens for NaKniMitMo12.  Another Spillyjane pattern, this time it's Swedish Fish.  I'm using Easyknits Big Boy in Nude and various shades of Little Guys too.  First time I've used the yarn and I like it.  It's a 4ply Exmoor Blueface/alpaca.nylon mix.  I'm now wondering if I ought to use this for Beekeeper's quilt, or possibly do a crochet mini blanket, along the lines of Babette.  I bet it would be warm.

I cast on on Monday evening, but by bedtime realised that I was not going to get 10sts/inch, and that possibly an 80 stitch mitten would be a bit big!  So, to the frogpond and restarted on Tuesday evening. I cast on 70sts instead of 72sts (it's 1x1 twisted ribbing for the cuff) and worked the pattrn on 70, not 80 sts   It means I have seven fish instead of eight, so it's 3.5 per side, one is swimming around the corner of the mitten!

This was taken on Tuesday evening, and I've done one more fish row since then.  Not because it takes me a whole evening to knit one fish pattern, but because I've also been working on the previous mittens, the Carrots and Beets mittens.   Just knitting the thumbs and darning in ends. I have about a dozen ends to darn in and they will be done.  Not too comfortable with multiple MIPs or SIPs!

I seem to have fallen behind in my plan to knit a pair of mittens each week in January!  Can I finsih these in two evenings and a weekend, as well as work on Boreal?  I will try..

Second pair of MIttens - Carrots and Beets

I'm still enjoying the mitten knitting, to the detriment of other wips!

Still using stash, and still using the shetland type yarn, with hardly a dent in the stash.  Still knitting another Spillyjane pattern.

 

It's the Carrots and Beets mittens.  More orange stash yarn used!

I've gone down from a 2.25mm to a 2mm needle as it's 72 stitches and I'm a loose knitter.  I've also knitted corrugated ribbing using all of the colours, instead of the 2x2 twisted ribbing. 

Looking very bright!  The front:

and the back, equally as bright:

That orange strip is waste yarn for the thumb.  I'm just about ready to start decreasing towards the tip of the mitten.  I must remember to weight the yarn before I start the next mitten, so I can work out yardage for the colours.  If I want to knit a pair a week I'd better get a move on!

 

Illuminine Mittens

Wheee!  Finished, such a quick knit.

 

My first FO for 2012, my first pair of mittens for NaKniMitMo12 and my first Knits for hands 2012 as part of my NY resuolutions.  

Pattern::  Illuminin Mittens, the official pattern for NaKniMitMo2012

Started: 31st December 2011

Finished: 5th January 2012

Yarn: Shetland type yarn from a reclaimed Vivien Hoxbro kit, black, orange, lemon and pink.  Weight is  41g, about 206 yards (based on J&S yarns, though I do have one of those balance things which tells you the yardage),

Overall an enjoyable knit.  Following a chart makes it go faster, I'm sure!  The obsession with stranded knitting continues.  The next mitten is on the needles, it's another SpillyJane, I have bought rather a lot of the patterns!

 

NaKniMitMo2012

January is the month for NaKniMitMo2012, and I've nearly finsihed my first pair! They're Iluminait, the SpillyJane kal for this group.

 

I've had three attempts at starting these.  Good job I had time off work!  

I have a big box of 4ply yarn - this is the yarn which I don't deem as sock or shawl yarn.  It's either shetland oddments, some cones of shetland type yarn, several kits of 21st Century yarn (some sheltand, some merino), Rowan sale yarn which isn't enough to make a garment and a paritally frogged Vivien Hoxbro kit. 

My first two attempts were with a 21st Century sheltand yarn kit.  Colours are Lilac, lilac-purple, blight blue, dark blue and rose pink.  they are ok colours, but when knitting the mittens they seemed to get lost together, not enough contrast for me, and with eh slight variations in colour soemtimes they mittens looked a bit striped, not what I wanted.  In the end I've gone for the Viv Hoxbro yarn!  It was for a rainbow illusion cardigan.  Black stripes, wtih various bright colurs.  Lemon, pale oragne, oragne, red (all used in Mr C's Poppy waistcoat), bright pink, purple, greens (all used in same waistcoat).  LOTs of orange left!.  I've gone for black, using orange for the bottom of the mitten and tthe lemon for the top, with a bit of the pink.

 

They're done!  I just need to darn in ends, and wash them.  I wouldn't normally was mittens, just steam them, but this yarn is about 10 years old I think.

Photo taken in dim light by mobile.  Let's hope we have daylight this weekend! 

I'm going to take a few evenings off from mitten knitting, and finish that first sleeve of Boreal!  I suspect my next mitten will be another Spillyjane pattern. I have two in my ravelry library and I see that she has a new one in Wool People Vol 2 which I MUST HAVE!

Andrea's Mitts

We had Andrea's shawl, and here's the matching mitts!

Pattern: Andrea's Mitts by Kirsten Kapur

Started: May 28th

Finished: June 4th

Needles: 3.25mm

Yarn: same as for Andrea's shawl - 21st Centure Botany 4ply, in blue (125 yds) and black (45 yds)

 

The construction is the same as for the shawl, a sideways knitted edging, picked up stitches, 15 rows of lace knitting, stripes.  Picot cast off. 

My sixth for fgf11in2011kal.  Wish my mitten mojo was back!   

Blue Hands

 

Pattern: Blue Hands, ravelry link here.

Started:    March 27th

Finished: May 4th

Needles: 2mm

Size : xs.  I don't have tiny hands, but I like really tight gloves!  And my tension tends to loosen up as I knit.

Yarn: Wollmeise, natural and Jultomte, a lovely burgundy red.

 

I really enjoyed knitting these.  It's just st st and rev st st for the cream bands.  A fun project and now officially my favourite gloves!  I am through knitting gloves now, might make some at the end of the year, but shall concenreate on fingerless gloves and mittens , for my 2011 knitalongs. 

 

 

Blue Hands gloves progress

These are going well,  Much easier, and less fiddly, than the Eisblume gloves.

I'm on the fingers of the first glove. I love this pattern!

Here's the  progress photo on Sunday morning  11/2 fingers knitted  I hope to finish these this month, so I'd better gget a move on!