• June 6, 2010

    Recycled Sari Silk Mittens (or as I like to call them Happy Hippy Mittens)

    In my last post, I talked about the recycled sari silk mittens I was working on. I finished them tonight, and figured I’d write up the pattern here. Even though it’s a really basic mitten pattern, its nice to have someone else figure out all the math stuff for you. I looked for patterns to use this ball of yarn so I could admire all of its colours and textures, but came up short. Unless I liked drop-stitch scarves (which I don’t, all that loose yarn makes me anxious), or had just a bit more yarn to knit a bag (that I probably would not use, so that would be a waste), there just was’t much out there. So I decided to use it to knit my favorite thing, mittens! Mittens are a little bit of an unconventional use for this sort of yarn. It’s not really stretchy or particularly soft and fuzzy (although a bit of washing with a gentle conditioner goes a long way!), and some people find it really difficult to work with. Maybe it is the particular brand, (Darn Good Yarn Wild Peacock Recycled Silk), but this stuff knit up really well. And quick! Because it’s so chunky they knit up crazy fast, and only took a few hours per mitten. Sure they are not warm fuzzy wool mittens, but think of how much more positive your outlook will be on a cold February morning when you are wearing such colourful and exotic mittens! Like their yarn’s namesake, they look like vibrant peacocks strutting their stuff. No one is going to be mistaking these mitts for their Thinsulate flip top mittens. Anyways, on to the pattern.

    Happy Hippy Recycled Sari Silk Mittens

    Yarn:
    Darn Good Yarn Wild Peacock Recycled Silk     (or any chunky recycled silk yarn) The ball is 155 meters (or 170 yards), and I would say each mitten used about a third of it.
    Needles:
    Size 8 (5.0mm) double-pointed needles
    Gauge:
    17 rows and 14 stitches in a 4 by 4 inch square
    Size:
    Finished mitten is 9 inches long and 3 3/4 inches wide, it’s on the larger side of medium
    Note:     In the shaping of the thumb gusset, when I say M1, I mean make or increase however you feel comfortable, as long as it does not make a hole. I KFB’d (knit into the front and back of one stitch). For more information on increases look here. And here are decreases for good measure.

    Pattern:

    Cuff:
    Cast on 21 stitches and divide equally between 3 needles
    Knit 10 rows
    This will give you a cuff of about 1 1/2 inches, if you want a larger cuff, just knit a few extra rows.

    Shape Thumb Gusset:
    K10, M1, K1, M1, K10 (23 stitches on needles)
    Knit one row
    K10, M1, K3, M1, K10 (25 stitches     on needles)
    Knit one row
    K10, M1, K5, M1, K10 (27 stitches     on needles)
    Knit one row
    K10, M1, K7, M1, K10 (29 stitches     on needles)
    Knit two rows
    K10, put 9 stitches on holder or waste yarn, k10 (20 stitches     on needles)

    Body:
    Right mitten: M1, K10, M1, K10 (22 stitches on needles) Left mitten: K10, M1, K10, M1 (22 stitches on needles)
    Both mittens: Knit 17 rows
    Top:
    K2tog, K7, SKP, K2tog, K7, SKP (18 stitches on needles)
    Knit 1 row
    K2tog, K5, SKP, K2tog, K5, SKP (14 stitches on needles)
    Place 7 stitches on each on two needles and bind off using kitchener stitch
    Thumb:
    Pick up 9 stitches from waste yarn, as well as one from each side of the inside thumb (11 stitches)
    Knit 10 rows. In the first row knit the two picked up stitches together (10 stitches)

    K2tog, K1, SKP, K2tog, K1, SKP (6 stitches)

    Knit 1 row
    Place 3 stitches each on 2 needles. Bind off using kitchener stitch
    Weave in all ends and gently hand wash with a gentle conditioner to soften. Air dry. Dazzle!

  • June 4, 2010

    Smitten with mittens…

    All I can think about are mittens! Mittens I want to make. I am almost done my second pair in the past few days. The first, which is just drying, is a pair of felted neon-y Noro Kureyon and black stranded mittens in a geometric pattern I made up. The pattern is comprised of rows of leaves and petals that have been distilled from their original inspiration (bright flowers on the cover of Good Housekeeping) into a more South American geometric mitten aesthetic. When I was younger I remember getting mittens and gloves from Global Connections at The Forks that were handmade in South America. The geometric patterns were so simple and pretty, and the colours really made the bold pattern pop. I wanted to use a yarn that was really bright, inspired by both the flowers on the cover and these original mittens I once had (and lost, of course). Anyways. So I bought the brightest Kureyon I could find at Ram Wools. I paired it with a solid black Istex Lett Lopi. I find the Lett Lopi pairs really well with Kureyon, as they both have similar weights and textures, amoung other qualities. It also comes in a decent amount of solid colours to counterpoint the crazy  colour-changes in the Kureyon. Then after spending lots of time with graph paper and pencil, I came to a final pattern. It was a super quick knit, taking only a few hours for each mitten. Then I washed them twice to felt them up a little for extra warmth. If you click on the picture it goes to the corresponding Ravelry page. I am going to update it with the final felted project soon.


