FO Friday: Tauremorna Mitts

When I first started knitting, I thought fingerless gloves were one of the dumbest things ever.


I didn't understand why anyone would want a pair of gloves that doesn't cover their fingers. I live in Wisconsin, I understand cold temperatures and dressing for the weather, fingers are the part of the hand that get cold first. It didn't make sense to me.






Then I gave in and made a pair, just to see what the fuss was all about.







And I got it.




First, fingerless gloves are warmer than I thought. Not Wisconsin winter warm, warmer than I would have guessed. My understanding is that it has something to do with keeping your pulse points warm, but I'm not expert on that. They are perfect for the spring and fall months when it isn't warm enough for gloves or mittens, but still chilly on your bare hands.




The utility of having your fingers free should not be underestimated. Among other things, it is virtually impossible to securely fasten a carseat while wearing mittens.  For the super cold winter weather, I also have a pair of flippy top mittens for the same purpose.


I discovered another great use for fingerless gloves at work. They are fantastic to have for when the office is chilly. They keep your fingers warm while still allowing you to do everything you need to do to get work done. I keep my Zombie Doomsday mitts at my desk for that exact reason. They work so fantastically well, that my friend decided that she needed a pair, too.


If you know me at all, you know that I only knit for a select group of people. As one of my friends, and fellow knitters, likes to say


"Knitting for others is like sex, if I like you enough, it will be free. If I don't, you can't pay me enough to do it."


While the list of people isn't the same, I think that sums up the sentiment quite well.


Anyways, the friend that requested the mitts passed my requirements, and I agreed to make her a pair of fingerless gloves. The end result being these:

The pattern is called Tauremorna Mitts and they are knit in Malabrigo Yarn Mechita. Mechita is a Merino wool, so it is soft and squishy, and this color, English Rose, is tonal shades of pink. The design itself has a cable design on the top. All the cables are just a single stitch wide and done without a needle. They were an enjoyable knit, didn't take too long to complete, and probably only used about 1/2 of the 420 yard skein.

They were received with the proper accolades and a couple of days later, my friend sent me this:

So at least I know they are being used and appreciated.

Project Talk: I Love Deadlines

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."
                                                                                                                    (Douglas Adams)

First and foremost, anyone who is unfamiliar with the genius of British writer Douglas Adams, go and pick up a copy of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and read it.

Do it now. I'll wait.

Process vs. Product

I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again (and again), I'm a process knitter, not a project knitter. From what I've observed about knitting, most knitters fall into one of these two camps, though I think most are unaware that you can categorize knitters into these two types.


For me, it all comes down to a basic difference in knitting philosophy, a different reason for why we knit. I do not knit to make stuff, I knit for the enjoyment of knitting. I enjoy the click of the needles, the feel of the yarn, and the action of manipulating the yarn into little loops. The stuff that is created is an added perk, but not a reason to knit. It is all about the journey, not the final destination.


On the other hand, creating stuff is what it is all about for product knitters. After all knitting is a way to make stuff. I'm not saying that they don't enjoy knitting, it wouldn't make sense to knit if you didn't, but they enjoy the creation of a hand-knit item. The goal is to arrive at the destination. And in my experience, project knitters tend to complete more projects faster than process knitters.


Being a process knitter also explains some of my knitting habits to me. I don't mind having projects that sit on the needles for long periods of time, because it's not about getting the projects done. This is also why I have pieces that are almost finished sitting in a basket because they simply need to be assemble, or have ends woven in. I enjoy the process, but I don't necessarily enjoy the finishing work, and since I'm in no hurry to have a completed item, I don't mind letting the pieces sit. I'm pretty sure this is also why I'm not so good at knitting on a deadline.


However, despite of my love of the process, every once in awhile, a project gets in my head. I'll come across a pattern or design or idea, and it will become an obsession. I will toss everything else aside and focus solely on one project until it is done. It happened with my Llama hat, my Owls Pullover, and my Carry-All Tote.


But this is rare for me, up to today, it had only happened three times in years of knitting. But now, it has happened again. I was browsing patterns in the latest issue of the Twist Collective (an online knitting magazine) and came across a pattern that I knew that I had to knit, the Sheepcote Pullover. I can't explain it, it was love at first sight.


I saw the sweater, followed the link to the pattern, and printed it out. Then I spent time digging through my stash to see if I had yarn that would work (I didn't). Then I spent a good portion of the afternoon going back and forth. Logically, I knew that I should first knit with the yarn I have stored upstairs and not by new yarn. But that would mean putting this sweater on hold. I wrestled with myself for a long time, but finally gave in to my impulse. I ordered the yarn for this sweater. I also know that as soon as the yarn arrives, I will cast on and knit on it obsessively until it is complete. That's what happens.


In the end, it's not so bad. I'll have a new sweater to wear by the time sweater weather hits Wisconsin (probably before). And I fully intend to not buy more yarn before the end of the year. I know I have a good sized stash, and I should be able to knit from it for some time after this project. And I don't feel too bad about giving in to this urge, knowing that it most likely will be a long time before the next one hits (I hope, it hasn't been that long since I finished the Carry-All).


Because I know there is some obsessive knitting looming on the horizon, I am going to be working overtime on the Bridges of Roses socks, I've started on the leg of the first sock, so hopefully I can get it finished (especially as they are a birthday present for my mother-in-law, whose birthday was five days ago). I'd also like to get in some progress on the Mythos Cardigan, so here's hoping that shipping is slow!

Adventures in Sock Design: Episode Two- Off the Needles

Completed Socks

Success! I have Mom's birthday Green Bay Packer socks off the needle and presented to her on her birthday! My first pair of self-designed socks have been completed.






