Lithuanian Ribby Mittens

This pattern is the result of Robin Hansen reverse engineering a pair of mittens found in a museum shop in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Her personal contacts reveal that this is a common style of mitten among Lithuanian knitters. They are knit from worsted weight yarn using size US1 needles to achieve a gauge of 7-9 stitches per inch despite the textured fabric. I found knitting this needle/yarn combination more difficult than I expected; it was hard on my hands and shoulders as well. At least the weather is still wintery here, so I can enjoy wearing them in the snow.

Pattern: Lithuanian Ribby Mittens, from Ultimate Mittens by Robin Hansen
Yarn: Cascade 220, in gray (MC) and red (CC)
Needles: US1
Modifications: see below.

I did not intend to modify the pattern, but I found the instructions difficult to follow and somehow wound up with three extra stitches after the thumb gore. The mitten top and thumb turned out too long and pointy for my taste, so I flattened them by knitting a round of k2tog, a round of k, another round of k2tog, another round of k before pulling the remaining stitches together. I also offset the thumbs enough to create right and left mittens.

They fit perfectly but felt stiff and bulky. After a warm bath, they softened up but also grew a bit, so now feel too large. I wore them to shovel snow and despite the tight stitching, they did not seem to be warmer than other mittens I have knit. Through regular use, they should felt a bit, which will tighten them up.

Past Peak mittens

When I purchased the yarn I used for these mittens, I thought the tag read "Past Peach" for the colorway. It was August, peach season, so this sort of made sense to me. More recently, "peach" seemed too long, so I thought maybe it said "Past Pear". That made less sense. With autumn upon us, however, the colorway became obviously "Past Peak" as the green leaves gave way to gold and red and orange, fading to brown. I could not find the designer anywhere online, so I'm guessing she gave up her hand dyed yarn business.

Pattern: Basic Mitten by Ann Budd
Yarn: Vermont Farmhouse Designs worsted in "Past Peak" colorway
Needles: US7
Modifications: Used a ribbed version of a long tail cast on; fiddled with the thumbs to make them less pointy

If I were to knit these again, I would go down a needle size, as the fabric really relaxed after a warm bath (sort of like I do). Apparently, I didn't notice this when swatching, although if I had, I might have adjusted the stitch count up, in which case I would be in the same place.

OMG! These mittens are SO warm!

I started these mittens over a year ago, reached the point where all that remained was to knit the second thumb, and stopped. If memory serves me (a big IF these days), I struggled through the first thumb, then there was a tear in the fabric of the space-time continuum. Suddenly, almost fifteen months had passed. What possessed me to finally finish these? Your guess is as good as mine.

But finish them I did, and today, when the temps were in the single digits and the wind chill WAY below zero, was I glad. That wind chill did not penetrate the fabric AT ALL. Me thinks all future mittens will be double knit, one way or another. (Except the current pair I am working on for g'daughter - one is done and I'm not redoing it.)

Pattern: The Red and the Black, by Laura Ricketts
Yarn: Cascade 220, in gray and black (colorway numbers unknown - this was leftover yarn)
Needles: US5
Modifications: Not intentionally. The two thumbs do not match, nor are they the same length. Thumb #1 is not according to the pattern, and I chose not to reknit it. I did reknit thumb #2 and still it came out the wrong length. Wabi sabi.

These mittens were my first (and not very colorful) foray into colorwork. I am particularly proud of the floats (although I have to be careful not to snag them with a thumb nail). I assume the mitts will felt a bit with use, and then they will be perfect.

Warm hands, warm feet

That should be the new motto for knitters. Mittens and socks for little ones are fairly quick projects, and since little ones grow, mittens and socks are in frequent demand.

Pattern: Basic Mitten Pattern, by Ann Budd
Yarn: Cascade 220, colorway 9478 (I'm on a fiber diet, so I stole the yarn from a UFO)
Needles: US7
Modifications: None

Question: When a pattern says to do something like "increase every x rows until stitch count reaches y", what do you do when you reach the stitch count? Do you knit the extra rows before continuing or do you just carry on with the next instruction? Inquiring minds want to know.

Laura Ricketts came to town

Indiana is a state most travelers pass through on their way somewhere else. Fort Wayne is even more so. Consequently, when someone worth seeing hits town, you go, because unless it is B.B. King, the opportunity might not come this way again.

Even though I had never heard of Laura Ricketts, her encounters with the Sámi people and her efforts to collect their mitten patterns sounded interesting. Last night I attended the talk sponsored by Knitting Off Broadway.

