sock porn for knitting voyeurs.

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

mittens mittens everywhere

Long time, I know :) It's the strangest thing-- ever since my son started school I can't manage anything timewise like before, even with a huge block of time in my day. I have no idea what's happening and have no doubt that it'll sort itself soon, but yeah... hang in with me :)

I don't think I'd even knit if I didn't have a goal-- this past month I've been working on projects for Verb's "Smitten Mitten" contest. Kristine put out the call for submissions of mittens and armwarmers knit in Verb fibers and yarn, both in personal and published patterns, and I managed 3 out of 4 :)

My first was more accident than anything. I absolutely fell in love with zigzagstitch's End of May hat and knit it in Verb's sadly discontinued Yakkity Yak (50/50 yak/merino). I had a lot of yarn left over from the 2 skeins, and thought about reverse mirroring the MC/CC for a duplicate hat-- but then Mandy released an End of May mitten pattern with that prominent, striking flower and I was obsessed :)

P1080240
End of May mittens and hat
Verb for Keeping Warm Yakkity Yak, "indigo blue sky" and "cafe au lait"
Hat: US 4, Mittens: US 3
Started and finished: October 2009

Can I tell you I'm also obsessed with matchy-matchy now?! I want to knit a bunch of matching mitten and hats-- I always thought it was scarves and hats to match, but mittens are f*ing brilliant. I've already picked up some Ultra Alpaca for another set :)

I *really* love this set though. The pattern reminds me of something vintage, and the color pairing of the blue and tan-gold do as well. (go bears!) I can't take credit for the colors working together though-- I went into Article Pract and these skeins were just sitting there next to each other like they belonged together :) I think AP is the only place you can get the Yakkity Yak now-- they had some and even in these colors last time I was there.

I did make the shorter hat version; this one fits me perfectly like I want a warm hat to (over the ears and forehead). Also fits over big curls :)

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SUCH a hammy pie. I like the gold detail at the cast on edge-- I did use some waste yarn to make a forehead-length lining, but removed it since the yak really is soft enough to wear (and I hate extra finishing :)) I just used some extra gold to do a crochet chain around the picked-out waste yarn edge to secure it. I didn't know I needed the shorter version til I was halfway done (swatch? for a hat?! ;)) so I just shifted the chart and its top decreases over halfway for the same result. Easy really.

No mods with the mittens, except I used a 2-color caston for that same gold detail at the cuff, purled one row in MC, then started the pattern.

Speaking of mods, my next Verb mitt project was Gasteropoda by Kristi Geraci...

P1080290
Gasteropoda by Kristi Geraci
Verb for Keeping Warm Creating Superwash Sock, "Wonder Boy"
variety of needles
Started and finished: November 2009

I fell in love the minute I saw this on Kristi's blog. Look closely-- it's a 2" spiral that winds its way around the hand and arm! I am a SUCKER for innovation, and this! is! OSSUM! Knitting these I kept thinking that I want a spiral knit sweater now :) I'm not a cool enough knitter to figure that one out, but seriously I'd make one.

I lengthened mine (Kristi's version is a more traditional armwarmer length), and chose a shorter dye repeat with "Wonder Boy" (original knit in Wisdom Yarns Poems sock, a long striping yarn like Noro). I chose to lengthen them because lately I've been wearing my handknit kneehighs under my jeans in the mornings I drop my son off to school-- quite warm and almost like secret garters under denim in highschool. I think these will serve under a jacket with a light shirt quite nicely with our cold mornings and warm afternoons.

I retained the original caston #s for my size and only used a change in needle size to add width and extra spirals for length-- a US 3 for the above and upper forearm, a US 2 for the middle arm and US 1.5 for wrist and hand. I think if you wanted, you could also decrease stitches while spiraling if you wanted to use the same needles throughout-- the nice thing about sock yarn though is that it is forgiving knit on a range of (small) needles when you're not worrying about abrasion and feet and shoes.

I want to knit another pair of Gasteropoda from a long-repeat handspun... I can't help but think how AWESOME they'll be spun/knit from a DyakCraft (formerly Grafton) batt. And what a great choice for small leftover bits of sock yarn?! But I do like these a lot... it's like a maybe-poisonous snake squeezing me.

Aside from the spiraling construction (which is effortless-- no finishing), what really got me was the gusseted afterthought thumb. I'm not familiar enough with mitten construction to know if this is new or not, but it's really cool. I want to figure out how to use it for traditional afterthought mittens now!

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Yay for a nice shot of the colorway and sheen of the yarn too :)

For my last mitt project, I knew I wanted to use handspun-- specifically the baby llama from the Verb Ultra fiber club shipped in August.

