Showing posts with label mittens. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mittens. Show all posts

Sunday, April 15, 2018

Hen of the Woods Mittens


Hi, Knitters,
How are you doing today? We have a fresh covering of snow and we're supposed to get several more inches of snow today. Not great for mid-April but I think it will melt away quickly. Spring will come, it is inevitable. With the snowy, cold weather here to stay for a little longer, I have released a new mitten pattern and kit. But actually, mitten-knitting is a great project year round. 

The new design is called Hen of the Woods mittens and the pair is made out of some beautiful worsted weight gray 100% American Wool we received on cones. It is limited-edition wool. I think you will love it. We have created lovely mitten kits over on Barrett Wool Co. if you are interested. These have been selling quickly already.


The Hen mittens use the Waiting for Winter mitten pattern along with my new blog post instructions on Barrett Wool Co. Journal.


Hen of the Woods is actually a textured grayish mushroom that grows at the base of oak trees. I fell in love with the name of these mushrooms and thought it perfect for the name of the mittens. 



Have a great Sunday, Knitters. I'll be back soon with more.
xo ~ susan

Saturday, July 08, 2017

Mitten Kit Giveaway & a few works in progress


Hi, Knitters,
Happy Saturday to you all. I want to let you know about a giveaway I'm hosting over on the Barrett Wool Co. Journal. We are giving away one of our Three Color Mitten Kits to a lucky winner. You need to enter over on the Journal, not here. 


It's super easy to enter. The kit is worth $44.00 and it's a perfect time of year to knit mittens. Knit your mittens in July and you'll be all set for the fall season!

Good luck if you enter. I'll select a winner in a few days.


I'm finishing up a couple of hats. This one will be a free pattern and I'm pretty excited about it. The yarn is one skein of Home Worsted Weight in the Bluff colorway. The hat in the photo is an adult size and I'm blocking a baby size version right now. It's pretty cute.



I am working away on a really sweet top-down short-sleeved cardigan and I decided to try out a knotted steek for the body of the sweater. I am going to be posting a full tutorial on this technique soon so watch for that if you are interested. It is a super easy technique that takes away most all of the bulk associated with the other steeking techniques I have tried.

More on this soon! 



And I finished the first sock in the Bergere de France Goomy 50 sock yarn. I can't remember where I purchased this yarn but I'm sure if you google the name it will pop up for you. 

I used my Smooth Operator Socks pattern and I love the look it gives the sock. I'll be casting on the second sock today. 

Have a great weekend, friends. I hope you are doing well and that your knitting is coming along swimmingly.
xo ~ susan

Friday, June 02, 2017

Mittens in June & more kits!


Hi, Knitters,
I hope you are all doing well. We have lots of action going on at our house this week and upcoming weekend. So much so that I haven't had a lot of time to knit. I have some new designs in the works though, so that is fun.

I want to let you all know that we have lots of some of our most popular kits in the shop over on Barrett Wool Co. right now. Just last night we posted more of our Three Color Bulky Twist Mitten Kits in the shop! This is one of our favorites.



The Three French Hens Kit has also just been listed again! You can purchase the kit with or without the Taproot magazine where the pattern appears. The pattern is only available in the magazine right now. 



Our super popular Owen Hat Kit comes with the yarn, the pattern, and a beautiful polka-dot handmade pom-pom to top off your hat. The pom-poms are made by yours truly! 

There are three different color choices for this hat kit.

Two color version of the Owen Hat Kit in blue!

Two color version of the Owen Hat Kit in red!


We have Mary Jane Mucklestone's gorgeous Wildflowers Cap Kit from Making Magazine No. 1 / Flora in stock, too! The kit can be purchased with or without the magazine, or with a Ravelry download code for the pattern or without any pattern included and just the yarn.


There are several color choices for this kit, as well. 



The hat and photo of the hat above is by @kellythecarelesscat. 


Lastly, we have some of the Flower Fairy & Leaf Sprite Kits available! This might be my favorite kit. It's just so sweet.


