More Mitts

Not quite the end of the May mitts but almost. I have two more mitts to share with you. First up are the Axel Mitts. Knit up for myself with Knit Picks Cadena in Leaf. Another mitt for myself.....I have been doing a lot of selfish mitts and between you and me I kind of like it. My hat/mitt basket in my closet will be very stocked come fall. In the picture is one of many baby peaches on my peach tree. Finally this year I think we are going to have a lot of fruit.


I really liked this mitt because you can wear them long when it is really cold (as it was at night land sailing and I needed something to protect my hand from the chill of my cocktail).



Or you can fold the top down and they can be a bit more traditional fingerless mitt. I wore these most of the weekend because I could move the top up or down as desired. Up for drinks, down when assembling s'mores.

I also knit a pair of Dashing for my husband. I omitted the cable at the wrist and just knit them all the way up with the ribbing. I think it is a good basic fingerless knit pattern, especially for the menfolk. Gabes made some gorgeous Bella's Mittens that you can see here. Alisha made some cozy mitts here.

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My Weekend

We made it home and had equal portions of work and fun. This is what a landsail looks like. You sit on the bottom, preferably with a helmet on and ride the wind across the playa. My husband tipped over on one ride (a.k.a. 'turtled' his sailer) so a helmet is preferable.

Wish so much wide open space the kids can ride their backs as far as they want. We tried to ride without the training wheels but no such luck this trip :)

Don't be misled by this photo. It might look a little lonely but behind me was a virtual city of people camping. We go out with a large crew and they invite their friends. With so many trailers and tents it does feel like a makeshift city at times.

We sailed, rode bike, looked for arrowheads, took the kids to the hot springs, sailed some more, cooked, washed, roasted marshmallows, had a 'few' cocktails with old friends, watched fireworks that people brought, played with glow wants, played with sparklers, told stories around the campfire, put the kids to bed and had a few more cocktails :), ate outside every meal and played, played, played.

We got home Monday afternoon and cleaned out the trailer, put everything away and got cleaned up for a baseball game. Is it really a three-day weekend during baseball season if you don't catch a game? Hope your weekends were fun too! Tomorrow, knitting.

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Memorial Weekend

I am heading out to the high desert this weekend to go land sailing. It is exactly how it sounds, we essentially are sailing (with wheels on land) across the desert. A lot of planning and preparation to go to the middle of nowhere with two small kids and camp (thank god for travel trailers).

My 'big' project right now in between mitts and such is The Hedgerow Coat by Interweave Knits.

I have found out that I like having one big project, like a sweater, and one small project, this month it's mitts, going at the same time. I think it is because I love the process of knitting but I also like the accomplishment of finishing things. My days can be crazy between my paycheck job and the kids and sometimes I feel like I'm torn in so many directions and so having a finished knit gives me a sense that at least I finished something :)

I have four pairs of mitts to share when I get back and hopefully this weekend I'll finish more. I hope you all have fun this holiday weekend and I'll check in when I get back!

Check out some more mitts-Gigi's lovely fetching.

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Bella's Mittens

So I was queuing up projects for May. Mitts, fingerless and whole, mittens, and gloves. While perusing the pages of Ravelry I came up on the pattern for Bella's mittens. They are nice and long with a simple cable down the front. I read the initial notes and thought the bulky yarn would make it a quick knit. I could see myself wearing them by a campfire all snuggled up in my warm mittens cradling a drink.

The pattern I followed found here (free). I used Cascade Peruvian Highland Wool in Pine, two skeins. Size 8 needles. No modifications. I love these mittens! They were fast and easy. The cable was easy to memorize and they are very warm.

While I was knitting them I flipped through some of the other raveler's finished projects and read some more notes. Then it hit me when I saw Twilight pop up on someones notes. Bella's mittens are not just some random name the creator of the pattern gave to the mittens, the mittens are patterned after a pair of mittens that Bella wears in the Twilight movie. Now I don't know how many of you have read the books but I have to think that you have heard of them no matter what. How did I miss that one?

My best friend and I have known each other since before we had ever kissed a boy. We are now both married with kids. We have been sharing secrets, crushes, and everything else for over twenty years. Umm ladies I think Miss D. (we'll call her that to avoid any embarrassment) is at home right now waiting for Edward of the Twilight series to show up. Her husband is a great guy but I have it on good authority that she would pack up and leave if Edward crooked his finger at her :). Since she has cast herself as Bella in her head maybe I should pass these mittens on to her...or at the very least make some for her birthday?

