Bitten by the mitt bug

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I've been bitten by the fingerless mitt bug. Here's my current WIP. I'm trying to make fingerless mitts to match the Persephone Scarf. My first challenge is finding a suitable yarn for the mitt. The scarf was originally knit with Elann Highland Silk, a DK weight yarn. I couldn't figure out how to get the cable pattern to fit on a small mitt using the same yarn, unless the cable pattern wrapped around to the palm side. I wasn't sure whether the pattern would be as noticeable wrapped around the entire mitt, but maybe I'll try that in the future after I figure out how to get the cable pattern to appear just on the front side of the mitt.

Last year I made Vicki a Persephone scarf in dusky lavender color, using Elann Highland Silk. I went stash diving and found some Elann Baby Cashmere in the same dusky lavender color, this is fingerling weight yarn. I'm hoping that these mitts come out OK so that this can be a matching set. However it's slow going with a lot of trial and error, knit and frog, since I have very little mitt experience. I'm winging it in unfamiliar territory. Wish me luck!!!

Oh, I have to add that this is my first project using 2.75 mm (US2) size needles. This is the smallest size I've ever used. OMG, the knitting goes so slowly with such small needles! You knit so many stitches and have such little knitting to show for it. Fortunately cabling with such thin yarn is basically the same. :-)


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Warm Hands

Note:
1. More Free Patterns can be seen along the sidebar (on right side),
or you can use the Free Patterns label to view all posts.
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Note: I made a follow up version with thumbs, you can see it here:
http://smariek.blogspot.com/2008/02/warm-hands-warm-thumbs.html.

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Pattern: Warm Hands Fingerless Mitts
Yarn: Elann Highland Wool, Ruby, 1 ball
Needles: 4.5mm (US7)

As I sit in this cold house in the afternoons while Miss M "naps", I find that my hands get very very cold. After several days of this (or perhaps also the perceived cold from the 3 whammo storms we experienced last weekend), I decided that I must knit some fingerless mitts to keep my hands warm. A little something for added warmth while also allowing free use of my fingers. I didn't need anything fancy. I just wanted no-nonsense functional mitts. So these are as simple as they get. It's just a plain tube knit in K2P2 ribbing, with an opening for my thumb. Ribbing was the automatic choice for its snug yet stretchy fit. The thumb hole is pretty much made in the same fashion as the keyhole in Miss M's scarf, no real shaping, nothing fancy.

One mitt in the photo doesn't quite look like it's mate. That's because I was wearing the first mitt while knitting the second. So that first mitt got more stretched out than the second one which I hadn't worn before taking the photo you see above. My covered hand was very happy while I knit its mate. :-) I foresee myself making several of these as gifts since they are so quick and easy to make. And the K2P2 ribbing pattern makes it very easy to resize for larger or smaller hands. Miss M saw mine, tried to wear mine, and now wants her own, so I will be knitting a pair for her little hands too.

I knit these with Elann's Highland Wool yarn, which is listed as worsted weight but knits more like a very light worsted or maybe even DK weight for me. One ball is enough to make a pair of small mitts that fit my small hands. Mine are about 8 inches long, I wanted something a little longer to cover a good part of my wrist.

When you start this tube, it looks so small & narrow that you will start to wonder if it will even fit. K2P2 ribbing is pretty stretchy. After knitting an inch or so, you can slip it over you hands to check for sizing. You'll be surprised to find how much it can stretch!

Here's what I did to make my mitts, which fit my small hands:

Using 4.5mm needles, cast on 36 stitches, join into round.
Work K2P2 ribbing for 36 rounds. (about 6 inches)
Thumb hole round 1: K2, P2, Bind off 6 sts, P1, continue with * K2, P2 * to end of round.
Thumb hole round 2: K2, P2 Cast on 6 sts, P2, continue wit *K2, P2 * to end of round.
Work K2P2 ribbing for 10 rounds. (about 1.75 inches)
Bind off.

For the second, right mitt, I did the thumb hole rounds a little differently because I wanted the place where I joined the round to be situated on the palm side. I know these are reversible, it's just a quirk of mine because I can see where the join is so I don't want it on the top side. Most people wouldn't really notice where the join is situated though. I guess I'm just being anal.

Thumb hole round 1: * K2, P2 * until last 8 stitches, then Bind off 6 sts, P1.
Thumb hole round 2: * K2, P2 * until you reach the gap, then Cast on 6 sts, P2.

I have a quirk where I can't work the thumb hole opening on stitches at either end of a needle, they have to be somewhere in the middle. So for the left mitt, I worked the thumb hole on Needle 1 (first needle). For the right mitt, I worked the thumb hole on Needle 3 (last needle). I'm probably making this sound more complicated than it really is. All you need to do is bind off 6 stitches somewhere on the round, and then cast on 6 stitches over the gap on the next round. Easy peasy. I chose to bind off in a K2 P2 K2 section.

This mitt can easily be resized to fit a smaller or larger hand. Just cast on more or less stitches, as long as they are in multiples of 4 ... such as 32, 36, 40, 44, etc.

You can make these as long as you like. I knit mine for 6 inches before I made the thumb hole. You can knit more or less rounds of K2P2 ribbing to make these mitts as long or short as you like them to be.

You can choose how much finger coverage you want by knitting more or less rounds after making the thumb hole. I have small/short hands so I only knit for 1.75 inches past the thumb hole. Someone with longer fingers might want to knit a few extra rounds for more coverage.