Enjoy your weekend ahead everyone! I'm planning on a fun giveaway next week here on the blog so be sure to check back if you are interested. The weather is beautiful here so I plan to get outside and I hope you can get some fresh air, too.

xo ~ susan

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Gale's Art Sock Blank Subscription Giveaway and much more!

Bracket from Mason-Dixon Knitting

Hi, Knitters,
I've a few quick things before the giveaway information. First, the smart and clever ladies over at Mason-Dixon Knitting always surprise me with their fun ideas. Kay and Ann have come up with a knitting version of March Madness. Get your bracket now!

I am honored to be included in March Mayhem 2017 in the Home, Baby, Toy category with my Sheep! pattern. 

Voting for each category starts today, March 15, 2017 and they will have a winner by April 3, 2017. 

Everything Kay and Ann do is so well done and humor is always a major ingredient in their knitting.

Click here for the Sheep! pattern information or to purchase. This is my pattern that is included in the March Mayhem Bracket. 



One more fun thing is that over on Barrett Wool Co. we are having a quick tiny scissors sale. We have marked down the scissors at $1.00 off the regular price through March 16th, 2017! That's tomorrow! No coupon code is necessary. All colors and styles are included. We are stocked up with Putford, Flower Power and Little Love styles in great colors.

Don't miss out on adding to your scissors collection! I love these snips and I think you will, too.



photo from Gale's Art

Now for the giveaway!

Gale of Gale's Art asked if I would like to offer a 3-month sock blank club membership to one of my lucky readers and of course I said yes. You can choose between the sparkle club and the regular sock yarn club. 

The prize is worth $100! You will love Gale's sock blanks. They are beautiful and a treat to knit. The finished socks are speckled and so beautiful. I have knit socks from her sock blanks and the finished socks are some of my favorites. Thanks to Gale for the opportunity.


Yarn information:
Fiber content for the sock blank yarn is 75% merino, 25% nylon. There are 463 yards per sock blank and they are 100 grams. The Recommended needle size is 1-3 US with 7 to 8 stitches per inch.

To enter to win leave one comment on this blog post. You must include your Ravelry username or an email address as a contact if you should win. Please only enter one time, there is a delay before you will see your comment appear. Only click on the Publish button one time.  I will randomly select a winner in a few days. I will then give Gale your contact information so you can work out the details of the prize.

Read Gale's information about each of the three blanks below:

photo from Gale's Art

“Fireworks over New York City”-The first month, April, will feature a stylized New York City Skyline at sunset. The fireworks overhead are a celebration for the summer! SHIPPING- APRIL 7, 2017

photo from Gale's Art

“Yellowstone with Bear” -The second installment will be a tribute to one of the greatest natural treasures in the United State. Verdant green mountains and valleys are the background for many happy campers and an occasional bear. SHIPPING - MAY 7, 2017

photo from Gale's Art

“Hawaii is hot,hot,hot” – is the third and final sock portion of the club offering. You can almost smell the tropical flower flowing on the trade winds of the islands! This is a super intensely colored sock has rainbow hues with purple hibiscus and bright green leaves dancing across it! SHIPPING June 2, 2017


I just have to share these cute photos from last weekend. My husband and TC and I went out for Sunday breakfast downtown and then we went to a fantastic art exhibit at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. There was also the St. Patty's Day Parade happening around the Capitol Square. My Miss Molly is from a big Irish family and they are in the parade every year. We walked over to see them and I was struck by all of our Waiting for Winter Mittens.

Miss Molly had knit her own pair and had knit some for her sister, Megan. I was wearing my own pair of Waiting for Winter Mittens out of some of my handspun yarn. My son snapped the photo above when we were comparing our mittens and I thought it was so cute. 

I am wearing my newest hat pattern called Owen. Click here for the Owen pattern!


Here are the mittens up close! 


Good luck if you enter the giveaway. I'll be back soon with more.
xo ~ susan

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Three Color Mitten Kit is Here!


Hi, Knitters,
I have a fun new version of the Barrett Wool Co. Bulky Twist Mitten Kit to share with you today! 



You can purchase the kit with or without the Waiting for Winter Bulky Mitten pattern if you already have the pattern. You can make matching mittens or mix it up!