For the most part, I'm happy with how they turned out. But, of course, there are things I'd like to change, adjust, and try again. My main disappointment was the how the numbers on the heels turned out. Mom's a huge fan of Clay Matthews, hence the 52 on the heels. However, I assumed that placing the numbers centered on the heel flap would keep them high enough, but the bottom of the numbers wraps around to the bottom of the foot a little bit. That will need to be changed. I'd also like to revisit both the shape of the numbers and the G on the tops of the feet, they turned out okay, but they could look better. There's always room for improvement, right?


Despite the socks being completed, the design challenge isn't yet over. In addition to fine tuning the design features of the socks, I also need to translate the pattern from the pile of scribbled notes and charts into an actual written pattern. Since I was knitting on a deadline, I pretty much just took shorthand notes on what I was doing, which would be readable only to me, and only on a good day.


However, the socks were very well received. Mom immediately put the socks on and posted pictures onto facebook. Then, ignoring the fact that we live in Wisconsin and it was July, she wore the socks for the remainder of the evening (with an unmatching t-shirt and shorts, quite the fashion statement). That reaction is how people stay on the knit for list in my book.

Adventures in Sock Design: Episode One- A Bad Start

I've been knitting for some time now, eight years, give or take. During that time, I've tried my hand at designing some really simple projects, mainly iPod cozies, and modified some designs, like Sophie's Avatar inspired hoodie. However, I never really have tried to create something of my own design from the ground up.


For my first ground up design attempt, I'm doing something very familiar to me, socks. I've made lots of socks (lots of socks by my standards, not by a professional knitters standards) so I know the basic elements that go into the creation of a sock. I know roughly how many stitches to cast on, how to make a cuff, how to knit a heel flap, how to turn a heel, the amount of gusset stitches to pick up, and how to decrease for a toe. 


I've been wanting to design my own socks for awhile, but lacked that final kick in the pants motivation to actually start designing. My mom frequently requests socks from me, and her birthday is at the end of the month. So, a perfect chance to try my hand at designing.


Anyone who has met my mother knows, she is a huge die-hard fan of the Green Bay Packers. So what better for a birthday gift than a pair of Packer socks. Find some green yarn and some gold yarn, do a little stranded color work or striping, and easy-peasy a pair of socks.


Right?

The colors look better in real life!

Wrong. I should know by now, if something is easy in my head there is no chance that it will actually be easy. 




My first hurdle came in finding the correct color of sock yarn. I flipped through catalog after catalog and poured over websites with no luck. Anything I found in the right shade wasn't the right weight or was way too expensive. Finally I came across the Solid Series by the Loopy Ewe. This sock yarn comes in 90 different colors, including Kelly Green and Sunshine Yellow, which turned out to be the perfect colors that I needed. 

Inspiration Pile

I had my yarn, the next step was to pour over my resources for inspiration and ideas. I had an idea about what I wanted to do, but needed to look around and be sure. Armed with a clipboard and some knitter's graph paper (normal graph paper has squares, but knit stitches are not square), several patterns, and Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks for reference, I began to sketch, erase, doodle, and curse. 


I had my ideas, yarn, needles, and some scribbled notes that would start to serve as my pattern, I was ready to cast on. I cruised along through the first cuff, and a stripe and started on my first chart. That's when the next problem cropped up. When I cast on, I used 64 stitches, but for some reason my chart was based on 65 stitches. Some minor modifications and onward. The I realized that when following the chart, I needed to account for a cuff-down sock essentially coming out upside down. Another rip back and more modifications.


Then I started making real progress. I finished working the first chart and the next stripe underneath it. Then, I tried on the sock to check the fit (my mom and I have about the same sized feet), and couldn't get the sock past my heel. When working the stranded colorwork, I didn't think about stretching the float (the yarn carried behind the work) enough to account for the stretch of the knitted fabric. 


And now we're ripping it out and trying again.

Tunnel Vision Knitting

Currently, my knitting is focused on one thing, Sophie's birthday sweater. Progress is going good. I decided to switch from knitting in the round to knitting flat to make the colorwork a little bit easier. However, this means I will have to do more seaming. Knitting the front and back flat and the sleeves in the round is the current plan, but we'll see how it pans out. I've finished the front which, after ripping it out and starting over once, turned out pretty good in my opinion.



The three spirals are the symbol of the air nomads. The blue color is a little more purply than I would like, but is was the closest color I could find in the yarn line that I wanted to use. Ideally, I'd like to have the back finished by the end of the weekend. I think it should go faster than the front because instead of the spirals, there is only a single stripe running up the middle. This means taht I don't have to follow a chart. The ulitmate plan is to finish the entire project by the end of next weekend. Husband leaves for a golf weekend in Hayward on Thursday and alone time usually equals knitting time, but my mother has me playing in a golf tournament on Saturday. It's a fundrasier for breast cancer awareness and there is another non-golfer on the team, or I'd never be doing it.

Once finished with the sweater, it'll be back to work on the lily cardigan. I'd like to get that done, but I'm also itching to start some new projects. I'd really like to make a new purse. I've got the yarn and a couple of different patterns, but I really should finish the cardigan.

My portable project is a pair of socks, of course. I'm knitting them toe-up using the willow band stitch patter from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks and their for my sister. She picked out the yarn, Plymouth Happy Feet in shades of green and brown, when I was visiting her in Seattle. I'm a little worried, however, because the yarn is pooling in a way that almost creates a camouflage look. I'm not sure that sister is going to be pleased with the results. But I'll keep on working on them, and if she doesn't like them, I'll find somebody that does.