New pattern: Wrought Iris Mittens

The Wrought Iris Mittens pattern is now available for purchase!

If you've been following me on Instagram, you may have spotted these in their long and gradual process of being charted, written up, knit, unknit, reknit, until they were just right. They're finally here, and I'm very pleased.

The motif for these mittens was inspired by an image of a stylized Iris that has been reworked; intertwined with a memory of a wrought iron fence with the sunset glowing behind it. The result is a fun and elaborate-looking pair of stranded-knit mittens, the Wrought Iris Mittens glowing with the remembered light. Worked cuff up in the round using stranded colourwork, with a gusset worked in the palm that is set aside on waste yarn to be worked later for the thumb.

Finished Size: Women’s medium/large or Men’s small/medium 20 cm 8” palm circumference; 25.5 cm 10” total length.

Yarn: Ancient Arts Yarns Woof Collection 100% Superwash Blue Faced Leicester Wool 4 Ply (fingering/sockweight; 400m/437 yards per 100g 3.5 oz skein; 100% Blue Faced Leicester Wool), 1 skein in Golden Retriever (MC), 1 skein in Chocolate Lab (CC).

Or: Ancient Arts Yarns Woof Collection 75% Superwash Extra Fine Merino / 25% Silk - Fingering / Sock (fingering/sockweight; 400m/437 yards per 100g 3.5 oz skein; 75% Superwash Extra Fine Merino, 25% Silk), 1 skein in Golden Retriever (MC), 1 skein in Chocolate Lab (CC).

December Pattern Releases (In January...)

Hi, I've been away for a bit, mostly in order to keep hard at work meeting a deadline, and then a wee vacation after that. In the meantime, in December there were two new pattern releases to let you know about!

First, the Tricycle Track Mittens:

Photo by Dan Walmsley for Practical Publishing, used with permission.

Tricycle Track mittens, so called for the three stripes of garter stitch that resemble treads, are available in Issue 68 of Knit Now Magazine, which you can purchase here! The mittens are worked cuff-up in the round, using Knit Picks City Tweed DK.

Second, Nor Good Red Herring.

I started this one a long time ago, but finished it up in time to be my last pattern release of 2016. Nor Good Red Herring was inspired by a herringbone pattern from a Dutch fishing gansey, but has here been transposed onto a circular yoke more in keeping with an Icelandic-style sweater, and worked in a luxurious English-spun merino yarn—making it neither fish, nor fowl, nor good red herring. The herringbone pattern runs not only around the yoke, but also up the sides and mirrored on the sleeves. This pullover is worked in Yarn Stories Fine Merino 4ply, and can be purchased here.

What I Knit on My Summer Vacation

Next week will be my first full work week since June. It's not that I haven't worked during the summer, but things have slowed down quite a lot for while the kids were off school. Before we went camping, I shared what I was bringing with me to work on.

Here's what happened with that:

So, left to right:

-Socks knit with my handspun that I couldn't finish because I ran out of yarn too soon. Also, found it's not suitable for socks for a variety of reasons (which I suspected but ignored, since hey, they're just for me and I want to make them anyway). Any ideas what I should make with pink striped yarn? I could use a few suggestions!
No pattern for these, mostly just wishful thinking. I did swatch, but I didn't weigh the swatch or do any calculating, so I guess that's how it goes.

-Thrummed mittens. Still just one mitten. I prepared enough thrums for the second mitten, but brought the wrong needles with me, and still haven't gotten around to casting the next one on.
Pattern: Thrummed Mittens by Jennifer L. Appleby

-Chihuahua mittens: Cast-on second mitten, finished the braid (I changed the cuff slightly by adding this), stopped there.
Pattern: Tiny Dogs mittens by Therese Sharp

-Nephew's sweater: Finished! I wove-in the ends, and sewed on two buttons. I brought it with me to last week's knitting group session, and when I jokingly suggested one of the other members could sew on my buttons if she was between projects, she surprisingly enough said that she loves sewing on buttons, and did so. I am very grateful!
Pattern: Calaway by Jenny Wiebe

-Other Socks for me: Finished! I've even worn these a few times since. I'm running low on socks, so it's nice to have made some for myself. I even finished these on time for Carolyn's Summer Socks Kal, which made this even more fun.
Pattern: GG by Carolyn Macpherson 

What's up next? There's a whoooole lotta swatching going on:

Also, in the meantime, for September, I'm doing a drawing challenge in which I draw a sheep a day and then post them on Instagram using #sheepsketchaday. You can find my Instagram feed under @jessiemckitrick

Actual knitting content!