Over on Barrett Wool Co. the kits are housed in the Pattern section on the menu for now in case you are looking. We will be doing some rearranging soon to have a separate section for the kits on the menu. 

Also, our Home Collection Yarns in both fingering weight and worsted weight will be fully stocked again in a few short weeks! We are so excited and we have some wonderful plans in store. 


Here is some information about the kit and pattern you might like to know:

We have a fantastic new version of the Bulky Twist Mitten Kit for you! We have included three colorways of the marled yarn for you to mix and match, stripe and colorblock however you would like. There is enough yarn to make at least a couple pairs of mittens and maybe even a spare mitten or two to keep on hand. 
We hope you enjoy this Mitten Kit with triple the amount of yarn!
Here is the introduction and information for the mitten pattern:
Now the beloved Waiting for Winter Mittens pattern series has a new version for bulky weight yarn. This pattern has three sizes, including child's large/adult small, adult medium and adult large. The mittens knit up lickety-split with the bulky weight yarn and larger needles. It will take you an evening or two to make a pair. You'll have the simple pattern memorized after only a couple pair. With mitten knitting season in full swing this is the perfect time for another version of Waiting for Winter Mittens. We couldn't wait to make up a kit for these wonderfully cozy mittens using our new Wisconsin Woolen Spun Bulky Twist yarn. The 2-ply twisted colors in the yarn make a fantastic marled fabric that looks sporty and fun! 
The Kit Includes:
  • Enough of our Wisconsin Woolen Spun Bulky Twist yarn in Coffee & Cream, Red & Black Licorice and Juniper to make several pair of mittens. The yarn will arrive wound in a cake ready to be knit!
  • Ravelry download code for the Bulky Waiting for Winter Mittens pattern
  • Tin of 20 assorted stitch markers
  • Packaged in a hand-stamped cotton bag
Sizes 
Small (medium, large). Sized to fit 6 (7, 8)-inch hand circumference measured around the knuckles on the hand.
Note: The sample is made in the medium-size and fits an average size woman’s hand. The small fits a large child or small woman’s size and the large fits a larger woman’s or a men’s size. Lengths can be adjusted accordingly per preference.
YarnBarrett Wool Co. Wisconsin Woolen Spun Bulky Twist (100% American Wool, bulky weight 2-ply, 185 yards/114 grams), 1 skein.
NeedlesUS size 10 or 6mm double-pointed-needles, set of four, OR size to obtain gauge.
Gauge3.5 stitches per inch in stockinette stitch and 6 rounds per inch.
Materials1 detachable stitch marker and 1 stitch marker to go on the needle
Scrap Yarn
Ruler or tape measure
Yarn needle
Scissors


Here are a bunch of samples I made up with the three Bulky Twist colors of our Wisconsin Woolen Spun yarn. The kit provides enough yarn to make 2-3 pairs of mittens depending on the size from the pattern.

These are all worked up in the medium size and each individual mitten weighs 24 grams. The kit will give you over 150 grams of Bulky Twist in total to knit up any way you choose. 

It's a lot of fun to figure out how you make to make your pair of mittens!


The Bulky Twist yarn is so much fun to knit. It is light and airy and the fabric is deliciously marled!



On another note, the #dailyknitsocks hashtag over on Instagram is so much fun. If you are on Instagram and you wear knit socks feel free to join in. There are no rules. You can post as much or as little as you like. It's been so great to be able to see so many knitters wearing their sock. I love it.



The socks are knit in an old and I believe discontinued yarn, Schoeller+Stahl Fortissima Socka, Color 9076

The clogs are the El Naturalista brand.

I'll be back soon with more. I have a fun colorwork hat pattern coming out hopefully very soon. I also am traveling to Austin, Texas next week for the Hill Country Weavers Retreat. I am really looking forward to teaching in Texas again. There are fantastic and enthusiastic knitters in Texas and it's always a treat. 

xo ~ susan

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Good Tidings


Hi Knitters,
I hope you are doing well this holiday week. I love this season and all of the home-y activities with which we devote our time. I've been planning gifts and sewing and knitting up a storm and baking and cooking, etc. All of my kids are home and on break from school. It is bustling and busy. You, too?