Laura's presentation included a slide show, a description of her recent journey through Sápmi (a.k.a. Lapland), and a pile of mittens she had knitted using the designs she collected along the way. As intriguing as the mittens were, after a while my eyes glazed over. I wish I could take the class she is offering tomorrow, to learn more about the actual techniques, but it's full. Maybe next time.

As she talked, Laura mentioned this knitting museum and that folk art museum, which gave me pause. When I travel, I frequently check out local yarn stores, but it hasn't occur to me to look for museums that specialize in fiber arts. I don't need more yarn or roving, but I could certainly learn something new by visiting these places, especially if my trip can coincide with a class or workshop. Must make note to self.

Baby needs a new pair of mittens

It still is not very winterlike around here - a bit of snow here and there, but its not sincere - but it still became obvious that Toddler N needed some mittens. So while she napped, I whipped out these:

In the pink!

Pattern: Child's Mitten
Yarn: Wool-Ease, I think, left over from who knows what
Needles: US3 DPNs
Modifications: None

With toddlers, you never know what they will like and what they won't like, but she seems to like all her grandma knits.

Ready for Rhinebeck!

I have not knit her any socks beyond the infant ones she rapidly outgrew, but I'm sure that will change.

Cool but Not

This winter, every time I crammed my hands into the mittens I bought to go with my faux suede coat, I wished for new ones. And now that I have them (courtesy my own DPNs), we are having another January thaw.



It won't last, though.



So I made myself a hat as well.



Pattern: Chunky Winter Set from The Knitter's Book of Yarn
Yarn: Cascade Jewel Hand Dyed in color #9887
Needles: US5 for the mittens, US8 for the hat



This yarn is a single ply "thick/thin" Peruvian wool that is rather inelastic, which I find difficult to knit - my hands get tired. The patterns are your standard mitten and hat patterns, quick to knit. I mixed the sizing for the mittens, casting on for a women's, but using the lengths for a men's - I have large hands but they are not "man hands" - and they took exactly one 100g skein. The hat is the men's size (large feet, large hands, large head) and it used about three-quarters of a skein. I'm happy with the results.

And now, to catch up with photos:

Here is the Noro Kureyon from Sarah Jane's that is destined to become a pair of Maine Morning Mitts.



One of the more sedate color combos, #215. (Don't you wish everyone would name the colorways?)

My order from Webs arrived, with the Art Yarns for Thuja socks. Color #119. *sigh*



I could not resist starting the socks last night. The pattern is a seed stitch rib, which of course does not show up very well in this photo.



And, finally, the Jaywalkers I started while waiting for the Art Yarns.



Tonight my daughter wore her Jaywalkers to yoga. Nice socks!

Frustrated Bloggee

Where I work, there are Internet security features in place that vary from month to month. I think what happens is, there is a virus alert and access to just about anything is clamped down. Then those with clout start complaining and things loosen up bit by bit, until the next alert. The upshot of this is, while I currently can read blogs at work (only during my free time, of course!), I cannot view photos that are in Flickr or PhotoBucket, nor can I post comments. By the time I get home, after spending the day on a computer, I am not too keen on more computer time, so I feel like quite a blog lurker. I try to catch up a bit on weekends, but, well, you know, life (and knitting) interfere.

Knitting like finishing the red-red-red sweater. Friday night I actually finished the knitting portion (ends remain to be woven in and the armpits need closing), but am still unsure about the snood-hood thing. It looks like a third arm. So Friday eve I wore the sweater around the house. The snood-hood is a nice feature... if you are outside. Inside, it has to be rolled up, so then it looks like a combination donut-cowl neck thing. This was okay until I had a hot flash. Yikes! So now I am debating removing the snood-hood and just having a funnel neck. Maybe I will wear it some more around the house today, before deciding. Or ask my fashion consultant, aka daughter. She has no qualms about telling me if something does not work.

Meanwhile, after the alpaca-as-sock-yarn fiasco, I got to wondering about the yarn I purchased for mittens. The yarn is distributed by Cascade and the label says "Jewel Hand Dyed". (It also says "avoid exposure to direct sunlight" which leaves one wondering about the dyes and dye methods used.) Examining the yarn, one sees that it is what Clara Parker calls in her Knitter's Book of Yarn a "thick/thin single". So what's it good for? Well, turn the page and one will find a pattern for a "Chunky Winter Set" using thick/thin single yarn! So I am in the middle of knitting the mittens, and loving them. (BTW, there is an error in the mitten pattern: row 1 of the gusset should include a M1 after the first pm.)

