1.25.2012

warm up to winter knit along - what i'm making!

hello! i sooo missed you last week! it's warm up to winter kal chat time! woo hoo!

Source: tumblr.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

i can't tell you how inspired i've been seeing all of your beautiful FO's, and reading all of your comments on the ravelry thread. you guys rock! it has taken me quite a while to come up with a pattern for this kal. i didn't want to knit just anything, of course... and true story, i had realized that i clearly hadn't thought ahead after i had whipped up "kathleen" by jane richmond less than two weeks before the start of the kal. hahaha. sooooo that left mitts, because "kathleen" was getting my full attention whenever i needed to don a toque. you can see pics and my notes here.
i do have a pair of knitted mitts.. but they're uber old.. and not all that warm. so it had been easily decided that's what i was knitting for the kal.


but boy oh boy, did i ever hum and haw over the pattern! honestly, there are so many good ones out there! i also needed to think of what mitts i would actually wear. what would work best for what i needed when i'm on the go. clearly, as you all know... i need to be able to keep knitting wherever i am (lol)... and then i remembered favouriting and oohhing and ahhing over "red is best". also by jane richmond. clearly i am an uber fan.
red is best by jane richmond

perfect!
and i just happen to have some diamond yarn galway in my stash. in red. (of course). the fact that these will be knit in 100% wool already guarantees that it will be a warm addition to my hands... and it's been cold this winter! i neeeed these mittens!


the pattern calls for 4.0mm dpns. (i totally have them), but i also happen to have a set of knit picks dpns. my only set. and they happen to be 3.75mm sooo close. and because i have pretty tiny hands (my rings are only a size 4.5!) and i tend to be a looser knitter, i'm so substituting for the knit picks dpns.  i love them that much. ;)

i also love how jane named this pattern. do you remember the book red is best by kathy stinson? it was one of my faves as a little girl, and is definitely part of our family library.

photo from amazon.ca

i am so excited to get these mitts finished so that i can be wearing them already!

are you inspired to get knitting a pair of your own? want to join in on our kal? the finish date for this kal is feb. 8th, so you've still got plenty of time!  you can pick your pattern. either a hat or mitts (or both!) and be sure to sign up for the kal by clicking the link below.. and remember you must be signed up to enter any giveaways. an important note for sure ;)



you can keep up to snuff with chats in our luvinthemommyhood ravelry group, and be sure to check out all of the other posts here. also don't forget to grab a button to sport on your blog! you can get one from the sidebar to your right :) doesn't shannon create the best kal buttons?!
and one last thing. when you're done your beautiful project, be sure to either post pics of it in our ravelry group thread, or in our flicker group.  we'd love to see what you're knitting up! already i'm seeing so many warm, and cozy knits! i love it!

make sure you stop by luvinthemommyhood to see how shannon is doing on her project. she's so speedy! xo

so what have you been creating? are you doing mittens, or a toque? or both? how are you keeping warm? i'd love to hear from you! the weather is horrid, and it's a great day for a chat and a mug of tea. xo

19 comments:

  1. Red is best! How am I not surprised you're knitting these? Can't wait to see the finished product!

    I finished my Bella's mittens and I love them as much as I knew I would...thanks for the encouragement to get me out of the second mitten funk!

    xo

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    1. hee hee. i can't say i'm all that surprised either ;) these are super fast to knit up too! i hope to have them done very very soon. i think i saw those bella mitts on your little....sooo cute! i looove them!!! xo

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  2. Those mittens are on my favorites list too. I seriously need to get some real mittens knit too, instead of always going for the fingerless ones.

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    1. i'm loving this pattern! you should totally knit them up too! xo

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  3. Ohhh...I def have to make a pair of these this year. Jane's awesome.

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  4. Oohh...I've been eyeing that pattern for a while now, but for some reason mitts always get put on the back burner for me. Not sure why? Can't wait to see your pair when they're done! :)

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    1. melissa! you should totally be knitting mitts!!! ;) how's that for enabling another project. xo

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  5. What is the gray stuff in the first pic??? love!

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    1. oohh yes. it's sooo pretty! i love grey's right now. it's a pretty picture from pinterest. the link from there goes to tumblr.. but i don't have a password for that, so it's as far as i can take it :)

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    2. Original source is from a german photographer, she blogged it here: http://mayalee-dreams.blogspot.com/2011/01/varm-choklad.html. She's a photographer/stylist, so not sure that it's related to any pattern.

      Just a hint when you get blocked by tumblr, drives me nuts, you CAN right click on the picture, copy the image URL and do an image search at http://images.google.com/. Click the little camera in the search bar, paste in the url, and it will search for anywhere on the web that image is found. It also searches for visually similar images. This has been a great trick to find patterns based off of pictures as well!

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    3. sara, that's an awesome tip! thanks so much! and thanks for sourcing that pic out for me! :) xo

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    4. And yet we can all sigh a sad sigh for no related pattern! LOL :) Thanks

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  6. I really love that pattern (and have some yarn in mind already!) but haven't started it, yet. Hopefully the mitten top isn't too difficult; I've never really done anything like it before. I think they're very practical, though, so they might be one of my next few projects! :)

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    1. kristen :) jane's patterns are always easy to follow and understand. the mitten top is not difficult at all! you can do it! which yarn and colour are you planning to knit yours in? xo

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    2. I'm thinking of using some hand-dyed yarn I received in a swap. My swap buddy didn't include a label but she dyed it herself; it's a soft merino/alpaca blend in a very pretty green/purple colorway. Perfect for mittens! Thanks for the words of encouragement. I agree than Jane's patterns are easy to understand -- looking forward to seeing your finished mitts! :)

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    3. oh my , that will look beautiful! xo

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  7. Red is always best! I'm excited to see your finished!

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