    Ben was really excited by the finished mittens. He kept poking one with one of my needles saying “Making holes, fixing holes.” Then he kept stealing them and using them as driving gloves. He told me “Just like a race car (driver).” What a cutie.
    The other pair of mittens that I am still working on, is a pair of recycled sari silk mittens. It’s a little bit of an unconventional mitten yarn, but when I tried to find a good pattern for the ball of Wild Peacock Recycled Silk I got from Darn Good Yarn, all I could find was drop-stitch scarves, and I am just not a fan of them. So I decided, why not make mittens! Because the yarn is so chunky, and the needles so big (8), they are a super super quick knit. I made up the pattern on the fly, and it turned out well. I think the mittens show off all the colours and intricacies of the recycled silk so well. I love all the colours! I can see these giving a lot of hope for warmer days come winter. Again, the picture links to the corresponding Ravelry page.

    Little O is doing so well. He is almost 4 months old.He rolls over both ways, and is trying so hard to move around on his tummy. I brought out B’s old spinning play mat (that is not quite the same one, its a newer model, but the idea is the same), so he could have a bit more fun while wiggling around. I found both of the boys really liked this because it allowed them to spin about really easily just by inadvertent foot or hand movements. Which made them both enjoy tummy time a lot more, because I found they were mostly getting frustrated by not being able to move. O’s little coos sound less screechy and more syllable-ish every day. 

    B is such a funny little guy. He loves his cars. Above is a picture of him with a car mall he asked me to make for him. He loves having places to park them. He calls parking garages “car houses.” Anything an item is stored in is its house, and he loves finding houses for things. Sometimes I will find his Hot Wheels in perfect-sized spots for them in between books in his bookcase. He’s recently started identifying objects by how many there are. He can identify one to four things. Like three cars or two books. Anything over four is four. 

    The next few days will be busy. I have lots of baking to do (buns, cinnamon bread, cookies, cheese crackers, regular crackers, and scones or muffins) and the prepa
    ratory shopping for that. Our library books are due this weekend, and I have some more ideas for mittens I need to work out.

  • May 11, 2010

    Sewing and doing…


    Yesterday was the start of the Kids Clothes Week Challenge. Having no time to sew, I spent some time cutting last night, and then a couple of hours sewing this morning. I made B some slippers, finished up some bibs I had already cut up, and a t-shirt for B. It was mildly disastrous, I have lost a lot of my sewing ability, and especially my pattern making ability. And the stupid machine kept un-threading (mostly my own fault). Even though my work is a little wonky, B likes it, and I guess that is what matters. He is wearing his slippers right now (based on this pattern – I made cutouts on the bottom and put a piece of fake leather I had around between the two sole pieces for grip). The bibs are pretty straightforward. The pattern is from Lotta Jansdotter’s Simple Sewing for Baby, but really, it’s not the sort of thing you need a pattern for. The t-shirt I made the pattern for using one of B’s t-shirts. The sleeves are a little off because I did them all wrong. When the Apple Store opened here, they were giving out free shirts, and I had meant to make mine B sized, because it’s not the sort of shirt I would wear, so I am glad I finally got around to doing that. B LOVES the Apple Store. I think it’s because they clapped a lot when it opened and he got really excited. And they have computers for him to play on. And he likes the mall in general.



    I finished the body of one of my Squirrelly Swedish Mittens yesterday, I just need to add the thumb. I really like the colours and they are so soft. I know they will probably pill a lot, being alpaca, but I don’t care, they are that soft. I want to finish all my on-the-go projects in the next week so I can start new ones! For Mother’s Day I got a gift certificate to Darn Good Yarn (and a really colourful necklace from Aldo that B picked out and likes a lot, he sits there naming the shapes). I ordered some Banana Fiber in Rocky Mountain, and a skein of slightly unrefined Sari Silk. I hear the Sari Silk is a bit tricky to work with, but the colour payout is worth it. And the banana fiber sounds fun! I am excited. I love getting packages in the mail. I finished the Little Seedling Soaker, but not in time. It looks pretty cute on O though, so it’s all good. It will be perfect with a t-shirt in the summer. I love the yarn, I wish I had more!


    We gave B a mohawk the other day, it’s pretty darn cute. He also got these new sunglasses that make him look extra cool. B and I spent a lot of time last week working on Mother’s Day presents. They look really simple, but the amount of energy that it takes to get a 2 year old to focus on such a task for long enough is a lot. I helped him colour two mugs and paint a tote bag. If I had a nickel for every time I told him to keep his hands in the air while they were covered in fabric paint, I’d be rich! And it worked! No mess! This week so far, we are just taking it easy, no grand plans.

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