Mitten variations

My friend Lee Ann did some experimenting with mittens, using my Fitted Mittens pattern as a starting point. She followed the pattern with the first mitten, but used a worsted weight yarn. The mitten turned out great, but with the thinner yarn, it fits a child's hand.



Then she made another mitten, but made the wrist longer and turned up the hem, like the cuff of a hat.



Being a new loom knitter, she had a little trouble with the short rows and flat bind off at the fingertips, so she tried the gathered method instead.



Then she made a mitten on the red loom and felted it. It also had the gathered bind off.



They all turned out well, and she now has a nice stash of Patons® Rumor yarn she plans to use to make many Christmas gifts of mittens!

I wore a pair of my mittens while out Trick or Treating tonight. They kept my hands comfortable in the 31-degree weather for the three hours we were outside (we had a bonfire after collecting candy on horseback). If you're unsure what size to make the mittens, I would definitely make them on the smaller side!

Provo Craft's Sweater pattern

Provo Craft has a sweater pattern, but the instructions are only for size L-XL. My daughter liked the sweater, and she is a ladies' size S-M. She asked me to make it for her.



I modified the instructions as follows:

Using the round yellow loom, I cast on 36 pegs, plus two pegs as turn-around pegs. I knit 60 rows for each of the front and back pieces.

For the sleeves, I cast on the same number of pegs, and I knit 44 rows.

I assembled the sweater as described in the pattern, which did not have the referenced diagram. The sides of the sleeve rectangles get attached to the cast off edges of the front and back pieces. The first 14 rows of the sleeves were sewn together as underarm seams. The sleeves can be lengthened or shortened by knitting more or fewer rows.

Allegra was uncomfortable with the depth of the V neck. So I knitted a 3-peg I-cord, which I laced in the bottom 4" or so of the V, and she was quite pleased. The V could be decreased by using less pegs for the sleeve pieces, but you don't want the body pieces to ride into the underarm area. The base of the V could also be seamed closed for 3" or so without any awkward pulling of the fabric. OTOH, the V could be made deeper by using more pegs on the loom; I think it would be attractive with the seam below the bust line.

For this sweater, I used 2-1/2 (7 oz, 364 yd) skeins of Red Heart Super Saver worsted weight yarn. I estimate that to make the size L-XL sweater, you'd need 3 skeins.

The sweater knit up very quickly; I spent maybe 15 hours on it, including assembly. The twisted knit (e-wrap) stitch with two strands of worsted weight yarn would not be among my top choices, but people who saw the sweater in progress liked the "different textured" look of it. I did finish all the edges with a single crochet stitch per the intructions, but it did nothing to stop the curling edges. Fortunately, my daughter likes it that way.



Sorry about how little detail shows in the pictures, what can you do when a girl's favorite color is black?

Hot Cup Sleeve

I'm working on some more involved projects, but the snow flurries inspired me to make this Hot Cup Sleeve. After my daughter went horseback riding yesterday, she asked to get a hot drink on the way home. The well known coffee chain location neglected to give us a sleeve for the hot drink, so my idea was born.

These would be perfect for camping trips, or sharing that thermos of hot chocolate with the soccer teammates!



The pattern is available on my website.