Gloves/Mittens

Evja Mittens

By Sheetar 8 March 2023 4 March 2023

Evja Mittens
Started: 28 Jan 2022
Finished: 5 Feb 2022
Pattern: Evja Mittens by Skeindeer Knits
Yarn: Locust Hollow Alpaca/Sheep in natural colors black and white
Needle: US 4 / 3.5 mm and US 6 / 4mm
Notes: I picked up the yarn from local farmers market friends and calculated it was somewhere around a DK based on the number of wraps per inch and the weight of the skein and reported yardage. The white skein clocked in at about 14 wpi and was 4.2 oz (1.9 oz remaining at the end) while the black skein was about 12 wpi weighed 4.7 oz (2.4 oz remaining at the end). Both were listed as approx 200 yard skeins. Overall, this was a pretty quick knit, I found the needle sizes to be spot on for the yarn and pattern, the length and width fit perfectly, and the blend of sheep and alpaca fibers make for a delightfully warm and comfortable pair of mittens! So, now here’s where I admit that as much as I respect the Norwegian thumb and the history of the knitting tradition, I deeply dislike how they fit and sit on the hands. Our thumbs sprout out the side of our palm, not the center, so the Norwegian style thumb where there gusset begins just off center of the palm tends to twist the pattern on the top of the hand when worn and it just _feels weird_ to me. Usually I’d hack the pattern and transition this to a “sore thumb” style (the thumb gusset starting on the side ‘seam’ of the mitten) instead, but I’ll be honest with you, it was a hell of a month and I thought just this once, I’d go ahead and do the pattern as written since I didn’t have the brain power to make the adjustment anyway. I mean, it’s okay, and they fit, and they’re really pretty, but it’s definitely not my preference when it comes to mittens. In the end, I’m still pretty damn proud of how they came out and will absolutely wear them tons!

Finished Objects, Gloves/Mittens, knitting

Bee Mittens

By Sheetar 14 May 2022 25 April 2022

Bee Mittens
Started: 28 Jan 2022
Finished: 5 Feb 2022
Pattern: Hey Bee-Otch Mittens by Drunk Girl Designs
Yarn: Valley Yarn Huntington in Mustard (0024) and Chocolate (B118) – 21 grams remaining of the yellow and 20 grams of the brown.
Needle: US 0 / 2 mm
Notes: Okay, so they’re not quite exactly to pattern, but as a beekeeper, I kind of wanted just plain bee mittens even though I deeply appreciate the bee pun. So, I repeated the “Bee” part from the left mitten to the right once I got to that point in the chart, otherwise I left everything the same in the pattern. I probably would knit the thumb another 5-6 rows longer (it was still a little short even after having added an additional 4 rows), and would swap out the thumb increases to run along the border to the mitten body instead of along the center outside of the thumb. The construction just feels wonky and fits weird? I’ve never done thumb increases this way and, it works, but it’s definitely not my preferred method. Also, the patterning on the thumb made the float situation a hot mess on the inside. If I knit these again, I’d probably just invert the design on the palm for the thumb to keep things tidier inside the thumb. There were lots of long floats in this pattern, so it involved a good deal of managing those floats while knitting and then futzing with the finished piece to pull the too-long ones into submission, but it’s 100% worth it for the final result. This designer does SUCH a gorgeous job on the colorwork designs and this is the second pattern of hers that I’ve knit, and I’m super happy with the finished mittens!

Gloves/Mittens

How Cold Is It?

