FO: Kissing Koi mittens

It's April, I wanna make more mittens!



Am I the only one who gets kind of nostalgic for the chill of fall when spring arrives?  Yes, probably.  And realistically, it's just a passing emotion for me, as I do love the warm sun and the beach and outdoorsy things.  Still, the long days and thawing of the earth is somewhat sad because it means I should probably stop making heavy mid-winter knitwear.

NEVER! says I.  I will sit there in the park on a sunny day making dastardly winter wear no matter how hot it gets.  As an aside, everyone here says they don't get much of a summer anyway.  You'll be wearing tights and a cardi with that cute summer frock regardless of the the calender.

Honestly though, I think it's time to get out the linen and cottons and whatnot and at least do one summery project before the days shorten and a protective coating of knitwear is once again standard gear, and all of those who rolled their eyes at me purling away on a pair of socks in July will start wishing they had the foresight to be nicer to me as they lose all feeling in their extremities.

I've been slightly obsessed with colorwork mittens lately.  To me, they are perfect...they take a bit of time and concentration to get through, but they make fantastic gifts.  While I wouldn't be keen to do an entire sweater with fish or snowflakes or wolves or whathaveyou, mittens are the perfect vehicle to put your spirit animals on display.



I have a fascination with goldfish, especially the fancy, fin-bedazzled kind.  Except every time I've kept a fish tank, I've had dreams that the goldfish have tried to kill me.  I no longer try to keep fish of any kind because of this.  Totally irrational, but it's hard to wake up in the morning and throw some fish flakes to these little monsters when you are convinced they are going to slit your throat in your sleep.

Still...there's something just so peaceful about watching goldfish.



Or is there?  (cue music from Psycho)



Yarn is Knitpicks Palate in Bittersweet Heather and Cornmeal.  Palate is awesome for colorwork based on the sheer number of colors available.  It's not incredibly soft, but it's good, utilitarian, fingering-weight yarn.  Pattern is Kissing Koi Mittens.  The only mods I made was starting the decrease shaping early on the mitten tops; as written I thought they were a little to blunt.

FO: Snowflake Mittens

Hey now, it's springtime.  I should get some mittens on.



I don't know what inspired me to make such wintry-themed mitts so late in the season- maybe it was east-coast empathy!, but, eh.  There's always the sunny optimism of  next year's winter, and I will always have friends with cold hands.



The yarn is KnitPicks Palate, a fingering-weight rather affordable wool yarn that comes in many, many colors.  The pattern was also from KP, although, I can't recommend it highly.  The adult sizes run so small that I had to go up three needles sizes from the recommended gauge just to be able to get a good-sized mitt happening.  Still, they are pretty and worth the effort.



I love the wintry colors.  Those are words no one has ever said in March ever.  

FO: Mittens to Sink yer Teeth Into

Je vis! Happy September! I'm back from a hectic but fun past couple of weeks. I have lots and lots of pictures to sort through from my travels, and even more adventures to plan in the coming months.

First, here's something fun I finished more than a month ago:

Wolf mittens! There has been somewhat of a fascination with wolves on garments for the past few years. What started out as satire has become a coveted clothing item, and we've been seeing loads of wolf shirts in Paris this season. None of them are as awe-inspiring as what you can find at the street fairs in Brooklyn. The annual Bay Ridge street fair is still the place to get your classy howling wolf shirts, but there is also a tendency in Paris for all things dream catcher as of late, so I have high hopes that one day Eurofashion will catch up.

What could be better than wolves howling at the northern lights? Nothing. Go ahead, try to argue your point. You lose.

Throw a wolf on anything and you are an instant bad-ass.

This came from a KnitPicks kit called the Winter Woodland Mittens that I impulsively bought ages ago, which gives you enough yarn to make 6 pairs of mittens. While the color combinations caught my eye, the patterns are kind of sloppily thrown together. Even though I got gauge, I ended up having to go up 3 needle sizes and adding extra stitches at each edge to get these to fit my rather average sized hands. Except these are were supposed to fit larger hands than mine. More stitches were added, for a total of 8, which is why they have a black boarder around them. So I'm kind of bummed that the patterns, as written, will only make a child-sized pair of mitts and I know few children in cold enough climates to actually have the need for double-thick mitts.

Also, the thumbs...they look a little wonky, but since taking the pictures I ripped them back and finished them after re-charting the pattern to accommodate more stitches since they were super tiny and cutting the circulation off to your most important digit otherwise. Although, not having a thumb just means you are more wolf-like than anyone else, and gives you license to pee on any tree anywhere at anytime. Design flaw or feature?

I actually made these to be worn in Norway as I was scared to death about how cold it might be. While knitting these at the height of our short Parisian summer was a little gross, I was happy that these were not needed on our summer vacation, and they are safely tucked away until we get real wintery weather.