Norwegian Christmas Rose Mittens

When I was ready to take these pictures, we were just
getting our first snowfall. Can you see the snowflake?

Someone I know recently moved from the area. I knew I would have to knit her a farewell gift.

I wanted it to be cashmere - more luxury than she would normally permit herself and yet not fussy. (I know the labels always say to dry clean but cashmere is surprisingly resilient. The dry cleaning chemicals are actually bad for the fibers and will leave them "crunchy" while an easy soak at home will generally do the job.)

I also had in mind that it should be something that took skill - colourwork or intricate lace. I didn't want a "quick" project to be dashed off the needles without a thought. Not having ever seen her wear something around her neck, I settled on mittens. I figure everyone needs something for their hands in cold weather.

I couldn't find exactly what I wanted so I used parts of two patterns and made up the rest.

The flower design on the back of the mitten was taken from the Drop's Design Christmas Rose pattern. I had to adjust it to fit the gauge I got.

The design on the palm of the mitten was taken from Jessica Tromp's Norwegian Mittens. From the same pattern, I used the wrist design.

I added the Latvian braid before and after the wrist section. You'll notice I mirrored the flower design and braid from the left mitt to the right mitt because why wouldn't you.

The stripes along the side of the mitts are kept continuous through the decreases at the top. I worked the final decrease so that the pale blue stripe at the center carries continuously from the one side to the other.

I kept the striped thumb of the first pattern and made the stripe carry across the top in the same way.

Here is the inside of the mitts, for those of you who can't resist looking at the "wrong side".

Probably the biggest change I made from the patterns is the garter rib cuff. I wanted the look of a corrugated rib, which is a rib where the knits are in one colour and the purls are in a second colour. The problem with it is that even though it's technically a "ribbing" stitch, it doesn't have any stretch to it.

So instead, I cast on 15 stitches and worked them in a garter stripe (alternating two rows of each colour), attaching the end to the beginning when it was long enough. Then I picked up stitches along the edge and knit the mittens up from there.

The double layer of cashmere is warm and cosy without being too thick. Now I'm thinking I need a pair for myself. :)

Project Stats
Started: 26 Nov '17
Finished: 3 Dec '17
Patterns: Drop's Design Christmas Rose and Jessica Tromp's Norwegian Mittens
Materials: 35 g darker blue and 61 g light blue, both raveled from sweaters. I used four strands held together.

Bella's Mittens

It didn't take long! I have finished Bella's Mittens.

They are lovely. (I can say that because that's complimenting the designer, Marielle Henault, not me!)

The pattern was very well written. I would prefer to follow a chart, but made do with the line by line instructions.

The mittens did come up a little short so I added a few rows to the top and spread out the decreasing. [*Details below.] I also added two rows to the thumb.

The mitten shaping and proportion fit the hand and arm wonderfully, especially the smooth thumb gusset. Very comfortable.

The wool had felt quite itchy when I tried the mittens on, pre-blocking.

Once blocked, however, they are soft and not at all irritating. I made sure to stretch them a bit during the blocking (length and width) and they fit even better now.

Project Stats
Started: 30 Jan 10
Finished: 2 Feb 10
Pattern: Bella's Mittens by Marielle Henault (free)
Materials: 115 grams from
J Crew Sweater (~$1.50)

I think I mentioned that as soon as I had unraveled this sweater, I was inspired (one might say driven) to make Bella's Mittens from it. And I think it did turn out to be a beautiful match. But once they were done, I let myself realize that the long mittens won't fit with any of my jackets. The beautiful salmon red colour doesn't match my red winter coat. (Like, at all.)

This was more of a "process" knit than a "final result" knit. I really enjoyed making them, and seeing the project through. I did not despair what would happen to them...with impeccable timing, someone from church asked if I had anything I could donate for a silent auction for the youth group. Why, yes, yes I do!

Happy bidding!

_________________________

*Mods after row 80:

Row 81: K12, P2, K6, P1, move final stitch to beginning of next needle
Row 82: K2tog, K10, ssk, P1, K6, move final stitch to beginning of next needle

Row 83: K2tog, K10, ssk, K6

Row 84: K3, ssk, K2, K2tog, K3, K6

Row 85: K3, ssk, K2tog, K3, K6

Row 86: K2, K2tog, ssk, K2, K6

Row 87: K6 (only do half the round)

Kitchener the stitches together

Vinterblomster Mittens

Just in time, I have finished the Vinterblomster mittens! (Spoiler alert is off--if you haven't received them yet, then sorry but you're not getting them.)

I had a stage I went through when I made a lot of gloves, but I don't think I've ever really done mittens. I've found this flat style with a peasant thumb very appealing. And Heidi's bloom pattern is very pretty--hard to resist!

I had the pleasure of giving them to my sister on Saturday. We happened to pick each other's names in the family so it was fun to exchange gifts with each other. (We're both stuck in the same part of the country while the rest of the family is back home in Canada.)

The knitting was done on Thursday (the 24th), so I pushed myself to block them that night.
Setting them up by the heater again, they were dry by morning.
And now that you've seen the "good" sides (top and bottom), I'll show you the inside:
The first thing any self-respecting knitter does to something they admire is to turn it inside out! (It's really funny to see, but it's true.) All the yarn carried across the back helps to make the glove thicker and warmer. There were six stitches in between the vertical stripes which is too far to carry the yarn over. Especially inside a glove where fingers and rings may get caught on long loops. So I had to catch the non-working yarn in between the stripes. I just alternated between doing it after 2, 3, and 4 stitches. (You don't want to do it at the same point on every row or it will show through to the front.)

The pattern was good and charts clear, but I did have one issue with it. There was a leaf left hanging when you pick up the thumb according to the charts.

Project Stats
Started: 28 Nov 09
Finished: 24 Dec 09
Pattern: Vinterblomster Mittens by Heidi Mork (free)
Materials: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, 1 skein each 36nsChocolate ($11) and 630Bittersweet ($11.50)You can see the half leaf in the yellow circle. On the same thumb, you'll notice the pattern of the leaves (alternating from side to side) is interrupted as well. On the other thumb (pictured on right), I fixed both issues. Removed the half leaf and reversed the chart so that the leaf pattern continues smoothly from the back of the thumb onto the body of the mitten. (It wasn't quite worth it to me to go back and fix the first thumb after I noticed the problem.)

I also wanted to show off the outline stitching:

The contrast yarn makes a pretty edge, almost like piping. I'm showing it off because it took some work and care to make it come out right. It flows from the body right onto the thumb, just like it should. Clever designer, that Heidi Mork.

One last look...
Now wave bye-bye because they're off to their new owner and you may never see them again.