Una Cosettina

jenjoycedesign©Lacey Little  Somethings

Una Cosettina, or ‘ A Little Something’ is the name of these half-mitts, designed especially for Oropa 1ply yarn, which is made with wool from sheep which have roamed the foothills of Alps of Northern Italy for perhaps a thousand years. Who knows for sure?  But, there is an age-old mill in Biella which uses much the same processing methods  as of long ago , and which make the wool from these Old-World sheep into yarn. Oropa 1ply is a rustic heritage yarn as rugged as the mountain terrain it comes from. Truly Oropa yarn is nothing less than a timeless treasure.

((Lots of information about The Wool Box  at bottom of page))

I talk a lot about the yarn, and Biella’s place in Italy’s wool industry in  Posted From Italy  ,  Yarn Whisperer  , and some about elements of design process in my previous post.

jenjoycedesign©Lacey Little Somethings

We have a pattern friends !!!

The design incorporates my own edging  which I will simply call my ‘eyelet edging’, a cast-on and bind-off’ , having  elements of i-cord, rib, and lace all in one.

jenjoycedesign©lace-cuff

Shown in Pearl Grey & Natural Oropa 1ply,  sturdy & feminine, these half-mitts will keep your hands toasty warm, while letting the spring breezes through from it’s open lace-work. A feminine take on riding gloves of olden days perhaps, slightly bell-shaped , stylish, and ready to make a spectacular conversation piece when people ask about them.

jenjoycedesign©Lacey Little Somethings half-mitts

Modeling both sizes ~ smaller size to left, larger size at top.
((I wear a women’s small, by the way))

The photos show both sizes, and two slightly different cast-on eyelet edgings at the beginning of cuff,  the end result in pattern, is slightly again different, combining both. (it was just a matter of changing one round of rib, into knit stitch).

jenjoycedesign©edge-detail

In the weeks ahead this very same pattern is undergoing translation into Italian, and it will then become available to purchase in kit form with the very same Oropa 1ply yarn as you see in photo.  As soon as I have any information to the kit being ready, I will post in celebration of a job well done collaboratively , having a sense of place from both Northern California, and Northern Italy.

jenjoycedesign©mitts-at-work

In photo, larger with optional extra lacework repeat to left, smaller without extra repeat on right.

Meanwhile I will have this pattern for sale along with my other designs, which you will find on Yarnings over it’s pattern page HERE

and on Ravelry HERE

*   *   *

 Thank you Bonnie, for asking me if I would like to design una cosettina (a little something) for The Wool Box, because I most certainly and thoroughly enjoyed it !  May only ever the warm & soft breezes of spring blow through your lace  ~~ Ciao.

*   *    *

Now, for a little more information about The Wool Box !

 You may read a little bit about  Some info on The Wool Box  and then check out the English translated websites that Volunteer English-speaking Ambassador to The Wool Box , Bonnie, as created on Ravelry HERE  and on Facebook HERE.

You can read more about “The New History of Italian Wool”  from Bonnie’s blog called “Wool In Italy” . . .  on her post HERE .

If you would like to contact The Wool Box directly (in Italy),  below are links Bonnie  has provided me:

The Wool Box Shop: www.thewoolbox.it
Informazioni: info@thewoolbox.it
Customer Service: customer-service@thewoolbox.com

Mini Mitts For Nora

jenjoycedesign©Mini-Mitts

Tiny and bright.  Too cute for words.

Miniature version of the Pin-Striped Fingerless Mitts

For Little Nora (who will soon be two!)

jenjoycedesign©contrast
I knit these little things pretty darned tight on the very skinny #0 needles… so there’s some ‘laddering’ going down the middle of the mitts. I love the affect of the variegated yarn too.

jenjoycedesign©Mini-Mitts2

Stranded & Pin-Striped Fingerless Mitts !

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It’s here !

a more colorful ,

perhaps even more complex

sister of the original ” Jenjoyce Pin-Striped Fingerless Mitt ”  . . .

jenjoycedesign©increases
I’ve switched things about a bit, from  the original  ~ she is not quite so long in the wrist, but more conventional length, reversed the pinstripe pattern to show different in the increases at the thumb

. . . and look at her inside-out !

jenjoycedesign©detail  (2)
Here is a close-up of the color work ~ simply understated color stranding concept~ yet serious enough of a Fair-Isle effect, but on a completely  basic scale.   Therefore, I think this mitt & pattern is perfect for one who wants to learn how to do stranded color work , or  loosely termed as ‘Fair Isle’ knitting.

