Machine Knit Norwegian Mitten Quest

Pretty as they are, I guess these have to be considered a test sample.  For my average women's hand, there are some adjustments that need to be made.  The cuff isn't long enough for my liking.  Should be 2-3 inches longer so they're more like a gauntlet.  The thumb is a couple stitches too wide and long.  And, the whole mitt is 1/2 inch too wide.  At least I got the techniques down pat that I want to use.  They actually aren't very easy to knit-- getting things back in pattern, for example, after the thumb is knit.  And, if you don't like seaming, these aren't for you.  I designed them in DAK, so making the changes is super simple.  Gotta give 'em a rest for a while, though, and try again some other time.  After knitting  6 or 7 (I lost track) thumbs before one turned out ok, my patience is worn thin.

Last night at the guild meeting there was a huge participation in the mitten/hat/scarf challenge.  There were some good ones and some interesting ones and some freakishly odd ones.  Getting a good looking mitten isn't so easy.  The freakishly odd ones gave us a good laugh.  Something we evidently needed while the wind howled outside and the temps were way below zero fahrenheit.  The guild members rose to the challenge and knit mittens for the Hennepin County Burn Center this month.  I think there were about 30 pairs to donate.  (They go on top of bandages so need to be extra roomy.)  Mary Ann, our charity chairperson, had a final total for 2013.  There were 1100+ items donated to local charities.  I believe that's a record for us and given this winter's personality, they'll be used.

It's actually above zero today AND the sun is shining, an unusual combination for us.  Woo Hoo.  Tomorrow it's back to the deep freeze.  More knitting on the way.

Machine Knit Baby Mittens

Our guild's challenge this month is to knit mittens and, if successful, a scarf and hat to match.  It's supposed to be something we haven't done before, which isn't easy to come up with if you've been knitting a long time.

I'm wanting to knit traditional Norwegian mittens on the machine, with a design on both the back and the palm and a pointed tip. (A different pattern on each half.)  Sounds easy, but takes a little figuring out.  I did do a Norwegian mitt for Knitwords a few years ago, but I'd like to perfect it.  There are lots of free Norwegian mittens out there on the internet, but they mostly require a different gauge and they're hand knit, and knit in the round.  The different gauge is easy enough to calculate and design in DAK, but on my machines, one can't knit a fairisle pattern in the round without a lot of hand manipulating.  So, I've knit a few adult sized ones to practice, but I'm not a happy camper yet.  Will post when I have it mastered.

I'll probably keep on with my Norwegian mitten quest rather than knitting a scarf and hat to match.

If you want to knit these baby mitts, sans thumb, here's the recipe.

     Yarn:  any that knits to about 7 st x 10 rows to the inch.
     Machine:  standard gauge, no ribber required
     Directions:
     Cast on 40 st with waste yarn and knit a few rows.  With main yarn Tension 6, knit 10 rows.       Change to T 7 and knit 10 rows.  Hang a hem from the first row of main yarn.  Remove the waste yarn now or later. RC000. Knit 4 rows plain then a little 4 row fairisle pattern. (See below if you want to use mine.) Knit to RC18.  Either take 1/2 the stitches off on waste yarn or put 1/2 into hold to knit the first half of the tip.  If hold, set machine to hold.  Do a *full fashioned decrease both sides by moving stitch 3 to stitch 2 and moving the 2 stitches toward the center.  Knit 2 rows.*  Continue until you have just a few st left (can't remember if it's 4 or 3), decrease and bind off.  Return the other half to working position and finish the same as the first half.  For the don't -lose 'm -cord, knit a 3 stitch I cord at T 3 for 260 rows (24").  I got the 24 inch measurement from standard garment styling in DAK for newborns.  Guess I could have made it a little longer just to be safe.  Next time.  Mattress stitch the side seam taking care to take only one stitch each side so that when you get to the tip, you can still see the nice ff decreases.  Securely attach the cord on the outside of each mitt, hide any ends.

Here's a diagram of how I constructed them:

Here's the little fairisle pattern:

Our guild knits and donates baby items, so that's where these will go.  Super easy not having to do a thumb.   You could knit these on any gauge machine.  The height for a newborn is about 3.5" and the width folded is about 2.25 inches.

I had a fabulous time in sunny southern California.  The night I returned home it was 95 degrees difference between there and here.  Hard to believe it's the same planet.

  Luca loved his little kitchen and all that went with it.  Since I returned home,  it has warmed up a bit, but today the winds bring the feel of the temp way down.    Guess I'll just stay in and knit.  I'm knitting 9 more Minnetonka High School ski team hats, so that keeps me out of trouble.  That's 20 for the year for new team members and family.  Would love to have a picture of them all in their hats, but I don't think that's going to happen.

Hope you are staying warm wherever you are.  If you have knit Norwegian mittens on your machine, I'd love to hear from you! 

Personalized scarf - Machine knit

It's hard to find gifts for men--I think---so I decided to knit my nephew a scarf with some things pertaining to him on it.  I'm lazy so the pictures are from my scanner, which is easier to get to than my camera and download cord.

 It's fun to design things like this in DesignaKnit.  It took a couple of hours to decide what the design should be but also only 2 hours to knit it start to finish.  It's 9" wide and 7 feet long, doubled.  He doesn't like wool, so it's plain ol' Mary Lou's Symphony (acrylic) yarn.The front side has the St. Olaf lion, the college he graduated from,  and the words "um ya ya", which is one of the college songs.  The other side of the front is our family cabin called "Biorn Bakken" with a fish on it because he is an avid fisherman.

 

The back has his initials, the words Norske, his high school, a skier and the word "uffda"

 Maybe you'd have to be Norwegian-American to get most of this, but he will.  