P1070814

There were three distinct colors so I sketched up a stranded design using 3 colors (2 colors per row), tetris stylings.

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The baby llama on its own didn't have enough body to stand up to mitts, so I swapped in some Lana Cash (dark grey) for one of the colors. I'm glad I did-- when I saw this colorway it immediately reminded me of Bohus knitting for some reason, and I spun the llama drafting against twist for LOTS of halo. Paired with the matte commercial yarn, the halo pops off like it does in Bohus collars against the body yarn...

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I love these... they may actually get the most wear for being practical. (Tho I'm sitting here wearing the Gasteropoda to type this ;)) They are super warm but very, very light-- the pair weighs one ounce (30 grams). The afterthought thumb I kept very short so I could grip things easily-- I can drive without taking them off, unlike the fullon lovely End of May mittens. I also loved using three colors-- I usually only use two, and while I'm not aching to start some true 20 color fairisle, three was nice :)

Phew. If you thought that was a lot of mitten action, be sure to pop over to Verb for Keeping Warm's Ravelry group to see all of the entries and vote-- the threads are all stickied to the top til next week.

And as if that wasn't enough self-promotion... brand new stitch markers in my etsy shop! Hubei turquoise, carnelian, peridot, lapis, coral, garnet in nugget shapes... I guess I have been busy ;)


Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade
zero.etsy.com


Still adrift tho. Til next time :)

82 comments:

kimchi said...

the afterthought gusseted thumb-- is that the gusseted thumb you do after finishing the whole mitt? if so, i lurve it...the only kind of thumb i do for my mitts. :o) your little one is such a ham! and such a cutie pie!

Anonymous said...

I love ALL of them! The End of May set is delicious. And that picture of the Little Man just killed me. He's SUCH a ham!

I haven't been buying yarn, but I may have to buy those patterns. I think you should write up the Tetris mittens yourself.

And YAY for new stitch markers in the shop! Mine have all mysteriously gone missing, much like my T-pins. Sigh.

HPNY KNITS said...

fabulous mitts and hat. I love matchy too.
the boy is growing so fast!
:-)

b1-66er said...

tetris, no. space invaders, yes.

goddammit.

Mandy said...

LOVE!

Angelia said...

I understand about not being able to get anything done. No kids to work around, there is too much quiet and space.

Love the Mittens!! Absolutely beautiful!

Lauren said...

I loved the construction of Gastropoda so much that I had to buy the pattern, and I'm not one for buying patterns. Thank you for introducing us to it!

Lauren (geekkitty on twitter)

adrienne said...

Wow, such gorgeous knitting! I haven't even started thinking about winter stuff, and we've already had temps below 0C. Oops!

Jody said...

Lovely handknits...especially the hat and mitten set.

Natalie Rush said...

Awesome gloves and mittens!! Love the stitch markers too! I have a set and LOVE them!

Heather said...

lovely mitts! I love the llama ones especially.

May I ask how you got the pic of your Etsy listings onto your blog? It doesn't look like a screen shot, but I can't figure out how you did it.

Got It From My Mama said...

beautiful post love the hat and gloves!
Awesome blog!

redfear said...

the words yummy and wow keep coming to mind! love, love, love The End of May and the pic of your little guy!

abra said...

Hi, I made an etsy order near the end of December and haven't heard from you... Sorry to stalk you to your blog but I tried the etsy convo. Just wanted to touch base...

Anonymous said...

I'm going to act as though you're coming back someday, and then, I'm going to quit acting.

Until then, there is this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIb92b6WXkI&feature=player_embedded#

Houston Gold said...

Those designs are awesome! I thought my Grandma was good but you may be better. You're as good as houston gold!

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Diseño Web said...

Wow, such gorgeous knitting!

Diseño Web said...

Wow, such gorgeous knitting!

K Black said...

I completely agree! I love the patterned socks and gloves that are all one color but have fun textures and designs built in. It's so subtle, but cute. Any kind of sock/legging can amp up any personal style! Love the blog!

Anonymous said...

i saw myth busters the other day and a dummy was getting knocked out of hand knit sox ... i missed the very very beginning of the show ... were they yours?

is myth busters *really* the only way we can talk to each other any more?

Dave said...

Allison,
My client sells medical compression socks and was wondering if we might be able to get listed on your left navigation as a suggested resource over at http://www.jrsmedical.com/SOCKS-STOCKINGS/nav.aspx for "compression socks". Let me know what options exist to create a partnership between this medical supplier and your website. Look forward to hearing back from you.