I've just last week finished a long series of work projects that started back in December, and I'm very much ready for a vacation. Very, very much. So much that even planning fun things, or adding anything to the to-do list fills me with dread, and enough that making simple decisions is difficult. Obviously I need a proper break, so I'm taking one. I've promised myself and my family that for the following week, I am not doing any work knitting, not even swatching. The fun knitting for the next while is this:

Left to right: Handspun (socks to be), thrummed mittens (1 of 2), stranded mittens (1 of 2), Nephew sweater (needs weaving-in ends, also needs buttons), socks (1 of 2). Will check notes so I can have all pattern names available here on a follow-up post in a few weeks once I've recuperated a bit more!

Lily Mittens Re-release!

Today I have re-released my Lily Mittens pattern!

Originally published in Knit Now Magazine #45, they're a lovely pair of fancy mittens. You can find more information on my patterns page (there's a tab to reach the patterns page at any time right below the blog header). The mittens are available via Ravelry and LoveKnitting.

To celebrate this re-release, and knitting season generally (sure I knit all year, but there's something special about it in the fall, right?) I have arranged a 25% off sale on Ravelry for my winter accessories patterns, running from October 1st to the end of October 15th (GMT). The included patterns are: Lily Mittens, Floral Heart Mittens, Popinjays, Penguin Mittens, Myshka Tuque, and Irish Cowboy.

Happy Knitting!

About a Year, and About a Week

It's been a long week, but it ended with a lovely package in the mail:

It's sample return time! It was delightful to open the package from Knit Now and find three samples that I had knit up to present my patterns that Knit Now have published in the past year. The Woodland Cardigan represents an important beginning for me, as it was my first third-party publication. It also marks a year since I have started working full-time (or, as full-time as I can during the kids' school hours and the occasional round of household errands and tasks) at knitwear design.

This week has featured an interruption to work; that of having a sick kid at home all week. She's well on the mend now though, and for that I am very thankful. I am also glad that I have been able to easily take that time with her due to my work being fairly flexible, and that if it was going to happen (and this kid is rarely ill), it happened during a slow week. Sure, there was a lot that I would have been working on, but none of it needed to be done this week exactly.

While spending time with my daughter, I did also make a bit of progress on a few non-work projects, such as on her socks that I've been meaning to make for awhile:

and, on a hat for a friend's baby (just need to weave-in those ends!), the pattern being garter and hearts by Amanda Keeys and it is knit in Et après by Plassard, colour 89. If it looks a bit big, it's meant for the 6 month and up size, as it's rather lovely out, so the baby shouldn't need it for awhile yet.

Also, I'm still spinning the blue silk. I'm getting rather close to the end of the singles, but it's still going. 25g has been taking longer than I thought, but it is a rather fine single (maybe not consistently fine, but I'm still happy), so it may be a few more days yet before I can start getting this organized for plying. No idea what I will make with this just yet, but it's certainly no rush to decide. I'm enjoying the spinning process and the feel and shine of that silk!

Mittens for Snow Days in May (and Other Snowy Months)

Yesterday, it snowed here in Edmonton.



That's not really all that unusual; in fact, I tend to refer to it as our annual surprise snowstorm. Sometimes it happens in April, sometimes as late as the last weekend of May.


I was ready to dress the kids in snowsuits and mittens on their way to school yesterday and today because I don't put those away until June 1st. I wore my stranded mittens myself, and thought, hey, what better time to release the Floral Mittens pattern on Ravelry?












You may remember these mittens from December, when they were published in the highly popular and Nordic-themed-knitwear-filled edition of Knit Now Magazine, issue #42. They are now available for sale on Ravelry here or you could just head over to my pattern page at this link.












Today, the flowers are covered in ice, and though by the weekend it will be spring again, today I am wearing mittens.

Lily Mittens-Knit Now #45

Knit Now Magazine hosts a regular Designer Challenge feature, in which designers are asked to come up with designs for a particular yarn on a tight timeline, to see what they can dream up.

My answer was to create this stranded-knit pair of mittens for Knit Now, and the pattern is out today in issue #45, (which is, by the way, bigger and better than ever) available online at this link.