Some photos of them being worn by me (they are too snug in the photo, therefore when I wrote the pattern for these, I added one more 4-stitch repeat) . . .

jenjoycedesign©stranded-color-pinstriped-mitts1jenjoycedesign©stranded-color-pinstriped-mitts2

jenjoycedesign©detail1
All in all, I’m extremely happy, at this speedy second variation pattern writing came about, however haphazard and with whatever slight mistakes abound. I’m happy about it. It’s my second pattern, and it’s uploadable for FREE …. right… over HERE  !!!!

(( In case you’re wondering… I only had enough of my over-dyed chartreuse ( ‘bug guts green’ ) to make one prototype mitt, which started as an experiment, and a knit-walking project the other day, but ended up as the official pdf photo ~ so there you go !!  ))

Details  about this project on Ravelry  HERE

🙂

I’d also like to thank Morrie & Lizzi for giving me all the  help & support that can possibly be given.

xxx I heart you both ! xxx

While I Was Out Walking . . .

. . . I brought my knitting.  You’re not surprised are you?  Well, this was raising the bar a bit on what I can do knitting-while-walking ~ I’ll be the first to admit ~ and I was pretty much only watching where I was walking every other row.  (do not try this !)  What we have here is a variation on the pin-stripey theme for still another pin-striped mitt . . .

jenjoycedesign©variation

Jenjoyce’s Pin-Striped Fingerless Mitts !!!

jenjoycedesign©Jenjoyce's Pin-striped Fingerless Mits
Hey look, its my latest and greatest accomplishment  !

Okay , so you have seen me make a zillion of these since before Christmas, and I just couldn’t tire of them, then Lizzi convinced me to write this pattern.  You must have noticed the commotion over there in the sidebar with  my “Thought For The Day” screaming jubilantly about having written my first knitting pattern  ever , and the new advertising of a free download !!!!  Well, the odd thing is now I really don’t see as why I should stop. This is a strange and new concept. I was totally blown away that before I even sent the pattern draft of a pdf to Morrie, she had already cast on to test-knit it. We chatted through the afternoon on gmail, as she test-knit away and as I knit up the above pair, while discussing the wording, the nature of  ‘ jogless-ness ‘ , helix effect,  and other such puzzles of the universe. Then the very next morning early with light just peeking through the sky window of my loft, I photographed these against the newly painted wall, and then  I hurriedly slapped it up on Ravelry.   In one day friends, the little “Pin-Striped Mitts” got over forty ‘favorite’ hearts on my Ravelry activity , many queued, one project even finished (I see you Morrie!) … and a whole lot of ’em dowloaded ! And boy did that really make my heart melt into a big puddle !  Excuse me folks for being so giddy, it just that for now, it’s all just a really big deal !!!

jenjoycedesign©fingerless-mitt1

jenjoycedesign©fingerless-mitt2

Free Pattern on Ravelry over HERE

Mit Mania

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Finished.

Another  two pairs of pin-striped fingerless mits !

Aren’t they lovely ?

jenjoycedesign©pin-striped

These are for  Molly & Maya, belated xmas presents.

jenjoycedesign©dos-mits
For some reason, I can’t capture the colors very well with the camera .

These are a  medium greyish slate blue with marine blue stripes . . .

jenjoycedesign©blue
And these are a deep plum with royal purple stripes . . .

jenjoycedesign©plum
I think that five pairs of pin-striped fingerless mits are enough for me for a time, but since I knit them all almost entirely while walking the mountain, I’m not sure if I might not cast on for another pair .  I mean, I fear I might trip without something to knit !

🙂

But for now I’m going down off the mountain into town to ship these mits in the mail, and then feel my feathers fluff up with a sense of satisfaction of a job done ! I find it difficult to believe that all the Christmas knitting is behind me now. I went for my walk this morning , and,  nothing to knit while walking along !  It was surreal.

Two Shades Of Grey

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There’s somebody out there who knows these are made just for her, and who knows if she walks up through the woods soon, along with a steaming hot cup of bittersweet & spicey chocolate (with whip), these fingerless mits ~ in two shades of grey ~ will be waiting for her. 🙂

Twittermits !

jenjoycedesign©fingerless-mits (2)
Here is another pair of fingerless mits knit up for Christmas !

jenjoycedesign©twittermits

The misty color combo is lavender and grey, a soft wintery colorway for one who has been very good and hoping for her first and very own iphone from Santa in a week, and from whom I’ll anticipate a lot of action on the Twittery front.

jenjoycedesign©jogless-joins
Look here, can you even see where the pin-stripes join?

A little tug at the switching of colors is all it took, and there it is… jogless !

I am dizzy from pin-stripes !!! Will there be no stopping me? Will I be pin-striping at Christmas eve into the wee hours of the night?  Will I bridge Christmas with the New Year doing nothing but more, more, more pin-striped fingerless mits , rationalizing still another recipient who might need a pair? There’s no way to really know, but to watch this space as they say.

Details on Ravelry here