Favorite Mitts

Favorite Mitts Pattern

Materials:1 skein of worsted/heavy worsted weight yarn. Fiber content doesn't matter; it's up to you!

1 pair size 7 straight needles (or size needed to get gauge)

1 pair size 7 double-pointed needles (or size needed to get gauge) (optional; for thumb)

1 tapestry needle (or a crochet hook if you slip-stitch the seams closed)

Sizes:
S/M (L)

Gauge: 16 stitches, 21 rows = 4 inches (gauge is not CRITICAL in this pattern, but try to get close!)

Pattern:
Cast on 30 (34) stitches using preferred method

Row 1: k

Row 2: k2, p 22 (26), k6

Repeat these two rows until mitt measures about 8 inches. Bind off.
Repeat for second mitt.

Fishing:
Fold one mitt in half, right sides facing in. Sew up seam for 4 (4.5) inches. Skip 1.5 inches, sew up remaining 1.5 inches. Repeat for other mitt.

Optional Thumb:
After the mitt is sewn up, pick up ten stitches around the thumb hole (or number of stitches necessary to make about 2.5 inches AROUND), starting at the top. Knit in the round:

Round 1: k4, kfb twice, k4

Round 2: k

FOR SIZE L ONLY: k 4, kfb, k2, kfb, k4

Continue knitting for about 1.5 inches, or desired length.

Bind off; weave in ends.

Note:

These can be embellished in any way you wish, from adding buttons, embroidery, or bead work before sewing them up, to adding bobbles and cables as you knit them. This is just a basic pattern - perfect for beginners, by the way.

You can do whatever you wish with this pattern, except sell it. If you decide to use it as a learning tool for a class, or you want to distribute it from your yarn shop, then I would just die of delight! In other words, please let me know; I won't stop you, but I'd love to know that my simple pattern was worthy of such enjoyment!
Happy Knitting!

Here are the mitts 'unmodeled'

Here is the size comparison. Large is on the left, small/medium on the right.

I hope you enjoy this pattern; I'd love to see variations on it!

What's This?

Well, it has been a while since I posted here! Time for updates, although since it's so late, I'm so tired, and the lighting is bad--no pretty pictures.

I can say this: I haven't been knitting for a few months. *insert collective gasp here*. Why? Well, because I got distracted, that's why! I'm back 'in the groove' now. I've got 1 hat, 1 pair of mitts (both for bro), another hat (for me), a neckwarmer (also for me), and at least 1 scarf (mine) in the works. I've got 3 hats pending for Dad and a Clapotis for Mom, who 'test drove' mine and really liked it. Also, mitts. I've got to make mitts for Dad and Mom. Promises are promises, after all! Shouldn't be too difficult.

This should be a pretty fun week, wouldn't you say so?

Oh! And I'm going to be posting my Very First Design on Ravelry! Probably either at the end of this week, or mid-week. I'm testing it myself, first. I'm afraid to get testers, haha. The pattern will be free, posted here, and linked from Ravelry to here. Say, maybe I'll get a few more readers, eh? (yeah, right :P )

Anyway, my eyelids are sagging and I've got a bit of studying to do before I go to bed, so Ta Ta For Now!

Nope, no pix

Okay, so, despite the lack of visual aid, I thought it would be wise to update my knitting activities--and revive my nearly-dying blog spirit. Hah.

Okay, so as far as knitting goes, I've finally gotten some Noro to work with, and I love it! One skein was Aran/Worsted weight and I made a hat out of it (have I posted about this before, I don't know) which I love! The sock yarn, I'm doing the same thing, except on US 3 needles, so the going is slow.

I'm using some surprisingly soft acrylic to make the VW hat (check it out on Rav) for my bro. I made one already--which turned out too big (my first real lesson in gauge), so I had to size down 2 needle sizes--I'm working on 5's now, which still doesn't get gauge, so I have to watch it. I'm adjusting the size as I go.

Also on the needles is the slouchy hat bag (which you can also Rav), which I am making out of Suri Dream yarn from KnitPicks. I like the yarn, but I should have realized how "Chrismas-y" the colors would look--green and red, can you imagine?. The bag is going to be both of those colors, so I don't know what I'm going to do about that.

I'm in the midst of designing a black-and-red stripped hoodie vest for myself. It's pretty much improvise-as-you-go, and I'm not taking any notes, so it's not going to be posted anywhere or anything. Aside from pix here when it's done!