Photo by Dan Walmsley for Practical Publishing, used with permission

I had a great time playing around with the motifs and re-arranging them to make the chart for this pattern, and enjoyed knitting them up with Truly Wool Rich 4-Ply by Cygnet.

Photo by Dan Walmsley for Practical Publishing, used with permission

Since I can't resist checking out both sides of a stranded-knit project, here's an inside-out shot too:

Winter's far from over yet, so why not knit up a quick and bright treat for yourself? Nothing like playing with colour to make up for dreary grey days while waiting for Spring to finally arrive!

Mitten Mending, Again.

My mittens have, for awhile now, been wearing out in a few spots.

Today, I finally took some time to mend them. My stitching was rushed, and I'm all out of the original yarn for these (at least, I think I am), but I was less concerned with how it looked so much as whether I could keep wearing the mittens for at least two more months. I am thinking I will not need them often in April, but lasting through to May would be ideal (we get the odd late snowstorm, after all).

For the one with relatively minor wear, I just worked duplicate stitches over the existing ones.



For the one that was trying to fall apart, I had to get a bit more serious.

I wove the two colours through the area to reinforce it.

After that, I worked duplicate stitches, one colour at a time.

For the thumb, I just caught all the stitches that were in danger, and kinda whipstitched them into place, more or less.

It took awhile, pretty much all morning, but, it was still a lot faster than knitting new mittens, and I'm afraid that I don't have time to knit mittens for me at the moment. Too many other things to work on, but hands must stay warm in the meantime!

In Which I Finally Finish a Few Things

I had a rather productive weekend, despite something in the way of a low-level migraine (I don't get them often thank goodness, but it's even rarer for it to keep threatening to return off and on). I finished swatching for a submission, wrote it up, and sent it in. I spent time visiting with fellow knitters and spinners while knitting and spinning. I finished and delivered baby gifts:

Gather by Tin Can Knits, knit in Rowan Pure Wool Worsted, accompanied by my usual baby mittens, and a pair of books for an adorable pair of babies. Gotta keep heads and hands warm, and gotta start filling up a bookshelf with lovely reads. This time, I went with Sandra Boynton's Going to Bed Book, and Julia Donaldson's The Gruffalo. These are both favourites at our house, but I'm always looking for more great books for little ones, so I'd love to hear from readers what some of your favourite baby/kid books are to read or give as gifts!

I also finished my modified Slable by Woolly Wormhead. Now, I wouldn't have modified it if I'd had enough yarn, but as I was using my handspun, it would have been very difficult to spin up some more as I would have had to order in more roving first, and also because it's a cabled yarn that took a lot of time and work to make in the first place, and my spindles are all otherwise occupied anyhow.

If I'd known I was going to run out of yarn, I would have continued with size 23", but would have started the charts and such based on size 21" for where the repeats would fall. As it was, I had to back up and start the decreases earlier (I just plain didn't want to go all the way back to the brim), which worked fine, and pretty much just left out one repeat.

I couldn't resist sneaking in one last cabled section as I worked the last several decrease rounds, but worked them in single twists to make up for how few stitches were left at this point. It was a bit taxing on the hands, but it worked neatly enough, and I'm satisfied with the result. I was too eager to wear Slable to block it just yet, but will do so soon.

I'm certainly developing an appreciation for just how little yarn I do have once I'm finished spinning 100g, and hopefully will be able to estimate a bit better. Even better, will work on measuring more accurately, helping that by measuring AFTER washing the yarn instead of before.

Quick WIPs and FOs Update

I've been busy swatching for a couple of submissions, but I've also had time to do a bit of knitting and spinning.

After finishing up spinning the yarn for my mom's Christmas present, I took a bit of time to spin up that Creamsicle Batt from what was then Flannelberry Creek and what is now A Curious Spin (go check out the new website, hot off the press re-vamped today, or even better, check back again in a few days, as it will be even better once there's been time for the owner to get everything posted the way she'd like it).

Anyhow, I decided to try spinning with a more woolen style as it would work with instead of against the batt's preferences, and ended up with a lovely bit of yarn that is perfectly happy to be somewhat thick-and-thin (I had to remind myself occasionally not to make it too even, though some consistency across the yarn was nice). Next time I'll have to buy a bit more, but I'm sure I can find some use for it (I just haven't quite decided what yet). I'm quite happy with the results (it sparkles a lot more in person):

As for my New Year's knitting, I've had to put Slable down for a wee little bit.

