Hodgepodge Mittens for Meghan

Here's a Christmas 2013 project that never got a blog post: Hodgepodge Mittens for my sister. 

This was my favorite pattern from Holla Knits Accessories last year, since I love colorwork mittens. So cozy and so entertaining to knit! I knew my sister would dig them, too, in a nice, neutral color palette. And look! They matched her post-Christmas outfit perfectly. 

I knit them pretty much as written, using Magic Loop. I stopped a few rows before the end of the chart because my sister (and I) have small hands. It worked well to try them on as I went and adjust accordingly. I loved the easy 4-stitch pattern repeat and simple color scheme. They look great finished, but weren't too crazy-making while knitting. 

My sister got married in June, and a few months before the wedding, I was sitting at my desk, thinking about how things were going to change within our family. Meghan and Jeff, her new husband, have been together for 10 years, so I wasn't really worried until I realized: Meghan and I would not be waking up together on Christmas morning, like we had since we were old enough to sleep in our own beds. It brought tears to my eyes to think about! Who knew, that at age 30, I'd still have some "growing up" to do?

Falling Leaves Mittens

Yay, I can post pictures of all my holiday gift knitting! Hope you enjoy, and leave links to your holiday projects in the comments for me to look at, too! 

Gifted to: Allyson, although when I started this, I didn't know that they would be for her! However, when I was done, I knew that I wanted to give these colorwork beauties to someone who would really appreciate them, and needed something extra special this Christmas. I guess I started a lot of projects this year without knowing who'd they would go to! 

Pattern: Woodland Winter Mittens, by Kerin Dimeler-Laurence. 

Yarn: Knit Picks Palette in 7 colors. The yarn and pattern came as part of a kit that I received for Christmas in 2011. There's colorwork charts that correspond to the months October through March, and enough yarn in the kit to make 6 pairs of mittens. That's a lot of fiddly colorwork mittens, so I'm proud to have finished at least one pair in 2012! 

Needles: Size 2 circs with a 40" wire for magic loop. These would be super annoying on DPN's. 

Modifications: The pattern recommends a size 1 needle, but after I swatched, I realized my gauge was way off. And I'm not the only one - countless others on Ravelry said that they went up one or even two needle sizes in order to get mittens that fit. Part of that is the tiny needles - but the pattern is also written very small. These mittens were fitted on me (and Allyson), and I have tiny hands. I think I'll try knitting the next pair on a size 3 needle and see how it goes, or add a border of extra background stitches.

I also added 4 more stitches to the thumb, which was worryingly small, and just worked those extra 4 stitches in the background color around the thumb pattern. 

Watched While Knitting: Season 1 of Friday Night Lights. Everyone's been talking about this show for years, and I was all like, "Yeah, but I don't like football!" I'm dumb - this show is awesome. The camera work and characters are both equally amazing, and I think now that the holidays are over (I go crazy for Christmas movies), Chris and I will watch more. 

Happy Birthday, Mamma!

My mother's birthday was last Friday, so I took a break from working on my 3rd Holla Knits design to whip up a pair of mitts for her. 

I made a pair of these at Christmas for myself, and I loved the pattern (Susie's Reading Mitts) so much that it's become my new go-to. The yarn is Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd's Wool, and they turned out beautifully. 

Now if the temperature drops below 90 degrees, she'll be able to wear them!

72 Mini Mittens!

I've finally finished all the mittens. 

Three sets of 24 mini mittens each for me, my sister and my sister-in-law to hang up as garlands or advent calendars come December. I finished late Monday night, which makes for some moody nighttime photos of the finished mittens. I know it's been awhile since my last mitten update, but it's been rough pushing through to the end of this project. The last 24 mittens felt like 2400 mittens, but I finished! 

And my sisters love their's, so I'm happy!

Bella's Mittens = cozy.

I've been going to town on my selfish knitting. 

Check out my modeling skills with Bella's Mittens. I knit these mid-way through Mary Lou's Christmas Cardi (I needed a breather), and I am sooo happy with them. 

They knit up fast with Lamb's Pride Bulky and they're the perfect thing to wear with vintage coats. Those "bracelet length" sleeves can leave a wrist out in the cold if your mittens aren't long enough!

Meghan's hat & mittens

When my family came to visit for Thanksgiving, my sister wore a hat I knit her for her birthday in January 2009. I only had one measly WIP picture of the hat, and asked her to take some more of her modeling it.

She agreed, but told me, "I need some mittens to match!" I asked her what kind she wanted - gloves, mittens or fingerless gloves?

She responded that she would like the kind of mittens where the top folds over so they can be fingerless gloves. Otherwise known as the most difficult type of mittens. 

I started with a pattern that matched her hat - BonBons - and modified it. I made the cuff longer, closed the thumb and added the flap over the fingers. I winged it with the flap, picking up stitches on the back of the hand and using even decreases with the cable pattern. There's a loop at the top so they can button back to the wrist.

The hat, by the way, is the Slouchy Copy Cat and both are knit in Wool-Ease.

So it only took two years, but now she has a matching set!

planning my selfish knitting

So after I catch up on my Christmas knitting, I have a few selfish projects in mind.

First up, a pair of Bella's Mittens, knit from subliminalrabbit's pattern. When I pulled out all my long gloves in December, they were completely worn through, and they had already been mended and then worn through the mending! So if you ask me, it's time for new ones. I bought some bulky Lamb's Pride for these in Denver, so I'm ready to roll.

Next, a Beatnik.

This was my very favorite pattern from Knitty. Honestly, I haven't really been inspired to knit any of their patterns in a long time, but this one is perfect. Challenging but hip with a great neckline. And then Allyson from The Sweatshop of Love announced that she was doing a knit-along... I'm in, albeit I'll be casting on a little late. They started Monday, but I'll probably join in two weeks or so. I have faith I can catch up!

And lastly, I got a Sock Cocktail Kit for Christmas. Don't stone me here, but I don't really like to knit socks. But this winter, all that will change. Or I'll have a lot of left-over sock yarn. 

a set of three matching mittens

After seeing a post from Katie, I had to make a pair of simple mittens like hers. I wasn't sure who they would be gifted to, but then I had an idea...

A set of three matching mittens for my sister-in-law and my two nieces! 

Black & Lace

I'll tell you what's hard to take a picture of - anything that is black and lacy and hand knit. Unfortunately this Christmas I knit two presents that were both black AND lacy, so bear with me. 

The first was the Foliage Lace Mitts that I made for my friend Kathryn (rav). I hit up Joann's for yarn and found that Vanna's Glamour was a good substitute. This yarn is FANCY, people. It's glittery! If you click on the picture you can see it close up and you can tell which part is lace and which part is glitter.

check out my hand modeling!

The pattern is lovely and simple (and free!), with an easy lace pattern and it only used one ball of the Glamour. I had a little issue - mainly knitting two right hand mitts, but that was completely my fault. That's what I get for furiously knitting without paying attention.

Then I knit my Mom a Talia sweater vest (rav). I absolutely loved knitting this sweater. I used the recommended Lamb's Pride Worsted in black, and it was awesome and a bit fluffy. 

I knit this in a whirlwind right before Christmas, but - remarkably - didn't have any problems. The bottom and center panels are lace and pretty easy to memorize, and other than that there is some simple shaping. I only used 2 skeins of Lamb's Pride as well, so I have a whole skein left over. After I finished it, I tried it on and it was very flattering... I kinda wanted to keep it. But I didn't, as evidence by the photographic evidence above!