The socks are still a WPI, as are the gray mittens. There are a couple of other very minor projects which I won't dare mention, but that's about it for now!

Happy Knitting!

What is the Average Flight Speed of an Unladen Swallow?

Why, yes, I do have trouble thinking of headings sometimes! How'd you guess?

Anyway, on with the Gallery Tour.

Below, you will see an anatomically correct (crocheted) sculpture of the legendary Dragon Warrior 1 Slime. In case you don't know about Dragon Warrior, it's a series of RPGs (role playing/adventure games) for the Nintendo consoles. In Dragon Warrior 1, the Blue Slime is the first monster that the main character (you, since it's an RPG) fights. They're harmless, not-so-powerful creatures, but awfully cute, don't you think? My brothers, who have beaten the Dragon Warrior games, were enthralled by this. I told them that they couldn't have it. He's mine.


And this little number below, the hat with the 3-column-raglan shaping, is one of my favorite hats in the whole world. It's roomy, comfortable, warm, and one of my favorite colors--purple.

Actually, it was also the first hat I ever made...ever...I'm pretty sure, at any rate. I didn't really know exactly what I was doing--I didn't follow a pattern since, quite frankly, I was afraid to. I figured out how many stitches would fit my (larger than average female) head on size 10 dpns. I commenced to knit. No, there isn't any ribbing; I wanted a slightly roll brim. So I knit until I liked the length. Then, the decreases. I wasn't sure about those. So, for the first round (so it seems), I did a k2tog 3 times on each needle--beginning, middle, and end. From then on, I'm pretty sure I just did 2 decreases per needles--beginning and end--until I had probably about 4-8 stitches left. Then I finished off. It's made in worsted weight and knits up very quickly, in case you'd like to have one.


And this below is my favorite scarf, knitted not so long ago as the hat above (the hat was knit about 4 years ago, I'd say). The scarf was knit just over a year ago, I think, in Sheep Shop Yarn Sheep 3. I'm not sure of the color, but it's the sky blue looking one. (I have the label...somewhere). I used about 2/3 of a skein and so the scarf didn't come out as long as I normally make them. But I love it all the same. I wore it every day that I could for as long as I could.



And this, below, is the first full sweater I knit. I designed it myself. I used measurements. I used acrylic yarn which, in my humble opinion, should be used for hats, gloves, bags, toys, whatever, but not full garments. It's not "flow-ey" enough, I guess. Well, this is the sweater. It was knitted from the top down. It's lumpy. It looks 'homey' in a bad sort of way. Some have asked why I don't wear it. I don't because I don't like it, really.




This is my second sweater. The Spring Green sweater on my rav project page. This one, I love. It's soft, it's comfy. I used the formula pattern found in one of the knitty issues--I think it was called Knitting With Numbers or Knitting By Numbers or something like that. It's not hard to find and it makes a great first sweater. This one I made with 3/4 sleeves because I didn't want 'puffy' sleeves around my wrists. Since you double the sleeve stitches after you're done working the ribbing for the sleeve, it's a little puffy.

Admittedly, it's probably not going to last that long because I used size 8 needles with an Aran weight yarn. I thought it was worsted. As a matter of fact, I thought it was a little thin for worsted. But, oh well. It doesn't matter; I can make a new one when this one wears out. But I love this one. You can tell by how much I rambled about it.


And that's all for now. I might actually post again later today to show my progress on my Clapotis (over half way done! Looking beautiful) and the crocheted vest/hoodie that I made a couple of years ago. I'm actually quite proud of it because it turned out so well and, once again, I didn't follow a pattern! I just measured here and there. Granted, there's hardly any shaping, but it's somehow a little fitted anyway--in a good way. I wish I could remember exactly what I did, though... meh.

Oh well. Anyway, that's all for now.

--NerdyNunchucks/NoobyKnitter

Alright, so here I am with the previously promised (yesterday) pix. The first is the progress of the Resurrected Socks. You can find them on Rav here.


On a side note, I don't know why people don't like working on dpns! To me, it's more fun than working on circs. The whole process is fascinating to me. Also, I love tiny needles! Those socks are being worked on US Size 0, as I believed I mentioned before.

This next picture is (drum roll please) my Clapotis. Okay, so I'll admit I let it hibernate for too long. But I've picked it up again! And I'm very glad I did. I'm really liking the way it looks.


So, that's all for now, folks! Time to get working around the house so that I can knit later without worrying about everything. There's nothing worse than knitting and worrying about housework at the same time. Ugh.