I ran out of yarn, and had to pull it back to somewhat before the point pictured here.

I have a plan though. I was knitting the largest size as it doesn't take much for a hat to give me a headache, and the looser sizes tend to do better so long as they're also long enough to cover my ears properly. However, I'm not sure I need quite as much slouchiness as I would end up with following the pattern exactly as is (even though I'd really prefer to follow it properly), so I think I can modify it slightly to end up finishing the hat before the yarn. It's a shame I didn't have a bit more yarn, but I'm sure I'll eventually get a bit better at estimating and measuring my handspun before starting a project. Eventually.

So, aside from swatching (finished one sub, one more to go), I'm finishing up baby hats and mittens for a friend who just had twins the other day. I'm actually down to weaving-in the ends now, having put in a bit of work after taking photos, but so far, Gather , by Tin Can Knits, is working out to be just lovely paired with Rowan's Pure Wool Worsted. Must get back to swatching now, but I'm taking the baby knits with me to the kids' swimming lesson so I can make myself get around to weaving-in while I'm waiting.

Floral Heart Mittens

I've been looking forward to sharing these mittens with you for a long time! 

©Dan Walmsley for Practical Publishing, used with permission

Most of you will know that I love stranded colourwork, and of course, Norwegian-style mittens are some of my most favourite things of all. So, when Knit Now put out a call for a Scandinavian-themed issue, I got swatching and sent in a proposal to make these Floral Heart Mittens. The issue is full of lovely colourwork, and has a great primer by Karie Westermann (who blogs over here) on the different varieties of Scandinavian knitwear (also, she designed lovely things for the issue too, as did many other designers, so why not check out the Ravelry preview to see all the lovely things?).

©Dan Walmsley for Practical Publishing, used with permission

I was so very pleased to be able to work with Jamieson & Smith Shetland Heritage yarn for these mittens. It has such a lovely and satisfying squoosh to it, feels lively to work with, and knits up with a soft hand while still feeling durably woolly.

Issue #42 of Knit Now is on sale today at http://www.moremags.com/knitting/knit-now

Also, I've been interviewed in conjunction with the Independent Designers Gift-Along 2014, so please enjoy at this lovely blog here: thelittletreasures interview. I'm just tickled pink to be able to share so much great news today!

Now to get started on Christmas knitting (yes, that's right, started; sometime next week I'll let you know just how far behind I am).

Mittens

I love making mittens.

My favourite type to make would have to be stranded-knit colourwork mittens, and luckily, when my friend bid on my offered custom-knit mitten coupon at a silent auction for our football team, she thought that just that sort of thing would be the right sort of mittens.

My friend loves music, and sings in the Kokopelli choir here in town, so she chose elements for her mittens that are part of her musical life.

And here, (thanks to the general lack of sunlight for photo-taking I had to squish right in next to the window to get these), are the finished mittens which are ready to hand to her when I see her next week:

So, now to get started on Christmas gifts...

A Bit of This and a Bit of That

Over the weekend, I worked a bit on a few things, but never did finish anything. I still hope to finish Oranje this week, and might just get there. I have woven in remaining ends, and have hemmed the bottom and collar facings. I have still to sew on 15 buttons and hem the cuff facings (after pressing them). I might tack down the steek edges as well, but likely not before finishing everything else, as I can still wear it without worrying about that so long as cuffs and buttons are done.

I spent some of my weekend knitting time working on my daughter's shawl, reasoning that it's so close to being finished that I should just get it done:

 

However, trying to employ the 'pick them off one at a time' method of getting around to things meant realizing that there's no particular deadline for that shawl, so I spent a bit more time on these mittens for a friend:

These are a one-off custom design that she bought at a fundraiser for our football team, and we've worked out something that speaks to her love for her choir and for music in general. Trust me, they will look much better after blocking. I am just finished the cuff on the second, and the first still needs a thumb, so there's a bit of work yet. I'm hoping to take a bit of time to finish these between now and November (she'll need them for sure by then; it's cold in November here). I also have important time-sensitive work knitting to do, but I absolutely must get these done as well to avoid causing cold hands.

But, before I get much work on any of these, I have to make this:

into a lion costume for Halloween as soon as possible so I can get back to my work with no (project-related) distractions. I may have a couple of late nights ahead of me this week, but if I can finish the mittens, the costume, and Oranje before the weekend, I'll be pretty pleased. Wish me luck!