Wristlets

Mum came to visit this weekend, and I finnished her mittens saturady night - sadly forgetting to take pictures before they left. From some of the leftover yarn I will make her a pair of braided wristlets to use together with the mittens on real cold days, or alone when spring returns.

The pattern was originally written for toddler Simon in a laceweight alpakka/silk. But I have come to love it knit in a heavier merino - I have a pair myself, my sister have one and I made three or four for a bazaar last year. They are a faster knit than they look!

40 stitches in the round on dpns, repeats of *k2, p2, k4, p2,* then cross the stitches in the k4-sedtions every 6th row using only the dpsn. For thumb hole, knit 12 rows back and forth, then join in the round again.

Fortune teller

Between a sick child, a breakdown in my master's thesis and the house move I have still not knit the last thumb of mum's mittens. Hence it is no triumph that the second morning of frosted leaves came exactly the day I predicted - the day the mittens were scheduled to arrive in her mailbox...

(oh, "frosted leaves" might be a good name for daughter's glittering pink lace shawl!)

Hopefully the weather will be dry enough to finnish the mittens in the playground this evening. Then Jostein can mail them on his easily predictable (I'm getting really good at telling fortune!) snack expedition.

mittens for mum

A few days ago my red and white I-have-a-new-coat mittens had their season debut, with one of toddler's green and gray Fana mittens snuggled inside on our way to kindergarten. And toddler reminded me that I promised to knit my mum a new pair.

Mum chose the yarn and colour and toddler chose the pattern - and I got to change both for easier options. I present: The road of least resistance squirrel and oak mittens (original pattern at Hello Yarn).

Autumn leaves revisited

The maple tree outside my bedroom window has a new look this week. The red heart in its midst is no longer bright, it is spotted with deep browns and the colour is dissolving among the shades of orange that is rapidly replacing the vibrant greens and yellows.



Perhaps this is the reason why I started knitting yellow and green mittens last week, while Siri chose red and orange for her pair this weekend?

A few years back I had a crush on apple green. The green pearls are leftovers from a beach top I crocheted to match my apple green bikini.

I still like the pearls, but matching them to my dark autumn wardrobe was a challenge. And I think I have succeeded. This is the early stage of a pair of wristwarmers that will match up with my charcoal jacket, my camel duffel or even my bright red coat. In real life the bronze pearls are vibrant enough to compete with the acid of the green and the matte, brown alpakka bring them both back to earth.

In need of a pattern?

Measure the circumference of your wrist and divide on the lenght of a bead to get the appropriate number of right-side rows. Then add this number with three to include three pearsl a row. (Or wing it, you can always break the yarn and add more pearls at the cost of two extra ends to fasten).

Pearls are strung in repetitions of green-bronze-green.
Thirty-odd stitches are knit back and forth with pearls placed from the back side between the 4th and 5th, 5th and 6th and 6th and 7th the first 6 rows. Then the pearls are placed 3 stitches further in from the edge, starting between the 7th and the 8th.
thirty-odd stitches

Mittens submitted

My mittens have been submitted to the auction, and I am getting anxious to know who will wear them.

- a woman, probably, due to the size.
- someone with an allergy to wool?
- ... or someone who works outdoors and needs mittens that are more durable than the woolen ones.
- someone who likes pink (but then, everyone likes pink these days).
- someone with a crazy pink and lime coat!
- ... or someone with a classic black or camel coat who wants a fresh compliment colour.
- perhaps someone will get them as a present ... from a secret admirer who noticed the heart shaped petals in the ornament flowers.

Very possibly, I will never know. But they are made with love for any and every woman in need of warm hands and a warm thought.

Mitten progress

I wonder, should I add a sprinkle of pearls?

wip: oktoberrosa mittens

Work and Civ3 with the boys eat into my computer time, but blog silence does not mean I do not knit. The mittens I want to submit to Oktoberrosa are nearly done. Hopefully I will find the time to finnish them tonight, and unless I have to work extra (a very real possibility) I will get to photograph them in daylight tomorrow.

Shop hours

These days family life is adjusting to my new job, and everything tends to go slow motion. When I got home this afternoon, we had dinner with friends and family in the sun until toddler bedtime and the rest of the night has been spent pondering over the pattern for a knit wristlet.

Finally giving up on the wristlet and leafing through possible pictures for the blog, I found one featuring this bedcover (lovingly knit by gran) - adding some pearls and ribbon I have my pattern!

'night, all!

ETA:Yes. She does bring the bear, the goat and (as noticed by observant viewers) the pink pig to bed. Not visible in the picture are two baby dolls, a plastic tractor(!) and a ghost hottie. Not to mention the butterfly pillow or the two toy dogs on the floor. You can always trust her to find ways to be properly spoiled, no matter how busy our days.

Oktoberrosa

Oktoberrosa (wordplay on october pink/october rose) is a craft auction in support of breast cancer survivors. I want to make a pair of selbu mittens, but before signing up I need some advice on yarn. Do you consider these statements true or false?

Selbu mittens can only be knitted in pure wool.
Mittens for cancer patients should be knit in a non-itchy synthetic.