TTFN!

--NerdyNunchucks/NoobyKnitter

Etc.

Finally, here is the link for Detainglers. For pics, see the link and my previous post...

Secondly, here is my latest test pattern, Rainbow Bobbles Bag. I think it's pretty darn cute, don't you? Right now, I'm using the one I made as my purse. I don't like big purses anyway, so if you're that type of person too, or if you just like cute little bags...or...maybe you need to store your D&D dice (you know who you are!), this is the right little project. I turned it out in about 2-3 hours. Perfect if you're watching a movie or whatever.




The second is a little illusion knit tote bag called Lucky Stars on Rav. I had fun knitting it because I got to see the illusion star take form. I would stop once or twice a row, turn the knitting flat, and look along it to see how the star was coming along. I'm making a black and white one here pretty soon :)




I've been working on the Resurrected Socks (as they will heretofore be called). I actually ripped the one I was nearly done with because the bind off was Way Too Tight and wouldn't fit over my heel. This one is top down and pretty simple so far. I was going to work a pattern into it, but decided not to because it wasn't looking right at all. So I ripped back about 5 rounds and continued in plain stockinette. They're being knitted in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock 'Envy', by the way, which not only reminds me of yummy summer squashes each time I dwell on the colors, but also has very good stitch definition. I like that because I'm knitting on US size 0 needles and the stitches are nice, tiny, and cute.

Also, I've picked up my Clapotis again. I dropped my first stitch today. Other than that, the pattern is pretty straight forward and simple. I plan on listening to some old 'Suspense' recordings tonight while I knit it. I want to get it done by Father's Day. We're going to a parade with some friends and I want to show it off--at least in the morning before it gets too hot.

Tomorrow morning I'll take pix and post them. The more bright, natural light the better and the morning is perfect for that.

I'm kind of slow working on the socks because I want to be able to knit them while watching the parade. It's the second WWKIP (World Wide Knit In Public) day for this year. There's two because they're switching the day from the 2nd week of June to the 3rd, because the 3rd week is also National Needlework Week, or something like that. I'm so glad I 'caught' it in time to participate! Well, I won't be grouping with other knitters (I don't know any around here) like other WWKIPers will, but at least I will be Knitting in Public!

It's almost a super-power ;)

That's all for tonight.

Happy Fiber-Working Goodness to You!

--NerdyNunchucks/NoobyKnitter

It's About Time!

Well, the title has two meanings.

The first being that it has been an embarrassingly long time since I've posted (although I'm fairly certain I'm the only reader my blog has right now, so maybe it doesn't matter so much), and secondly, I can post pix now.

Haha, yeah, no I'm not joking. I'll prove it to you. Watch:

Small, medium, and large size detanglers, from left to right.

These are the "Detanglers" that I test-crocheted for someone on Ravelry. The pattern will be posted here shortly, I'm sure. When they are, I'll post the link.

Just for good measure, here's the detanglers (small) being put to good use:

So, now there will be more pix of the stuff I'm doing! I've figured out that natural light is best for the camera that I'm using.

More later (hopefully, shortly).

In the meanwhile, Happy Knitting, Spinning, Crocheting and Whatever Else You May Do.

Good Gravy

I've decided that whining about pics isn't going to do my any good in the long run, so I'm not going to. Instead, I'm going to snag some one's camera in an appropriately sneaky style, take pics, post pics, and stealthily replace the camera where it was.

Okay, so all the fun sneaking around probably won't take place and I'll most likely just ask politely and the rest will quietly follow.

But that's later.

What's right now is updates on my knitting.

First is first. I haven't been living up to my name--i.e., 'Daily Knitter'. I have, in fact, been blatantly neglecting my knitting. The only time I really have knit is when we watched a movie or two in the past couple of weeks and I worked on my uber-easy wool scarf, which is turning out all nice and nubby and perfect for winter. In any case, the Clapotis is neglected and so is the pair of socks I started and various other things.

*sigh*

But I will return!

Secondly, I got an awesome book entitled "Amigumuri! Super Happy Crochet Cute" by Elisabeth A. Doherty. Yes, it is crochet, but I do that also. Besides that, the projects in the book are adorable! Also, I just happen to like making dolls. Don't' ask me why; I feel like I should have outgrown that sort of thing a long time ago...but it's so fun!

Thirdly, I may be starting an Etsy shop. Why? Because there is no market for hand spun yarns, handmade items, etc. in my tiny little town and I would really like to make and sell items in that area. I'll keep the blog updated.

