Staying Warm

 Nasty winter weather almost everywhere you look, so it's a good time to make some cozy items. I'm working on (yet another) hand knit cowl, but that's for later. Right now it's mittens!

Like many others, I was amused by all the Bernie Sanders Inauguration ceremony memes, but what really catches a maker's eye are the hand-made mittens. There are patterns to sew them, and even patterns to knit them out there, so lots of choices. I decided to give mine a little luxury boost by making them out of an old cashmere sweater that I had previously felted for just such a moment. My original plan was to use the felted sweater for a hat, but as it was a cardigan there just wasn't enough material on the back piece to make the style I wanted and the fronts and sleeves were too narrow. Mittens, however, were an easy fit.

I used the Tova Mittens pattern from Johanna Lundstrom at The Last Stitch (just imagine the o of Johanna's last name has two little dots above it). Reasonably priced, and the instructions were very clear. Instructions are included for lining the mitts (as the Sanders inspiration mittens were), but I decided to leave mine unlined. I hope to wear mine for walks in the fresh air when the hazardous layer of ice melts from our sidewalks rather than extended wear in sub-zero temps, so a lining seemed unnecessary. I was also concerned that with the already bulky felted material it would just be too unwieldy for my machine.

And here they are: 

Like wearing soft baby kittens (without the sharp little claws and teeth)! A very good use for a sweater that had served me well, but had become just too ratty to wear or donate. 

In the pic they are resting on some Liberty sweatshirt fabric that really needs to be sewn up into a cozy top. Still searching through patterns for something that would work - stay tuned!

Knitting Takes the Lead

Once again I've gotten to the point in the sewing cycle when I have enough for the current season, and absolutely no motivation to sew for the season to come. It's OK, it happens -- I'll machine knit instead.

I started a cardigan last winter and then decided it wasn't what I wanted. Instead of unraveling right then and there and starting something different, I put it aside. That's normally the kiss of death for any of my projects, but I came across it this year and decided I liked the yarn too much to let it just sit. So I headed over to Knit It Now  and created a simple raglan pullover by putting in my gauge to a pattern template called Flirt. It's a nice benefit of membership -- there are many patterns which can be tailored to your size and gauge. I changed the pattern very slightly by ignoring the waist shaping, since I was after a boxier silhouette. And here it is:

The yarn is "Northfield" by Valley Yarns, 70%merino/20%baby alpaca/10%silk.

I used my plastic bed mid-gauge LK-150 for the knitting. The machine has no ribber, so the sleeve and hem ribbing was formed by re-latching stitches, and the neckband was knit by hand. People often ask "how long did it take?", and although I will probably never be organized enough to actually time myself, I can say I usually knit one piece of the garment per day and spend (at least) one day on sewing up and other finishing details. So, 5 days for this simple sweater. Not too bad -- it's an easy, no-stress pace, and for sure I couldn't hand knit it in that amount of time.

And here's a close up look at the neckline:

I also got a few pairs of socks done for Mr. Minglingyarn.  I use the Erlbacher Gearhart "Speedster" circular sock knitting machine for those. Although there is a ribbing attachment and various ribber dials available for this machine I use a simple hung hem for the top edge of the socks. When I first ordered the machine I thought I would first get proficient using it without the ribber and then invest in the additional pieces. That never happened as we discovered that hemmed socks work just fine for us. Made the correct size for the calf they stay up nicely. Since I don't knit them for sale I decided why not save that money spent on a ribber for yarn?  Works for me! 

He ended up with four pairs, but here's what one pair looks like:

And hand knitting was in the mix too. I finished up a previously shown Hitchhiker Beyond, and knocked out a Peu de Pluie Neckwarmer knit from yak hair.  No way I was getting a good photo of dark yarn on a dark, snowy day, but here's my attempt: 

I wanted a deeper neck than the amount of yarn I had would have allowed using the smaller size. So I fudged around with number of repeats for the various sections. My apologies to the designer, Anne Hanson, but needs must.

So, all in all a productive time. And perhaps in a few days I'll feel like doing some Spring sewing. I may have bought a few yards of fabric for just that very thing. 😀