2.6.13

Knitting Mitts & Mice



It's the start of June, and as the first day of summer approaches, it hardly makes sense for me to be knitting up a pair of mitts, right? Except that these were knit for a friend in the Southern Hemisphere, where the mitts will warm her hands against the encroaching winter chill.


I knit this pair with the most delicious yarn -- a fingering/sock weight, tonal yarn called Stroll from Knit Picks, and the pattern is a simple one I made up myself.  These mitts can be made with fingering, sport, DK or worsted weight, but no matter the weight of the yarn, for small even stitches, I nearly always knit them up with size 3 needles.


To make them I cast on 52 st., then worked 52 rows of knit2, purl2 ribbing.  After casting off, I stitched up the sides (leaving holes for thumbs), embellished with buttons, and that's all.  Sometimes I make similar mitts with a knit3, purl1 ribbing.

Of course, to make the mitts a bit larger you can cast on a few more stitches, to make them longer, knit a few more rows, and yes, one could knit these in the round on dp needles, but I find it tiresome to keep the tension as I shift from needle to needle (I would rather just sew up the seams.)


I wish I had the energy for more complex projects, but right now, these mitts are the perfect knitting project for me -- small, knitting meditations...


As for the mouse, you can find a pattern for him in this book here.

p.s. Thank you to my 10-year old for modeling the mitts.  He has the most gorgeous (slightly grubby) hands, don't you agree?

7 comments:

  1. Beautiful mitts and mouse. I am of the same mind regarding small knitting meditations these days.

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  2. These are beautiful. I still wear the pair you made for me in 2008 -- they keep my hands warm during the pre-whole-mitten autumn chill. Every time I wear them I think of you!

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  3. So nice to know you still wear those mitts -- if I remember correctly, they are knit from a gorgeous, variegated yarn...

    xo

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  4. I do think his hands are quite lovely, in a scruffy, boy sorta way. And the mouse is lovely, too. BUt then, you know how I feel about everything you do.

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  5. That little mouse is just about the CUTEST thing ever!

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  6. I am gonna do this! I don't know where I kept my one & only mitten. Thanks for the idea. :D

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