Fourthly, I am starting a new blog. It's not like I'm abandoning this blog, it's merely that this blog is my knitting blog. I need one where I can write about my reading! So, there's that.


For update number Five, my brother and I are working at a farm/nursery locally here. A lot of people wouldn't call it a real job; it's mostly menial stuff like weeding, but my 'old' job was an office job and I hated it because I couldn't go outside. With this job, I'm outside for four hours. Even if it is hard work, I don't care; at least I'm outside!

And that's about it, I think. Hopefully, I'll be able to update more frequently now. But I'm not getting my hopes up.

Angry Face

Okay, so I managed to get pix of all of my projects and, guess what? My stupid SD card reader isn't working! Not only can I not blog my projects, I can't post pix on Ravelry either. And you know what? I hate not having pictures to go with my projects!

Okay, now that that's done with, let's have a look see at what I've completed in two days:

Thorpe, slightly modified. Which I love. It's so soft; made with mirasol miski baby alpaca and I love it. I put a little bit of color work into it because I got bored with plain stockinette, but it's not really a big deal.

Hannah, a pony-tail friendly hat that I'm not to pleased with because I should have known to add an extra button-hole repeat to make it long enough. I'm working out a way to fix it up. I look like a burglar in it, so I'm gonna spiff it up a little with some flowery embroidery of some kind. Daisy-chain flowers, most likely.

Clapotis. Only 2 repeats to go before I begin the Straight Rows section, yay! I'm getting surprisingly bored with this pattern. I'm dissapointed in myself. But never knit completely for the process of knitting; I greatly look forward to the finished project. And the yarn is just the color of dark denim which has been faded by some wear, so it looks ever so comfy.

Spinning. Well, I stayed up to late the past couple of nights to get to it. I got the stuff out, and then had to put it back because I was just too tired. It's not like I'm not thinking about it thought; I want to spin up a good, long, narrow single so that I can try Navajo plying.

Reading. I'm behind on my reading majorly. Hopefully I'll catch up today. Finished "A Distant Mirror" (Barbara W. Tuchman) today and am very glad that I read it. But my other reading has lapsed because of my knitting fanaticism. Also, my water-studies have lapsed. Oy.

Oh, well, it's Purim and there's no reason to be unhappy! We had hamenstashen last night (spelt, because my sister can't eat wheat) and read the Magila. Had tons of fun. The cookies were good, but they were a bit overdone (the recipe said 15 minutes; I cooked them for 15 minutes), so next time, I'll cook them a bit less.

Hopefully I'll get pix up soon. This is getting really tiresome, that I can't post them. Oh, well.

TTFN

Spinning

I've been spinning off-and-on for about...a year, I guess. I didn't really spin anything worthy of note until a couple of months ago. The reason? The stuff that I spun wasn't perfect, and I was convinced I was doing something wrong.

As it turns out, I was doing something wrong. I wasn't relaxed. Unless a person relaxes, one can't spin. At least, not enjoyably. The single, at first, doesn't have to be perfect. It'll be thick, thin, overspun, underspun, and everything in between. That isn't bad. In fact, experienced spinners, I've found out, often struggle to get that varied texture in order to create special yarns for specific projects.

So, I began to spin again, without getting uptight because the yarn wasn't consistent. I tried my best and, sure enough, my yarn got better as I went along--not near perfect, but better, smoother and more even.

My first single--which was probably between 20 and 30 yards (I didn't measure) was overtwisted and certainly uneven. I made a case for my mp3 player (a picture of which I will post tomorrow) and am very happy with it--proud of the fact that I spun my own yarn and knit with it.

Now, for my next feat, I will spin a pound (yes, a pound) of silk/mohair that I have and Navajo-ply it. 'Normal' plying doesn't sound near as appealing as using only 1 single to make a 3 ply yarn. Hopefully, it'll be easy enough to do on my spindle. There's no way on this earth that I could afford the lovely Ashfords and the like that are so tantalizingly sprinkled over the Internet.

So, tomorrow will be the day I begin spinning. Right now, I'm working on the 'increase' rows of my first Clapotis. I'm knitting it in a lovely denim-color multi sock yarn on size 6 needles. I want to get the increase rows done tonight so I can really see how wide it is going to be. The origonal pattern calls for worsted-weight yarn and size 8 needles. We'll see how it goes.

Well, it's off to ravelry and to see if the new Knitty has been posted yet.