Sunday, January 20, 2019

Warm Woolly Mittens

Of all the countless things I have knit 
over decades now as a passionate fiber artist,
 mittens and fingerless mitts
 continue to reign supreme
 as my heart of heart favorite yarn-y makes.
For one thing, I love to wear them.
As the Summer begins to fade into Autumn every year,
the very first thing to get cold is my hands and they remain
that way until an early Spring thaw occurs.
If they have cables worked into them,
like this big chunky horseshoe cable in the pair of
 Cranberry Red mittens I'm wearing in the top photo,
or in the Cream pair I have on in the picture below,
then I am usually more inspired to knit them and down right 
excited about adding them to my own Fall/Winter wardrobe.
Both pairs are currently for sale on my shop 
and you can see the details or purchase either pair
 by clicking the individual link
I've provided for each color.
When Winter's at her coldest,
 snowing and blowing and lashing out at us,
these are the mittens to snuggle into!
They're thick and warm for playing in the snow or taking a brisk walk. 
You'll be able to stay out a little longer to build a snowman
 or catch snowflakes on your tongue
 when you're wrapped up in this cozy lamb's wool blend.
From a knitter's standpoint, these are big needle knitting at its best!
Although this pair of mitts is fingerless and has no thumb worked into them,
they continue to be a favorite item for me to knit
 and a popular one with my customers.
This is the classic braided looking cable
 that typically comes to mind when we think of cable knits.
 It's worked over eight stitches using a Heavy Worsted Weight Yarn.
The yarn I usually use for these mitts is Knit Picks City Tweed.
You can see some examples of them made in that beautiful fiber here.
This time I chose Wool of the Andes Superwash Bulky
in this gorgeous color Fjord Heather and White.
Although it's categorized as a "bulky" weight yarn,
it really does not seem much heavier to me than the City Tweed.
This pair is a custom order for someone very special in California
 who has a birthday coming soon and loves this color.
 She doesn't live in the frozen tundra like some of us do
 so a bit of wool covering her hands and wrists
 with her fingers and thumbs still free to move about
 is going to be exactly the thing!
The final pair of mittens I'll show you today
 are knit on much finer weight yarn with US size 2/2.75mm DPNs
 and have much more intricate cable work involved.
They are an absolute favorite of mine!
So much so that this is the second time I have made them.
 I made the first pair for myself in January 2018 in grey,
which you can read about in this post.
As it turns out, you'll see I was also working on a pair
 of the chunky cabled fingerless mitts
last January for a custom order.
 It seems that my new year has started off the same.
I wonder if I'm stuck on repeat in some alternate knitting universe.
I guess we will have to wait twelve months to find out...
As I said in a recent post, I love tiny needle knitting.
Sometimes the end result is worn over your palm instead of held within it.
Either way, there's a place deep in my soul that calls me back to it time and again.
When a pattern requires the use of a cable needle,
I am definitely drawn to it with a force that's nearly magnetic.
 If said pattern just happens to be a pair of mittens...
well now...
my heart skips a beat.
If you would like to see my pattern notes on all three
you can find them by viewing my love knitting profile.

"Once upon a time,
there was a little girl who wore a pair of
 warm, woolly red mittens,
in her soul lived the spirit of giving."

from
The Red Mittens
by
Jaime Sommers

4 comments:

  1. Hi Danette, all of your mittens look beautiful and cozy! Back in Ukraine where I grew up, we had harsh winters and it was my mom knitting mittens. But now we live in Northern California, so we never have to wear mittens. We are blessed with beautiful mild winters here.
    Thank you for stopping by my blog and such sweet comment! It means a lot to me!
    Sending you hugs and sunshine from California.

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  2. I can't even imagine the harshness of a Ukrainian Winter Olga! I bet your Mom kept her mitten knitting going nonstop!!! What a change for you to live in warm, sunny, beautiful California now :) I'll take those hugs My Friend.
    I love your beautiful blog and that you are now doing videos of your lovely crochet.

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  3. Cabled mittens, always I Love a good pair of cabled mittens, those are all so wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me TOO My Friend!
      I'm wondering if you've found your lost one...?
      Crossing my fingers for you!

      Delete

Thank you for taking time to chat with me ~
Your comments make me so Happy!
Have a lovely day.
Danette