Sincerely,
David Patterson
JRS Medical Consultant

Anonymous said...

where are you?

Anonymous said...

good article in this month's new yorker in "the art world" section called "fearing the worst" by peter schjeldahl ... deals with a show called "bye bye kitty!!!" several references and ideas in there that you'd be interested in.

buy cigarettes said...

Well, that's a nice work. I love the color combination you've used on the hat and the mitten. Indigo blue is a nice color. Just continue doing it. There's no wrong in it.

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Jennifer said...

Checkout these awesome neon glory knee socks

_deer antler velvet_ said...

deer antler velvet

love the mittens. :-)

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childrens jackets said...

I'm doing my own creation and I am enjoying this. I started on a hat.

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ovvk7T8QUIU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Anonymous said...

I miss you and I'm sorry

Anonymous said...

six words make a LOT of difference ... but i still have no idea what happened and would like to know ... someday.

Anonymous said...

What time is zero o'clock?

Anonymous said...

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/02/15/science/studying-recent-human-evolution-at-the-genetic-level.xml

Anonymous said...

Hmmm . . . smaller breasted, thicket haired, or sweatier mates. It doesn't testing that theory on poor lab rats to know which one I 'd naturally select. Why'd you post this article?

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chsnOSzLjJk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Anonymous said...

Are you real?

Anonymous said...

I mean, I thought you more of a Mercedes AMG, quite honestly.

Anonymous said...

http://www.captainhops.com/2009/04/wealth/

Anonymous said...

:( & :)

Anonymous said...

Honestly, I have no idea what happened, either; it is one of my most regreted pasts.

Are we still redeemable?

I would accept fractions and decimals of your presence.

Anonymous said...

almost certainly yes, for a mildly liberal definition of "redeem." (and assuming you are who you seem to be ... i certainly am me.)

first and foremost, we need a channel of communication. i'm guessing "not here" is more appropriate?

Anonymous said...

Agreed to a better channel and to liberal definitions. Someone once told me something to the effect of, "If only there were as many definitions for ________ (fill in the blank) as there are for Inuit words meaning 'snow.'" Multiple connotations and interpretations make the world a more interesting place.

I hope your assumption is accurate: I would hate to disappoint any more than I already have.

Maybe we can start here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v1etFrmXTiSbVtCTlZVIVItUbsh-yUBrA3OyDRCiyBA/edit
Please request permission to begin.

If that won't work (for whatever reason), please let me know.

JLK said...

I, too, was once a good friend. I continue to be an optimist and someone who can't help but try.

Good luck in your pursuits. She's worth a wild goose chase or two (or three or four...).

p.s. Why don't you capitalize 'I'? A sign of humility?

Anonymous said...

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/phosphorescent-sheep-uruguays-institute-of-animal-reproduction-creates-glow-in-the-dark-sheep

JLK said...

We read "Arachne," yesterday in class. I thought of you. Not because of the hubris, and not because you're turning into a spider, but because I imagine you in a flurry of wool competing with the gods, or just competing with your past selves, in some obscure corner of the world / your mind.

Anonymous said...

http://tv.yahoo.com/news/sex--drugs--and-crabs---deadliest-catch--deckhands-tell-all-about-dad-captain-phil-harris-190347991.html

Anonymous said...

http://activate.metroactive.com/2013/07/arcade-classics-california-extreme-2013-photos/15/

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Anonymous said...

Agape

Anonymous said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSeg69d3CQ8

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b1-66er said...

And then there's Sam.

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b1-66er said...

There'll be multiple people who'll find this interesting. (None of them will spammers.)


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b1-66er said...

A blast back to your old times:

https://youtu.be/rcIL2ywmjsQ

b1-66er said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
b1-66er said...

https://youtu.be/cHLbaOLWjpc

b1-66er said...

https://youtu.be/e5a3vds08Vc

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b1-66er said...

Time to knit.

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b1-66er said...

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b1-66er said...

Happy birthday.

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Anonymous said...

Which one: Face punch? Auditory hallucinations? Or Avian Flu?

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b1-66er said...

Appalling.

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Anonymous said...

Cyrillic? I miss your handwriting more than anything. Send me a postcard... Even if there is nothing more than my address upon it. I hope you are happy and okay, Aija.

akalya said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
akalya said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
akalya said...
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JLK said...

Just when
I think
'I've won!'

I remind myself
And reread
These comments,

Occasionally,

When I
Can't resist...

And come
To find,
In fact,
You've won.

For
Here
I am
Writing,
And not
Erasing this.

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