By Sheetar 26 March 2022 13 March 2022

How Cold Is It Mittens
Started: 13 Jan 2022
Finished: 24 Jan 2022
Pattern: How Cold Is It Mittens by Drunk Girl Designs
Yarn: KnitPicks Palette in colorways B961 (Light Blue) and 2425 (Dark Blue) – used just about half a skein of each
Needle: US 0 / 2 mm
Notes: This is now the second time I’ve knit these mittens and these ones went to a friend as a holiday present. It’s not too often that I knit for other people, but there are some folks who are absolutely knit-worthy! Most of the time I’m knitting for just me because it is a sizable amount of time, energy, and cost that can go into producing a knitted object. You’re damn right I’m going to do that for myself! There’s a longer conversation here that I saw on Twitter about men’s vs women’s craft/hobby endeavors and how women are called selfish if they engage in a craft or hobby for themselves while that’s not said of men.. and also a conversation about how I knit for the enjoyment of knitting and don’t need to monetize it and sell what I create in order to make it valid and worthwhile. Buuuut anyway, back to the mittens! I had to check back to my notes when I knit the first pair, and I did indeed go down 2 needle sizes to a size 0 since I tend to knit a bit loose in colorwork and the pattern called for a US size 2 which seemed way too big. I also always use a Norwegian Knitting Thimble for colorwork since I’m a continental knitter, and it works great to keep the yarn organized on my left hand without getting twisted or falling off my finger. The mittens came out a tiny bit tight straight off the needles, but after washing and laying out, the yarn loosened up a considerable amount and the fit is damn near perfect. The pattern also comes with a Norwegian style thumb, but I find that those twist the mitten funny when it’s being worn – our thumbs sprout out the side of the palm, not the center – so I switched up and added a “sore thumb” instead. For the thumb, I started increasing every other row at the edge of the mitten body starting at row 3 of the mitten chart till I got to 25 stitches and then slipped those onto a holder and backwards cast on 1 stitch. When it came time to work the thumb, I picked up 5 extra stitches along the thumb ‘crotch’ for a total of 30, then worked the thumb till it was long enough, decreased, and cast off. This is absolutely my favorite mitten thumb type to knit and IMHO, it fits the best without twisting or distorting the pattern while wearing the mittens. Uncensored version below the jump!

Continue reading“How Cold Is It?”

Gloves/Mittens, knitting

Night Owl Mittens

By Sheetar 18 September 2014 24 April 2023

Actual knitting content on the blog! Fear not, even though there have been a lack of posts about knitting and spinning, I’ve still been doing both. It’s just a lack of time to photograph the finished objects! But I have one here, and there will hopefully be more to post in the next few weeks. They knit up in three days (about 5 hours in the evenings after dinner and before bed), and used about 225 yards between the two colors (125 of the blue and 100 of the yellow). The yarn is a nice, densely spun wool completely sourced and produced in the USA from Rambouillet sheep, using natural dyes that surprisingly didn’t bleed when I gave these a wash and block. The yarn has incredible stitch definition and feels really sturdy which is perfect for mittens. I only made one big modification to the pattern – I switched the thumb to a “sore thumb” instead of the charted traditional Selbu Thumb since I find a sore thumb fits better. A pretty easy modification to make, just shifting the thumb gusset placement over a few stitches. Speaking of the thumb, I love that cute little owl worked into the thumb chart. Really happy with how these came out between the colors and the fit! Finished them just in time for the slow creep of Fall’s chill.

Pattern: Night Owl Mittens
Designer: Jorid Linvik
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) for the cuff, US 2 (2.75mm) for the mitten body
Yarn: HiKoo by Skacel American B.R.A.N.D. in Yellowstone (Yellow-108) and Hawaii Volcanoes (Blue-102)
–Ravelry Project Link–

Gloves/Mittens, knitting

End of May Mittens

By Sheetar 12 March 2014 16 January 2022

I’m REALLY pleased with how these mittens came out! The yarn was purchased at Purls of Wisdom in Kimberton, PA with the intent to make mittens at some point. Finally, I grabbed the yarn, found a pattern, and went to work. I managed to churn these out in five days (worsted weight mittens go pretty quickly even in colorwork), and have been wearing them since mid-January when they were finished. As usual, I’m super late posting these to the blog, but you know that’s nothing new. 🙂Yarn: Ella Rae Classic Superwash in colorway 15 (orange-rust color) and 19 (cream color). Lining is Alpaca from a friend’s farm.
Needles: US 3 (3.25mm)
Pattern: End of May Mittens by Mandy Powers
–Ravelry Project Link–
Notes/Modifications: The pattern originally called for the lining to only extend up about an inch or two from the cuff. I went ahead and used the same directions for the outer mitten minus the colorwork for the lining. It came out a little bit wide (there is some wrinkled-up fabric inside the mitten), but not enough that it’s unbearable. They blocked out to the perfect size for my hands! The alpaca actually came from a co-worker of the husband’s who owns an alpaca farm. It’s really luscious stuff and makes the mittens extra warm – perfect for the cold winter we’ve had!