This is what the center of the scarf looks like, both sides.  Was relieved when the seaming came out ok!  This is maybe an idea for you if you have DesignaKnit and can whip one out in short order.

Take off your pants and knit, er sew, some swants

So goes the "ad".  Check this out:   http://westknits.com/index.php/2013/11/swants-tutorial/

Some people are so clever!  I love the look of the fairisle legs, but methinks the crotch shaping could use some help.

Machine Knit Fingerless Mitts

In addition to warm, felted mitts, I've machine knit two pairs of not-so-warm fingerless mitts.

 First, I did Diana Sullivan's fingerless mitts:
http://diananatters.blogspot.com/ 
My yarn was not as thick as hers, so after a couple of tries, I found I needed to add stitches and rows.  But the basic idea is good. I like the stretchiness of the English rib.  I made the top ribbing (toward the fingers and top of the thumb) tighter so they wouldn't flare out.   A friend suggested to buy some of those cheapo stretchy gloves and wear them underneath the fingerless mitts.  Then they'd go up on the warmth scale.  They are really fast to make.  Nice to have a quickie project like that.  Isn't it funny, though, how we machine knitters almost always have to adjust and tinker with a pattern ostensibly to make it better?

And the other ones----shield your eyes if you are a sensitive soul----contain the image of deer doing their thing.  I borrowed the idea from here:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fornicating-deer-chart   on Ravelry and (once again) changed the position of the deer so they'd be in the center of the mitt and fit my gauge.   I put the pattern into DAK.  The male needed to look a little more male in the antlers too.  I added a lot of snowflakes so there wouldn't be so many long floats on the inside.  Compared to the original, my deer look like they've spent a winter in Minnesota with not enough food.  If there's a next time, I'll make them a little heftier.    They are a stocking stuffer gift for a niece who will get a kick out of them.  The two mitts are identical, so she can always turn them so the palm side  is the public side...(the palm pattern is like the thumb)

How does she get such a nice cast on you ask?  I do the e-wrap thing.  Pull every other needle on the main bed all the way out and the opposite needles on the ribber.  The end needles are both on the main bed.  Then I start with a slip knot and loop for the first needle and e-wrap going back and forth between the beds.  Remember to e-wrap in the same direction you always do on the main bed and on the ribber go in front of the needle sticking up and around it.  After you get to the end, hang the cast on comb and weights.  Takes a little practice at first, but after a while is pretty automatic.  Just don't e-wrap too tightly or the first row will be hard to push.  I remember in the beginning when I first started using this method, my eyes would get kind of mesmerized/confused but now it's quick and easy.  Give it a try if you don't already use it and see if you like it better than the manual's method.  Looks a little more like a hand knit cast on and behaves better, in my opinion.  For the last row, I knit one loose row and did a loop through loop bind off.  Kind of matches the cast on.

If you'd like the pattern for the Oh Deer mitts, send me an email and I'll write it up for you.

Felted Embroidered Mittens

It's been soooooooooo cold here, a person doesn't want to go outside unless absolutely necessary.  Thank heavens the electricity and gas haven't quit on us.  So, rather than totally hibernating, thoughts are turning to knitting and making things to keep warm.  In addition, the next guild meeting has mittens for the program.  So, rather than plain ol' mittens, I'm trying something different.

Here's my first attempt at embroidered, felted mittens.

I was inspired by EvaL8's mitt on Ravelry:

  Hers are much more elegant than mine and look much more traditional. (She's Swedish.) I'm not so great at embroidery but I went back and got some tips from her description.  She uses the disappearing ink pen, like quilters use, to map out her design.  That would help a lot to get things in proportion and to get the two mitts to match, no easy feat.  She used a finer wool embroidery thread too.  I used yarn doubled, so mine look a lot more crude. I like the looks of the wide cuff, but the narrower one fits in my winter jacket better.  Hers are gorgeous.  Mine, not quite as much. O  well, first attempts are not always the greatest.

Her website is http://www.talamodspasen.blogspot.com/
Even if you don't speak Swedish, it's fun to see what she has knit.  She's really talented and prolific!!!

Anyway, back to my project.  I used an old mitten pattern meant for felting, but I see that I will need to adjust it too.  I like them roomy all together.   I especially like roomy thumbs and I think they are warmer than when the knitting hugs the thumb.  But it could be a few stitches narrower and a few rows shorter.  I might put them through one more wash and see what that does.  Every wool yarn felts differently, so sometimes it's necessary to knit things more than once to get them right.   I'll use the same yarn and try again.

With that all said, these will be perfect for taking the dog out.  She doesn't realize that the temps are cruel.  Being a keeshond, she LOVES the cold.  The colder, the better, silly thing.  And, whether it's cold or not, she still has to do her biz.  Have you ever seen so much fur?

Melissa and Doug

You may not have heard of this brand, but it's a company that makes adorable and durable kids' toys.  Wanted to show what I've cooked up :-) for my 2 yr old grandson for Christmas.  This is the kitchen;

It even has an oven, a little timer and a sink.  All pretend, of course.  I also got some pots and pans, utinsels and wooden food to go with it.  Then I made these:

I sewed a  2 year old sized chef's apron out of one of my husband's old shirts... guessed at the shape and size.  Then I knitted a cotton hot pad and little dish cloth.  My daughter said he's crazy about cooking at his pre-school, so I thought this bunch of stuff would be good.  Amazon ships the kitchen for free and I'll put the rest in my suitcase when I fly there for Christmas.  Just wanted to show off.  I think these things are sooooooooooooo cute.  And I hope he loves it all.