Well folks, the pattern has been submitted, available for download on Ravelry HERE ( matching Mitts pattern HERE ) and I am happy to finally show you the lovely photographs taken last month at our castle, of my nieces modeling … Continue reading
Spring has spring in winter’s second month. From hard wood emerges the most delicate of things!
And the meadows are bursting with wild mustard flowers…
Lately even though it’s spring-like here I am in winter mind.
There has emerged a mitten version of Tartan & Tweed Mitts…
This means that there will be still another update made to the pattern while I’m in the throes of pattern redesign. I just never can tell if there is still more to come. Which there was.
Mittens & Fingerless Mitts to be photographed on my lovely nieces this coming weekend, so watch this space !
I am so glad to be finished with this redesign. And so glad to introduce my new Tartan & Tweed Mitts! One size adjustable with gauge to fit Men’s Large down to Kid Size. Here they are modeled by Jeff in Men’s Large…
… you can’t easily distinguish the colors, there’s grey, blue, and green. I very intentionally knit with colors of weathered Fraser tartan (um…they are Outlander mitts!), these in Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light (sport/DK) which this wool-fearing man seems to be quite okay with.
I’ve been feverishly knitting these mitts in several popular yarns, more Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light with a slightly tighter gauge to fit me, women’s small to medium, in lovely greys…
I think the different tones of greys best shows the different contrasts in value, without the color distraction. Here is examples of the medium stripe (top), lightest stripe (middle) , and darkest stripe (bottom).
But then when the colors play in, it’s magic ! These in Malabrigo Arroyo…
Some really interesting variations of chart are now included …
And remember these?
The ” itty bitty mitties ” are miniature Tartan & Tweeds in sock yarn knit up in tiny US 1 needles, made for Nora last Christmas, who is only three. Oh! I almost forgot to mention, I have condensed the original pattern , that was in Shetland fingering yarns and 4 sizes, and included it at the end of the ‘new’ pattern. So that should be fun, and you should have a full plate of knitting options !
So folks, I’m kicking off this redesign with a promotion….
Edit in February 5 : PROMOTION ENDED.
I was out knitting & walking this afternoon and the fog was just floating in and around everything ,
it was a beautiful late Autumn landscape.
Oh how the last of the leaves are stubbornly hanging on to their twigs,
and they land sometimes seeming reluctantly so …
Tomorrow a huge rain storm is on it’s way, to hit in the night and thrash for a couple of days. I have a hill-walking date in the morning with a friend, and we’ll go come hell or high-water!
On the knitting front, all is going well, more photos in days ahead of finished happy endings of knitterly things, bathed in wintery light of day, but for now, a sneak peek of what appears to be a candy roll of some tasty tartan & tweedy thing…
Yup folks, here they are, a tiny scale of a mitt from my Tartan & Tweed I’m redesigning & overhauling , and they’re made of Malabrigo Sock yarn. Great stash-bust project. Aren’t they so cute? (admittedly, they are a little bumpy and could use a steam pressing). This is also the kick-start of the Christmas gift-making, and so we’ve got one little item checked off the list. (( shhh…. no names will be mentioned, as these are all surprises.))
Thank you everybody for your test-knitting contributions, I couldn’t have done it without you !
Your mitts are just all so lovely!!!
Thirty-Six hours ago I went into my little pattern-writing cave, bid good-bye to the world, barely noticed the light snowfall we had yesterday, let the house turn to squalor (happens fast with a German Shedder for a housemate, who by the way, was giving me the sad-eye the whole time as we didn’t walk one bit), the clouds rolled on by, the wind blew, earth circled the sun, and I drank colossal amount of tea, and lavishing my appetite with mostly shortbread (which I bake regularly!) So, well friends, I just crawled out of my cave. Two. Days. Later.
Wrestling with technically precise words is not my sport of choice nor talent forte, but I’ll tell you , if it weren’t for Morrie at the other end of the chitty-chatty box in gmail and even the phone numerous amounts of times ~~~ I never would have lasted in that dark & scary cave. So first of all, thank you Morrie, for your abundant editing genius, and your effervescent good humor.
Second of all, I want to thank Lizzi, for her convincing me I could be a real knitter, write a real pattern, and even be a real designer. Liz, you’re right, I can be as self-doubting as I am use to being, but then I’ll just go ahead and do it anyway, and be proud about it too. So Lizzi ~~ ” well done you ! ”
Now I’ll mention lastly, that the first ever paid-for pattern for 2 bux is for sale on Ravelry. Hmm… I feel a little old-fashioned asking two dollars for a pattern which took me (and lets not forget Morrie) two days to write. But hey ! I am good with that !
So here she is, shyly sitting in the shadows like a wallflower among great designers and pattern-writers ~ over yonder in Ravelry ~ the pattern for sale.
(Oh, and yes, that is my Really Red Fair Isle cardigan & tam the mitts are cozied up to !)
I’ve just finished my latest design, tartan-inspired, Fair Isle knitted, and I am naming it “Tartan & Tweed”. The very interesting thing is that the Shetland wool ‘fuses’ to itself so well that I’m not worried the short floats will catch on anything. Other yarns, yes … Shetland yarn, not. The best part of this project is that I am finished with the pattern very soon, and then you may get started on your very own Tartan & Tweed knitted mitts!