Well, I have randomly selected a winner for the Kermis Kit giveaway from Infinite Twist! And the winner is...... matildachelsey on Ravelry or Josette! Congratulations, Josette. I have sent an email to Cate Carter of Infinite Twist with your contact information and she will be in touch with you directly to plan out your kit specifics. Click here for the Kermis pattern on Ravelry.

Thank you for the fantastic Kermis Kit giveaway response. Cate is just thrilled and has sold a lot of kits this past week. She is so thankful and excited to give good homes to her beautiful yarns and kits.

Here is some information and links for the photos in the collage:

Rainbow Socks: Quaere Fibres 10-Stripe Rainbow colorway, sport weight; US size 2 needles; toe-up with an extended afterthought heel. 56 sts for the leg and foot count.

Knit Collage Mittens: Yarn is Knit Collage Castaway in the Prism colorway, 2 skeins. I made up the pattern but there is a similar pattern on the Knit Collage website. I knit the mittens with the knit side facing me and then turned them inside out so the purl side is the right-side. I used US size 10.5 dpns to make the mittens. I gave the finished pair to my niece as an early Christmas gift. She LOVES them and now my other niece wants a pair, too. I see more of these fun mittens in my future.

Socks for my son: Regia Cotton Summer Smile Color (purchased right here) with Opal heels and toes in gray. My son wants lighter weight handknit socks and so I am trying out this cotton/wool/nylon blend from Regia to see if he likes it better. He is so knitworthy! He wears the two pairs of socks I knit him constantly, they are always in the wash. I didn't enjoy knitting with this cotton blend yarn as much but it is doable. It feels a bit like string in my opinion. But I love the end results. He picked out the colorway (I love that he likes colorful pink stripey socks!). I used US size 1 dpns and my free pattern How I Make My Socks for men (here is the men's sock information).


Rag Quilt Placemats: I made a quick set of 6 placemats for my sister-in-law. I made the same rag quilt placemats last year and wrote a blog post (click right here) with all of the details and the YouTube video tutorial I used. I made a few more for another gift for this year, too, nine in total. They are really fast!

And lastly, my son has been baking and baking and baking! I try to sneak in and bake and cook when he's not in the kitchen which is not often. He has gifted most of his cookies, muffins and breads to others but leaves plenty for us to enjoy as well. He is currently working as a baker in a popular Madison bakery and loving it.


Yesterday as I was working on the rainbow socks I sat across from TC at our kitchen table. She is working on her beaded ornaments which she has been making for the last several years. I love her focus and concentration while she is working. It is so much fun to have her on break from school and sports and whatnot. I enjoy her company so much.

And I want to mention the Santa project bag that I've been using for the holiday season this year. It is from ShopLouleigh on Etsy and it is just the cutest bag ever, honestly. I'm so in love with Leigh's work and fabric choices. She is spot on.



Here are the ornaments TC has finished so far! She'll wrap them up in little sets to give as gifts. It's so sweet. Each of these designs come in kits that we purchased at the Wisconsin Craft Market this year and last year. Some of the kits only cost a couple of dollars and include the materials for several ornaments per kit as you can see. 

Merry, Merry and Happy Holidays, dear Knitters. Thank you for the support and for the fun here on the blog and everywhere else. I appreciate you all so much. This is the tenth Christmas I have celebrated on this blog, it's hard to believe that it has been that long.

I'm wishing you all good tidings of great joy! 
xo ~ susan

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Waiting for Winter Mittens ~ Bigger and Now Little, too!




Hi, Knitters,
It has definitely been mitten knitting season in my house recently. I have been knitting little mittens and big mittens and measuring hands around here. I've even darned a beloved mitten. I've concluded that I basically love knitting mittens. And little mitten knitting is really the best thing ever.

I have a mitten pattern called Waiting for Winter Mittens & Fingerless Mitts and it has become the most popular pattern in my Ravelry Pattern Shop. The sizes for the adult-size Waiting for Winter Mitten pattern included adult small, medium and large. The medium-size fit me perfectly. 


