I love these mittens so much I can't even stand it

Is one mitten bigger than the other? Yes.

Is there a difference in gauge between the two yarns used? Yes.

Is the cuff just a little too tight on both mittens (but more so on one than the other)? Yes.

Do I care? No.

Pattern: Anemoi Mittens.

Yarn: Koigu Kpppm 816 and Henry's Attic Kona Superwash.

Comments: I am absolutely 100% smitten with these mittens. I truly think that they are two of the most beautiful things that I have ever knitted. I love the variegation of the Koigu against the creamy Henry's Attic.

Plus, besides loving the finished outcome, I also completely loved the process too! Reading the chart for the front panels really took me back to my counted cross stitch days. I love the complexity of the colorwork because it's the kind of complexity that allows for knitting while caring for a baby (which is what I was doing).

I was definitely totally addicted to these as I was knitting them as evidenced by the facts that:

1. I had a dream that Baby Girl had also learned to knit stranded work.
2. I now have all our Baby Einstein videos memorized.
3. I saw past the stand-up portion of "The Late Show," on more than one night (okay, I didn't make it to the guest portion, but still that's way late for me these days).

Unfortunately, the pictures don't even do them justice. I probably should have waited until a sunnier day to do the photos, but my excitement wouldn't allow for that.

Mitten #1

Anemoi Mitten #1 - still blocking. Couldn't wait to take photo.

Eunny, I love you

Well, my very first stranded project is done. It was definitely a learning experience. Overall, I'm extremely pleased with the result. The section that shows my lack of stranding skills the most is on the cuff of the first glove, so since I'll be wearing these with jackets and such, that section won't even show. I know that I probably should have ripped it, but since they're far from perfect I have even more of an excuse to keep them for myself.

Pattern: Endpaper Mitts

Yarn: Opal Sock Yarn Uni in 1267 (from my tea pal, Meg) and Cherry Tree Hill in Bark (leftover from the Brother Socks).

Adjustments: Well, nothing intentional. I didn't get the Italian tubular cast on. Also, I didn't have the pattern with me when I was finishing up the second mitt, so I forgot to do the set up rows before casting off. This could easily be fixed, but I'm not going to fix it.

Comments: I am in love with these mitts and absolutely in love with stranded knitting.

Usually when I'm bad at something I pretend like I don't like to do it so that I have a reason for not being good at it. For example, I'm not a very good cook. I really do enjoy cooking, but I'm always setting the timer wrong or mis-measuring ingredients or something. So, I tell people that I'm a bad cook. You know, so they don't get their expectations up. I'm also completely uncoordinated. I absolutely stink at all sports. I was always the last kid picked for any activity in gym class. I would always say that I disliked sports, but the truth is that I really do enjoy them.

BUT, I can't even pretend that I don't like stranded knitting. I love it that much. Even though I know that I'm not so good at it right now, I can't hide my adoration for this new type of knitting. So, even though there are some gifty-things that I'm supposed to be knitting, I immediately cast on for my next project, the Anemoi Mittens. I'm using Koigu Kpppm and Henry's Attic Kona Superwash. Unfortunately, I think that these two yarns might not be close enough as far as weight. I'm going to go a little further, though, before I make any decisions.

Don't have your gift knitting done?

Are you sick and tired of all your gift knitting? Is there a good chance that you won't even get all of it done? Well, don't worry! I'm here to help! I have the solution for you, plus it will also benefit someone else (plus the giftee). Really, can you beat a win, win, win situation?

"What's the solution?" you ask.

Women for Women International. This incredible charity provides women survivors of war, civil strife and other conflicts with the tools and resources to move from crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency, thereby promoting viable civil societies.

How does knitting come in? Well, Women for Women also offers a Bazaar where they sell items made by these women survivors. Scroll down a little and you'll notice there are a number of hand-knit items including my favorite, the wool slippers. I mean look at those... for $25, they look like a steal to me!

Please do check them out!

I Want to be Stranded

What are your projects for this knitalong?

Well, like so many others, first off, I'm going to attempt Eunny's Endpaper Mitts, then the plan is to do Eunny's Anemoi Mittens. The mitts will be for me and the mittens will be for my grandmother (assuming that my ability has improved such that they don't totally suck).

Is this your first colorwork project? If it isn't, what was your first, and has it survived the test of time?

I would absolutely consider this my first colorwork project. I actually started the Endpaper Mitts yesterday and it's a good thing that I'll keeping these for myself as my stitches are horribly uneven (I refuse to frog).

Necessity

The other day when I was taking Baby Girl out on one of our many mini-outings, I realized that there are things that I actually need that I can knit. It was a really bizarre revelation as I spend so much time knitting things that I want, but I don't really need. And yet, I don't have any gloves or mittens. Baby Girl only had one pair of mittens. This was clearly a situation that I had to remedy as quickly as possible.