Stitches used in these fingerless mitts include:
Knit-Two Purl-Two Ribbing, BW1 pg 39

Elann Highland Wool info:
Fibre Content: 100% Highland Wool
Made In: Peru
Care: Hand Wash/ Dry Flat
Gauge: 19 st/4 inches 4.0 - 4.5 mm (US 6-7)
Yardage: 100 m (109 yards)
Size: 50g (1.75 oz) ball
Price: $2.38 USD

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Last Sunset of 2007

Purple Phoenix pointed me to this slideshow of some awesome photos of the last sunset of 2007, all taken by various people from around the San Francisco Bay Area. She submitted 3 sunset photos. You can see the slide show at http://www.flickr.com/search/show/?q=sf2007sunset. Purple Phoenix submitted 3 sunset photos. She's becoming quite a good photographer, you can check out some of her photos here.

I finally worked up a little motivation after having frogged Mom's vest last month. It took me two tries before I could correctly cast on 92 stitches for this third try of knitting this vest. I can't explain how I started by casting on 98 stitches, then knitting 7 rows before I discovered the mistake. Did I forget to double check and count the stitches on the needle before starting?

This third try should (hopefully) be wide enough, however I'm not sure if the length will work out since I'm still getting 3.5 inches out of 20 rows of the block pattern. Same as in my second try. When I reached 3.5 inches of the first block pattern, I had to decide whether to stop there and move on to the second block pattern or to continue on for another 4 rows. I was afraid the latter might give me too much length. I guess I will just have to continue knitting and then see. With my luck I will end up frogging this back section again.

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Chemo Cap for Cap Karma

Here is another hat I made for Cap Karma. This will go to a local cancer patient.

Pattern: Utopia Hat

This is a lavender/purple hat. I love how stretchy this cable pattern is. It makes it very forgiving so that it can fit a number of different head sizes. This hat pattern seems to be a popular one, over 150 of these hats have been made by Ravelry members. The only change I made in this lavender version is that I changed S2TKP in decrease row 4 to SK2TP. I haven't decided which I prefer. Same shiskabob, different texture, I suppose. (I left the S2TKP as is in decrease rows 5 & 6).

There are different ways to change the finished size of this hat or to compensate for differences in yarn/needles/tension. For example:

-- Casting on more/less stitches in multiples of 24.
-- Choosing a needle size appropriate to the yarn you are using, +/- a size.
-- Working the K2P2 ribbing for more rounds.
-- Adding an extra repeat of the Lower Half Cable Pattern and/or the Upper Half Cable Pattern.

I should try knitting this pattern using some lighter weight (sport?) yarn to see how it comes out.

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First FO of 2008

Pattern: Small Arrow Cloth
Yarn: Sugar & Cream, hot pink
Needles: 4.5 mm

Is this bright or what? The color is "hot pink", and it certainly is!

I wasn't planning to knit this cloth again anytime soon but moved it up on my queue after seeing a comment someone left about pattern accuracy. I really didn't think anything was wrong with the pattern since I had seen other people knit this cloth (Lisa knit several, Jessica knit a couple, Mona, and Ally, for example, and even a scarf from the pattern). Despite this, I went ahead and knit this pink cloth using the instructions that were posted in this blog post (that is, not from my pattern notes/scribbles). The cloth came out well, as you can see from the photo above, and I managed to confirm that the posted instructions were indeed correct. The only change I made was to use a garter stitch border instead of seed stitch border, because I have since discovered that I prefer a garter stitch border with lace patterns.

So to those who were having difficulties with the pattern, all I can suggest is to mind your yarn overs because that's usually what screws things up with lace knitting (for me, at least).

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I must thank Debbie for helping me find a photo of the new Doctor Who scarf. The photo I previously found of David Tennant was apparently not the correct scarf. She pointed me to this discussion where a few more photos can be seen. This scarf looks like it would have wider appeal to the general masses, it would be something anybody can wear without looking too "geeky", and of course it would be so much easier to find a suitable yarn/color than the Tom Baker version. Looking at the scarf, it really doesn't look too difficult to try to reproduce. I can't wait for them to air this Doctor Who episode on the "peasant" cable channels; I don't have the premium cable package that comes with BBC America. :-(

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I've discovered that Hakucho has nominated me for this Friendship Award. How sweet! Thank you for thinking of me.

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I hope everyone is having a wonderful New Years Day. I am going to spend part of it knitting another chemo hat for Cap Karma. I need to catch up with the charity knitting this year. Since it is a cable hat, I'll be able to watch some TV too. It always makes me happy when I can kill two birds with one stone. :-) I just finished watching Helen Mirren in The Queen. I enjoyed the movie, however I'd have to say I really loved her in Elizabeth I. I think I'm finally able to see her and not automatically think of Jane Tennison, in her role in Prime Suspect. The next movie I have queued up is Marie Antoinette, of which I don't have high expectations. Who knows, perhaps it will surprise me.

Teatime... I'm drinking Stash Ginger Peach Green Tea. It's a refreshingly light tea. The ginger makes quite an impact at first, and then you taste the peach as an aftertaste.

Oh, I just noticed that I've had 986,581 visitors to my blog. I wonder what will happen after the counter reaches 999,999. Will it roll back over to 000,001? Guess I'll just have to wait and see...

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