Possessed to Knit

Flint Mittens Completed

These are the sample mittens I knitted for Jared Flood for his recently published BT Fall 11 collection.  The yarn is Shelter in the Fossil and Embers colorways.  I used size 2.5 mm needles for the inner cuff and size 3.5 mm needles for the rest of the mitten.  I especially liked the clever thumb gusset increases.  I'm not fond of the fit of an "after thought" thumb and find this thumb to be very comfortable.  The Latvian braid makes a beautiful edging with the gently rounded cuff.  The palm has a nice texture to it and there are lots of cables to keep it fun.  This is a delightful project, just in time for holiday knitting.

Spiderman Mittens Completed

My nephew, Joshua, turned 6 years old yesterday.  Last Saturday, I decided to knit him a pair of mittens to match his Spiderman hat.  These are the "We Call Him Spidey" mittens, a free pattern on Ravelry.  The original pattern has an afterthought thumb.  I prefer a "sore" thumb, so I added a gusset and redesigned the thumb.  I used my purpleheart Darn Pretty Dpns and they are slightly smaller than 2.75 mm in diameter.  The yarn is Knit Picks Stroll Sport in Winter's Night, Hollyberry, and Black.  The stitch gauge is about 7.5 sts to the inch.  Now Joshua has a matching hat and mittens to wear for the rest of the winter.

Woodruff Mittens Completed

Designer Jared Flood has recently launched his wonderful artisan yarn, Shelter.  I took two of Jared's classes in May and he invited me to test knit a few projects with his new yarn.  I love Jared's patterns.  With many patterns, I have to incorporate my preferred techniques into the design.  Jared does this himself and even explains the method to his madness in his well-designed patterns.  I have had knitting students ask me when I think about how I will work the finishing on a garment and I always tell them that I think about it before I even cast on.  Clearly, Jared creates his patterns with efficient finishing techniques in mind making, them a joy to knit.  He also has these magical blocking wires that transform my knitting into lovely handknit accessories.

These are the Woodruff mittens knit in the Faded Quilt colorway on size 7 needles (and they look even nicer after he blocked them).  I used the Magic Loop and grafted the top of the mittens in the broken rib stitch.  I also knitted the Wayfarer Scarf in the Sap colorway and the Guernsey Wrap in the Soot colorway.  He cleverly designed this yarn from scratch and created beautifully vivid colors with more to come.