Also make sure to check out Gabes' adorable Mr. Crocodile mittens and Chris' Hermione Cable and bobble mittens.

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Mother's Day & mitts

Happy Mother's Day! I hope you are having a wonderful day full of whatever you want! Yesterday we had to go to a wedding in Napa for my cousin, we had to go to the wine country I know lucky us. It was beautiful and fun but it was 4 hours there and four hours back and with a two year old and a four year old it was a long day. We didn't stay because I didn't want to spend half my mother's day driving home so we did the quick turnaround and woke up in our own beds this morning. Today we are going to spend in the backyard puttering around and just relaxing. My parents, sister, and brother-in-law will be here for dinner tonight (which is already made YEAH!) and there will be cocktails and some more outside play ;)

Here is my latest mitt. These are The Breakfast Mitt (link-free pattern).

I knit them up in Berocco Ultra Alpaca. I omitted the wrist wrap with the button out of laziness. I didn't have any buttons on hand and I wanted to have them finished and not languishing in a basket somewhere as they would have if I waited until I purchased buttons.

I love them. They are warm and comfortable and will be perfect for camping this summer and also this winter too. It was funny to me that I was taking photographs of wool mitts in 85 degrees but I will be so happy when the first cold day hits me this fall and I have these all ready to go. I haven't been knitting that long (let alone knitting things I would actually use) so I don't have a large stockpile of mitts. This May mitt knitting is perfect. I can't wait to see what other mitt patterns are out there that you are working on!

Since today is mother's day and tomorrow is my birthday I am planning on some available free-time (daddy on duty) to finish up some more mitts this week so stay tuned.

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Baby hat & mitts

I am so glad that so many of you are excited about the knit-a-long. I have to say that I am thoroughly enjoying myself. I tend to collect patterns, magazines, books, print-outs, and electronic files on my computer. It was great to thumb through all of them and pull out the mitt patterns for this month (it was also go to do a little purging). I can't wait to see what other great patterns are out there when you post your finished off photos.

Here is my new go-to baby girl hat. It is the berry berry baby hat (free pattern). I used Bernat Bamboo in pink for the bottom of the hat and Lion Brand Nature's Choice Organic cotton in Green for the leaf top. Personally I haven't found anything softer then the Bernat bamboo yarn. I use it for baby hats almost exclusively.

Now since this month is really about the mitts I knit up some little mitts to match the hat. I used this pattern (another freebie) and just adjusted the size a bit. Too cute. Bamboo might not be as warm as wool but this baby will only be small for the spring and summer so I think I can get away with it :)
My friend's baby came along four weeks early (everyone is happy and healthy) and I might have been not quite ready for her. I popped in this movie and cast on for the hat. By the time the movie was finished so was I. I am going to add a few books and drop the gift off this weekend.
I highly recommend this gift for any baby girls. I am still looking around for the perfect baby boy hat. Any suggestions?

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Elizabeth Zimmerman Almanac

I recently purchased this book for myself. Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac. I know, I know, I am a little behind the times as the original publication for this book was before I was born but anyway :)

I had enough knitting on my plate in April so I put it aside until May. If you are familiar with her writing then you will know how enjoyable this book is to read. She has projects broken out by each month so I am going to join the Ravelry group for this book and thought it might be fun to have a loose knit-a-long here as well. I don't plan on making everything exactly as she does but since Ms. Zimmermann's patterns are more of a loose guide then an actual pattern I don't think she will mind.
Is anyone interested in joining in? For May it is mittens. Knitting up lots of mittens for next winter. I have a few mitts I'd like to knit for myself and I wouldn't mind getting a head start on some mittens for my babes. I'm still going to have other projects going as well but mitts don't take too long and it would be nice to start the winter season with a basket full of woolly mitts ready. As far as a spring knit, mitts are kind of perfect as they won't be a hot mess of wool taking up too much room and they are easy to tote around. Anyone interested? I am going to post some links to a few free patterns, so go stash bust (you know you have some yarn somewhere that isn't going to get used if you don't go grab it now) and let's make some mittens.

Convertible fingerless mitts to mittens here. Dashing for him. Fetching for her. Some manly mittens. Color work mittens for her. Some gloves might be nice. Children mittens with a cable. Of course the much blogged about evangeline mitts. And for for the more industrious knitter some long fair isle mitts from Classic Elite. And for the super adventurous go here for stitch patterns and make up your own.

Happy Knitting everyone!

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