More Mittens...

I keep getting ready for winter but (I know I'm going to regret saying this) "what winter?" Other than a brief cold snap lasting less than 48 hours, things have been almost balmy around here. Neverless, our household will be prepared...behold:

Newfie Mittens

These wonderfully warm and squishy mittens look a lot more complicated to make than they really are. There are several free patterns available on Ravelry, and here's one in particular I liked: Creative Whimsy's Newfoundland Mittens

I am burning through my stash of Patons Classic Wool Merino, choosing grey and white for this pair, knit on 3.75 mm dpn's.
Thank you Newfoundland.

Just in Time for -10 degree Celsius

Looks like winter has finally hit southern Ontario. This morning I woke to -10 degrees Celsius....brrrr. Oh well, just another excuse to show off one "Turn a Square" hat and a matching pair of "No Swatch, No Gauge" mittens. Both are free patterns also offered through Ravelry. I used up some Patons Classic Wool Merino I had in my stash to make these and even tried my hand at creating "jogless" stripes.

Timeless...don't mess with a good thing

In the fall of 1968 Elizabeth Zimmerman published her genius pattern known as The Baby Surprise Jacket. Amazingly, by following her written instructions you knit up something which looks like this:

and with just a few folds, it turns into...

...surprise...this! A lovely, cuddly, baby-taylored jacket.

My copy of this pattern is taken from Elizabeth Zimmerman's: The Opinionated Knitter.
Wool: Classic Elite Yarns - Liberty Wool
Colourway "Painted Desert" #7804
Purchased at Soper Creek Yarn in Bowmanville, ON
Just under 3 skiens (50 grams each)

Here are the true colours of this gorgeous wool ~

I found Lorilee Beltman's "Knitting Nuggets" videos on Youtube very helpful for this project. She clearly demonstrates some tips and techniques such as how to easily identify where to make increases without having to count every stitch and every row, how to sew up the shoulder seem (photo above), and how to finish off the project with a 3-stitch I-cord border along the edges.

I can't wait to find the right buttons and give this over to a very-much anticipated baby!

Today we stepped back in time...

Happy Thanksgiving

An overnight surprise...

After a full day of steady rain, snow melting...seemingly washing away winter, I woke up this March 6th morning to Winter's surprise....

...a blast of cold north air and a fresh dusting of snow...have to admit, it's kind of pretty...
Coincidentally, I happened to finish this lovely snowflake of wool just in time...
...a winter's beret for Lydia

Pattern (free): Meret by "Wooly Wormhead"
Wool: Patons Classic Wool (approx 3/4 of a ball)
Needles: 4.5 round and double-pointed

Extreme Cold Weather Alert

Just in time for yet another extreme cold weather alert...and hot off the needles is the "Gap-tastic Cowl". It's big, bulky, and best of all very warm.

The pattern is free on ravelry.

I used 3 balls of Lion Brand Thick and Quick in colour Oatmeal. Cast on the 131 sts on 9 mm round needles as suggested and just kept going around and around...

Thorpe'd again

It seems everyone wants a Thorped hat so....here we go again....

I chose to go a size smaller for this one - using the medium size which has 72 stitches on the needle once you have made all the increases. Again I used double-stranded Patons Classic Wool - colours Jade Heather and Aran (both from my stash). Again I used 5.5 mm dpn's for the body of the hat, but switched to 4.5 mm circular (16") for the garter stitch band as it seemed a bit loose on my first Thorpe project (ravelry link). The trim is in single crochet due to the thickness of the wool.The top tassle...just for fun...