Warm Woolen Mittens

The Sound Of Music-inspired Warm Woolen Mittens are now finished and ready for the queueing. I put the finishing touches on their pattern yesterday.

Here's the back -- all Austrian twisted stitch cloister windows and stylized alps covered in edelweiss blossoms:
...and the palm, with its semi-concealed thumb and black thumb-tip:
As I'm Miss October 2010 in the Yarn4Socks Not So Sock Club, the pattern is now available for order as part of a kit right over here. In addition to a copy of the pattern the kit also includes one skein each of O-Wool Classic 2-ply in Natural and Coal to make the mittens. If you'd prefer to just pick up the pattern, I will be selling copies on Ravelry starting on 1 November 2010.

Fancy some Pints Socks?

This should make some of you very happy indeed: if all goes as planned today, I will be seeing the end of the Socks With Pints On sometime tonight. Here they are, so far:At this rate, the pattern should be out by the end of this week (or possibly even sooner.) Regardless, it will be in plenty of time for Socktoberfest 2010.

Keep those fingers crossed.

The hills are alive

As hinted at in my last post, I'm going to be Miss October in yarn4socks' Not So Sock Club 2010. The theme this year is Classic Movies, and my contribution is mittens (of course) based on The Sound of Music.

Here they are, so far:I'm calling them "Warm Woolen Mittens," and they've been Ravelled here. The yarn is o-wool's Classic 2-ply in Natural and Coal.

And just because I can't resist (and because he's currently asleep on my leg,) here's a picture of Pookie taken today after his morning bath:

Have a lovely weekend...I'm off to tangle with yarn.

Mittens-to-be

I received this big box of loveliness mere minutes ago:So many beautiful skeins of delicious Sunday Knits yarns. Thank you so much, Carol!

This yarn will be put to good use, of course, in the form of four new mitten patterns. One of those four will be my annual free pattern for the 2010 holidays, and another will be released as the Offical Mitten of NaKniMitMo 2011 (you may remember that Anna's Mittens were the Official Mitten of NaKniMitMo 2010.)

Time to get to work. In a scant few weeks I'm fixing to be Miss October. More details on that soon.

Gnome Socks are out!

The Gnome Socks are out, right on time!Now you can wear gnomes on your toes! You've been waiting a long time for this!

These are the sock variant of my Gnome Mittens. You can grab the pattern here on Ravelry and in my Etsy shop (soon.)

Because as they say: "Happiness is a warm gnome."

Gnome socks: On the way

Gnome socks. If not tonight, then tomorrow. Regardless, in plenty of time for the long weekend.Stay tuned.

Schnecken = Snail Mittens!

Some people despise snails in their gardens, but I just love the little guys! It turns out that a having a pretty shell is all it takes to improve one's PR.

I give you Schnecken -- mittens with snails on:These mittens feature six of my favourite gastropods snailin’ it up in the garden. Perfect for those winter days when the garden is just a fond memory and the snails are snuggled down under their leaf-litter duvets, waiting for spring. Grab the pattern here, on Ravelry.
Now I find I'm feeling a distinct sense of freedom, which couldn't be further from the truth (at least as far as my knitting is concerned.) I have some gnomes to see to...and a few other tricks as well.

A better view...

...of the snails, that is.As tinyowlknits would put it, "these snails are just crawlin' along."

Regardless, watch for the new mitten pattern soon.

Flamingo Mittens

You may have heard this already, but if not......here it is: the Flamingo Mittens' pattern is now available. Please note that the pattern also includes instructions on how to make fingerless Flamingo mitts as well.

The yarns I used here are from Sunday Knits. The Main Colour is the 3-ply Eden in Pickle and the Contrast Colour is the 3-ply Angelic in Peach. Believe me when I say that the colours are even more delicious in person.

You can pick it up here on Ravelry, and (eventually) in my Etsy shop (soon.)Yes, these mittens feature everyone's favourite long-legged, lawn-dwelling, plastic-feathered friend, the ornamental flamingo. Fun, kitschy, vintage-inspired handwear for the upcoming winter (seriously, the whole time I was reminded of my grandmother's Corelle dishes.)

Kitsch this

And now for something...kitschy:It's a plastic flamingo/mitten mashup, as overseen by Schnecke. Expect the pattern within the week.

First it was (and still is) gnomes, and now plastic flamingos? I must have a subconscious affinity for lawn ornaments.

Get Balearique (Socks!)

The Balearique Socks' pattern has just been released!Believe me when I say that I am over the moon. This is the most fun you can have with teeny, tiny cables without driving yourself completely bonkers.

Please note that one gets a bit of (what I consider to be) a break while working the foot of these socks; the twisties get less complicated and are even easily-memorized.

The best part? These are sized for Gentlemen's feet (but easily converted to the Ladies' size by changing needles.) If you've been searching for that perfect pair of fancy socks to make for someone special (even if that person is yourself,) these are the socks for you.

As was mentioned in a previous post, this particular pair has gone off to live with Chris Coco, the inspiration for the socks, himself.

The pattern is available here on Ravelry (now,) and in my Etsy shop (soon.)

Cupcakes or Gnomes? Answer and win!