Gloves/Mittens, knitting

Ingress Mittens

By Sheetar 5 November 2013 23 March 2021

When I received my invitation code on January 16, 2013, I had no idea what was waiting for me – this virtual, alternate reality game was something bigger than I ever expected. When I first picked up my scanner, it was cold, but not so bad, and hey, Spring was not too far off in the Philadelphia area, and I still had a lot to learn about the game. The mittens were an idea from the beginning since I’d been knitting for a number of years and thought it might be fun to combine my new obsession with an old one. I made Level 8, and summer came and went with the idea still percolating. Finally, Fall arrived and while the days were getting cooler, I was charting out the design for these mittens. The final design incorporates the Resistance Key on the top of the hand and the Ingress logo on the palm side of the mittens using blobs of XM to balance out the pattern and fill in spaces, preventing longer floats. The resulting pattern fits an average sized Resistance woman’s hand, and expects an intermediate skill level as well as prior experience with stranded knitting on DPNS in the round. I’m offering this pattern for free as per the guidelines set forth by Ingress that allow for fan-created artwork. Sorry folks, no Enlightened pattern is in the works, VIVA LA RESISTANCE!

[EDIT, 5 Nov 2013: Enlightened chart available, due to popular demand! Follow same directions for Resistance mittens, substituting Enlightened chart – LINK (pdf)]

Alternative chart with dark lines – LINK (pdf)

The portal in the image to the left is that of the statue of David Reeves in Reeves Park, Phoenixville, PA, USA. The park was, and still is, Phoenixville’s public square. Gifted to the community in 1871 by Phoenix Iron Company founder David Reeves in his will, the park is an active Ingress battleground, having been a Flash Farm for both factions a number of times. Founder David Reeves was so loved by his employees that they decided, unanimously, to place a statue in his memory at the center of the park shortly after his death. [Portal Link]

Many thanks to agent Sensalia for acting as a hand model, to Abbie for proofreading, and to PAIR for being the best Resistance team ever. Keep Warm and Hack On!

Ravelry Pattern Link (Removed March 2021 due to Ravelry’s lack of attention to accessibility)
Ravelry Project Link (Removed March 2021 due to Ravelry’s lack of attention to accessibility)
Pattern Download (pdf)

Cowls, Gloves/Mittens

Mittens and a Cowl

By Sheetar 12 March 2013 12 March 2013

I get so good at blogging and then fall off the wagon for a while. To be fair, we’ve had a bad few months with lots of grief and loss, so the blog has been less important lately. Anyway, I do have another spun-to-finished project to show off. Well, two, really, from the same batch of yarn/fiber.

The fiber is Koigu braided roving, and is 100% Targhee fiber. This was acquired at the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival in 2010, and I LOVE the fiber.
It’s really light and sproingy, so I managed to spin 500 yards from the 100 grams.
Finally, the two finished objects made from the same skein of yarn. One pair of Broad Street Mittens, and one Moebius Cowl. Both were easy knits, and simple, because I wanted the colors to show themselves off more than the pattern. They’re both patterns I’ve knit before, so it was easy, and I made a few small modifications along the way (as you do when you’ve knit a pattern multiple times and know just how to fit it to your peculiarities). Very pleased with how they both came out. I knit the mittens first and then the cowl second, using up every inch of the yarn which means it’s a little short, but does the job well enough!

Gloves/Mittens

Owlie Gloves

By Sheetar 7 February 2012 7 February 2012

Owlie Gloves! They’re just too cute, and a great way to use up my growing stash of handspun.

First, the Fiber:

Fiber is by Gnomespun and is Polwarth in colorway, “Hidcote” – I picked this up at Rhinbeck in October 2010

Second, the spun yarn:

Yarn was chain plied, and came out to 328 yards. It probably falls between worsted and DK and is pretty slubby and uneven, but it’s got a very handspun quality to it which is perfect for gloves. The unevenness seems to disappear, especially when knit at a smaller/tighter gauge. The yarn is lofty and squishy and perfect for gloves.

Thirdly, the gloves!:

Pattern is Owlie Mitts that I added fingers to so that I’d have gloves. I love fingerless gloves and mitts, but really, it’s my fingers that get cold, and adding fingers to mitts is pretty easy! They fit perfectly. The gauge is pretty tight (think knitting a thick DK yarn on US 1.5 needles), but there’s no way the cold is getting in through these. The beads were sewn on later rather than knitted in since I didn’t have the crochet hook or floss necessary to add them during the knitting. No big deal. Here’s the Ravelry Project Link if you want to see my short bit of notes.