(Does anyone else have trouble getting mittens to come out the same size? Has anyone tried knitting two mittens at a time on circular needles? I have Knitting Circles around Socks from the library and am wondering if the same technique would work with mittens.)

I made another stop at Sarah Jane's Yarn Shoppe Saturday. This time the store was pleasantly busy, with a class meeting on the couches by the fireplace and a few women running back and forth between Sarah Jane's and the Bead Source next door. I was able to peruse the shelves in a more leisurely fashion and ended up buying a skein of Noro Kureyon for a pair of Maine Morning Mitts.

More news: I joined Ravelry. Or at least, I applied. We shall see how long it takes.

And I am now in the Knitting Bloggers ring! All I need to do is figure out how to get the button graphic to appear. Are there other knitting rings you would recommend?

Step Away from the Yarn

Bad knitting day yesterday. The mittens are not the same size, but I can't tell if it is because I have stretched the first one a bit or if I really cramped up while knitting the second one. And I have cast on sock #1 of the Undulating Rib Socks several times and I'm still not happy with it, plus the shades-of-tan colorway looks very pink when knitted up, not very manly for my SO. After all this angst, I was afraid to pick up the red-red-red sweater, so I watched a movie instead, "Mostly Martha," which has a surprisingly G-rated love scene: everything is left to the imagination.

One of the purchases I made the other night was a skirt that just cries for a pair of black boots. The problem is, I wear only Earth Shoes (my back loves that negative heel) and while some stores carry a few styles, I usually have to order them online. That's not the problem, though. The problem is I have big calves and most boots do not fit me. Planet Shoes provides free shipping on returns, but I wish they would publish the dimensions of their boots, circumference and height. Then I could order with more confidence.

Hot Water

The installation of the hot water heater went without a hitch. Turns out I had replaced it just in time, as some valve was starting to leak. The hot water heater and furnace are located in a large closet off my bedroom; I wish they were somewhere else in the house, like the garage, where leaks and other disasters would not be as big a problem. I looked into moving the furnace to the garage, but all the ductwork would have to be reversed. I did not know ductwork decreases in size the further from the heat source it goes, but it makes sense.

Still knitting sleeves, while pondering what to do to make the body more interesting but not too-too. Still knitting mittens, but should have them done today. Starting to meditate on how best to graph the two halves of the creamy lace shawl together.

Looking for a pattern for the Trekking XXL sock yarn I bought. I think I have settled on "Undulating Rib Socks" from Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave. This will be the first pattern I knit from this book, and already I am somewhat flummoxed by the directions. For one thing, it calls for knitting fingerling weight yarn on US3 and US4 needles. For someone who uses US1, this sounds like crazy talk. But I think I will use US1 on the ribbing at the top of the cuff (my ribbing tends to be a little loose), US2 for half the cuff, then back to US1 for the rest, just to see how it turns out.

I was in Eddie Bauer last night, desperately looking for some new clothes, when I noticed that all the scarves, hats, and mittens have a handknit look to them. Apparently, knitting is so "in" these days that even the store-bought knits resemble handmade!

Wrongway Peachfuzz

A family joke (one of many) is how I can't seem to go anywhere without making at least one wrong turn. In high school, we took a standardized test to measure what we were naturally good at, and I scored high on mechanical aptitude, and yet when turning something with my left hand, I have to make the corresponding twist with my right hand so I know which way to go. Or chant, "Righty tighty, lefty loosey." Now that I knit an above-average amount (the average knitter completes 8-9 projects a year - HA! I've knit more socks than that since March!), I find myself struggling mentally with the more-than-unusual garment construction techniques, like the Surprise Baby Sweater and the Pinwheel Sweater.

So, is it any surprise that I am having a hard time adjusting to being on the second floor at work? I think one problem is that there are a lot more floor-to-ceiling offices up here, which obstruct the over-the-cubicle view. But I have figured out that those offices are mostly toward the front of the building, so once I get past them, I generally can get my bearings. Still, I keep walking past my cubicle. I wish my spatial abilities were better.

Last night I shortened up the Lopi mitten, so now it fits perfectly. This morning, I cast on the second one and knit up ten rows while sipping coffee. Chunky yarn + small project = quick completion. I hope. Winter is coming.

Remember the vintage lace top I was whining about several months ago? I am trying to work up my courage to attack that once again. My recent lace work has given me a false sense of confidence.