ETA: The voting is now closed. Thanks to everyone who participated!

The Strawberry socks are going to be finished today (and the pattern will be released very, very soon,) but one vital question remains:

Who would win in a fair fight..?

Cupcakes......or gnomes??I'm turning both mitten patterns into sock patterns (yup, you heard me!) and I'm trying to decide which to work first, but I just can't choose. I'm going to need your help on this one!

So! Leave your response to the question "Who would win in a fair fight -- cupcakes or gnomes" (and the creative reasoning behind your decision, if you like) below in the comments and I'll randomly select a commenter to win a copy of both sock patterns as soon as they are released (remember that each pattern retails for $6 USD.) The polls will close on Saturday, 24 July at 8 a.m. EST.

Who will it be? Cupcakes or gnomes?

Socks take flight

ETA: The socks have made it to their recipient and he loves them! I just heard (literally) this morning and you can too, as Chris mentions them (and me) on Melodica, his weekly online radio show. Listen here: Melodica 19 July 2010 (1st anniversary special) -- the socks and I are mentioned shortly after the 5-minute mark. We're also on his blog.I'm pleased to report that the Balearique Gentleman's Socks were completed(!) and duly posted off to England about a week ago. They should be arriving at their final destination shortly, if they haven't already (fingers crossed.)I hope their recipient is/will be as pleased with them as I am.

As for you, my dear sock enthusiasts, I hope to have the pattern out (featuring both gentlemen's and ladies' sizing, achieved by switching needle sizes,) this week (by 24 July at the latest.)

Published, for reals

This arrived in the mail the other day:It's the new book 60 Quick Knits. As I'm a fan of workhorse yarns like Cascade 220, I love books like this. Of course, I have an extra reason to be a fan of this publication. Turn to page 100 (a nice round number,) and you'll understand.Those are my mittens and pattern in print, in an actual book. They're the Cables and Stripes Mittens and you can queue them up on Ravelry here.They're ideal for using up wee bits of 220 that you may have hanging around.

As if this wasn't already fancy enough (and for me, it really is,) another surprise revealed itself when I flipped the book over:My mitts made the back cover. Nice!

Gnome Mittens are live

I released the Gnome Mittens last night!As is (mostly) usual, the pattern also includes instructions to make Gnome Fingerless Mittens as well. There are full-colour charts, large pictures and detailed instructions, all wrapped up in a nice 5-page .pdf (also as usual.) Grab your copy here, on Ravelry. Give it a day or two to appear in my Etsy shop.

The Gnome Mittens are finished!

The title says it all! The Gnome Mittens have been Ravelled, of course.

The back:

...and the palm:The pattern will be out very, very soon!

There are new mittens and they have strawberries on

I am not making this up:They're even half-finished (and they've been Ravelled) -- not bad for an afternoon's work! Just call it my ode to "cute culture." I need to see this strawberry motif on legwarmers.

As for the next pair of mittens...well. They're on the way! They're distinctly darker in theme and motif and I love them already. I hope you will, too.

What's next

This week has been a crazy one, to say the least. Firstly, I finished off the last two pairs of L'Amour et la Morte socks (Ravelled) for the Antique Beat Boutique (more on that later,) and then I received these in the mail:Beautiful yarn from White Oak Studios in Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Italian Job. The colours are super-saturated and the yardage is generous, so of course I'm in love and dreaming of mittens. With any luck, today that dreaming will turn into doing as I've got a brand new mitten pattern fresh out of the stu-gee-oh and I'm keen to cast on.

Of course I'm doing lots of dreaming these days, mainly of activities of this nature:Soon, soon...and hopefully with one of these.

And just to warn you, there are other new things on the way.

Feathered Friends + Etsy update

A wee taste of what I'm up to now:The Feathered Friends Mittens. More details soon, as they become available.

Oh, and the Cupcake Mittens and the Pear Mittens are now up in my Etsy shop. Other patterns will be turning up there shortly.

Pizzelle socks are now live

Pizzelle is live, just in time for the holidays:Whimsical socks with a large floral motif, reminiscent of the floral/snowflake patterns seen on Pizzelle cookies. For added interest they have striped soles and contrasting cuffs and heels.

Don’t care for sportweight socks? Substitute a comparable amount of fingering weight yarn and use US 3 (3.25 mm) needles to produce lighter footwear.

Pick the pattern up on Ravelry or in my Etsy shop.

The pattern is a clear, concise, 4-page .pdf file with large charts and images, as usual.

And the rest:

Size: Women’s Medium (or any foot/leg that is 8” in circumference.)

Gauge: 7 stitches = 1 inch (2.5 cm) in Stockinette st.

Yarn: 2 skeins each of Knit Picks Telemark (103yd / 50 g) in Chestnut (Main Colour – MC) and Passion Heather
(Contrast Colour – CC,) or any other comparable sport weight yarns that complement each other.

Needles: One set of five (5) double pointed needles in US 2 (2.75 mm) or size necessary to obtain gauge.

Notions: A stitch marker to mark beginning of round (optional,) and a sewing needle to weave in ends.

Skills Needed: Increasing and decreasing, knitting in the round, stranded knitting, twisted stitches, and chart reading.