So, yesterday I knit up a quick pair of gloves for Baby Girl using the pattern (second post on the page) detailed by Lisa. Unfortunately, though, I don't have a nifty i-icord maker thingy. I had to make mine the old fashioned way. I used stash yarn. I think it's Henry's Attic Superwash Sport. It was hand-dyed by someone else. I think Theresa at LTK, but it's been around for a while, so I'm not really sure.

Anyway, at first I wasn't too crazy about the color. Definitely not girly. And since I'm that mom who doesn't always dress her girl in girly colors (does she really have to wear pink 100% of the time?), I'm afraid that this little touch will only add to the number of times that people ask if she's a girl. BUT, then when I took her out for some in-use photos, she promptly took the mittens off (it was over 60 degrees out) and started swinging them around. Then, she took off her coat and threw it along with the mittens into the dirt. That top photo was taken after all this happened. Can't tell, can you? Maybe not such a bad color choice after all.

Is it a pattern or an excuse to email cool designers?

The Winter Knitty is up and so is my pattern, the book of Knitty!

This pattern was so much fun. Mostly because between the knitting and the writing I got to email the designers of all the patterns featured in "The Book of Knitty." AND they wrote me back. Woo hoo. Seriously, it was too much fun. Every time I'd get an email back that whole day I'd be like "Hey Husband, can you believe I just got an email from ____?!"

And he was like, "Who's _____?"

It was great.

Anyway, it really is a fun pattern and I hope all you Knitty fans with little ones in your life enjoy it!

Under the Sea Jumper

I love the amount of cuteness that you can get away with when you're knitting for little girls. The flowers, the prints, the animals... you know, the super-cute. This jumper definitely falls in that category. It can be worn easily on its own or over a t-shirt or even a turtleneck, making it season-less (a big plus when knitting for someone who grows inches overnight).

Sizes

6-12 months (12-18 months, 18-24 months, 2T, 3T, 4T, 5T)

Finished Chest Across

20”(21”,22”,23”,24”,25”,26”)

Materials

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino (55% wool, 33% microfiber, 12% cashmere; 137 yards [125 meters] per 50g):

• MC: 3(3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4) skeins color #203 Teal
• CC1: 1(1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1) skein color #104 Orange
• CC2: 1(1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2)skeins color #03 Mint
• CC3: 1(1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1) skein color #204 Light Blue

Needles:

• 1 set US 4 straight needles, or size needed to obtain gauge
• 1 US 3 circular needle

Gauge

24 sts and 32 rows = 4" (10cm) in stockinette on US 4 needles, or size needed to obtain gauge.

Possible Yarn Substitution:

Debbie Bliss Cathay and Knitpicks Shine come to mind.... let me know if you know of any others!


2.75MB PDF file to be sent via email upon receiving payment.

$5.50

The Memories We Stitch

One of the strangest things, in my opinion, about being a knitter is the way we incorporate so many memories into whatever we're working on. I know that this has been discussed by many other knitbloggers, but my two most recent projects really brought this to the forefront of my mind.

First, Saffy. Over the past couple of weeks I've been breaking Baby Girl of all her co-sleeping ways. This probably should have been done a long time ago, but as with so many other things, although the long-term good was obvious, it was impossible to overlook the short-term difficulty. So, I put it off for way too long. Finally, a couple weeks ago, I decided that I'd had enough. She wasn't sleeping well and neither were we. One day I just ended it. From that day forward, she has slept exclusively in her crib. The first few days were torture. She screamed at least an hour before she would go to sleep and tried as hard as she could to get out of the crib. She was so persistent that she would actually fall asleep standing up. Of course, I needed something that I could work on to keep myself sane during these long crying spells. Saffy was the perfect company. Complicated enough to keep my attention and keep me from crying as well, but also simple enough that I didn't have to think too hard. I know I'll always think of poor Baby Girl asleep standing up whenever I wear Saffy (not that I'm even close to done with it, but you know, in the future).

Second, writing up the pattern for the Fishy Jumper, now named "Under the Sea Jumper" (thanks to everyone for the help choosing a name and special thanks to Elinor, who was the first to suggest the one I chose). This past week Baby Girl has been sick for the first time with a stomach bug. It's been so hard on her and by extension, me. I had no idea that it took such a toll on parents whenever their children were sick. I actually called my own mother to thank her for taking care of me all those times when I was sick. So, between the million dirty diapers a day, the forced consumption of Pedialyte, the sleepless nights, and the general anxiety, I was able to take advantage of the one semi-benefit of a sick baby - longer naps.

Do you have any knitted items that will always bring back specific memories?