Yesterday I updated the adult mitten pattern with added sizing instructions for mittens that will fit larger women's and men's hands. I added extra-large and xx-large sizes. I think these new sizes round out the pattern nicely. 




And now I've just released the Little Waiting for Winter Mittens pattern which includes baby-sized thumbless mitt, kids mittens for ages 2-12 years old and kid-size fingerless mitt instructions! 

Here is some information you might like to know:


Pattern information:

The adult-size Waiting for Winter Mittensand Fingerless Mitts pattern has become the most popular pattern in my RavelryPattern Shop. I’ve recently updated the original pattern with two larger sizes that will fit extra-large hands. Now it’s time to tend to those tiny (and squishy) hands in your life.
This pattern for little ones includes children’s mitten sizes for small, medium and large kids. Plus, I’ve thrown in two thumb-less baby-size mitt instructions found at the end of the pattern. It’s nice to have these little sizes all in one place.
Let’s get started before those little fingers get cold!
Size: Child’s Small (Medium, Large) to fit a 5 (6, 6 ½) inch hand circumference measured across the knuckles at the base of the fingers and at the top of the palm.
To Fit: Approximately 2-4 (4-8, 8-12) years old – this will vary!
Baby Mitts (pattern on page 9) sizes: 6-12 months (12-24 months)
*The length of the hand and thumb can easily be made shorter or longer. Suggested lengths for each size are given in the pattern.
Yarn: 100 yards of a worsted weight yarn.
Note: I weighed the samples in grams for the 6-12 month size baby mitt and the child’s size small and medium.  
6-12 month: 11 grams
Small: 20 grams
Medium: 28 grams
The samples in the photos are striped in Noro Kureyon yarn. If you’d like to make the stripey version alternate 2 contrasting skeins of Noro Kureyon every two rounds. The thumbs and the top of the hand decreases are not striped and are just knit from one skein.
Note: There are options for customizing the length pointed out in the pattern. Be sure to note if your mittens are longer than the suggested lengths in the pattern the yardage requirement will be greater than listed.
Suggested needles: US 7/4.5mm double-pointed needles, set of 4
Gauge: 5 stitches per inch in stockinette stitch

To celebrate the new mitten sizes big and small, I am hosting a knitalong on my Ravelry group. Please join us. There is a thread stickied at the top called Little Waiting for Winter Mittens & KAL (knitalong). All you have to do is post a photo of any pair of Waiting for Winter Mittens (baby, kid or adult-sized) you have knit at any time (you could have knit them yesterday or a couple of years ago)! Super easy! You can post as many times as you have pairs of mittens.

I'll pick some winners from the photos that are posted along the way and at the end of the knitalong, December 21st. You can chat in the thread, too. No big rules, just a celebration of mitten knitting.



If I'm knitting the stripey version of the mittens where I am alternating skeins every 2 rounds I will count the stripes when I am knitting subsequent pairs. I have knit so many of the medium adult-sized mittens that I have the number of stripes memorized for the cuff, hand and thumb. This makes it so easy and fun. I don't even have to look at the pattern.

Here are some mitten-y photos for you!

The baby mitts are the smallest size and the kids mittens are knit in the small and medium sizes.





Thank you, as always, for the support! I hope you love your mitten knitting this season as much as I do. If you have both of these patterns you will have every size covered from baby to xx-large adults. 

Here are the links one more time:





One last thing, at the end of the week I am posting free patterns to make little sweaters for the wooden cut-out sheep and alpacas from Juniper Moon Farms. These wooden cut-outs are an effort of Susan Gibbs and her husband to raise $5,000 for Heifer International this season. She is having an update for the animals this Thursday in her Etsy shop if you are interested. 

I'll talk more about all of this later in the next blog post with the free sweater patterns for the animals. These make super cute ornaments and gifts! I have all of the sweaters knit and on my cut-outs now and they are just adorable. I used mini-skeins of fingering or sock weight yarn. I can't wait to share more.


Click here for the JuniperMoonSheepShop on Etsy! Thursday, Nov. 17th is the update.

Happy mitten-knitting season to you all. I'll be back soon with more.
xo ~ susan