Category: Accessories

a Hallowe’en treat!

The Galileo Mittens pattern is finally ready for public consumption!

Bring some celestial beauty into your life with these unique and fun mittens. The Galileo mittens are worked in a mirrored, non-repeating stranded colourwork pattern on the hand that is reminicient of Renaissance astronomy charts and inspired by the stars. Striped cuffs and thumbs, as well as a diamond palm pattern, provide a visual geometric contrast. A close fit keeps your hands toasty while you contemplate the heavens.

Recommended for intermediate knitters.

Size
Women’s M [L]
Size L contains 5 extra rounds for additional length in the mitten hand.
Size can be further altered by changing the gauge and needle size.
For a larger mitten, use needles one size larger. For a smaller mitten, use needles one or two sizes smaller.

Finished Measurements
Palm Circumference: 8.25 inches around palm
Length: 10 [10.5] inches from tip to end of cuff

Materials
Koigu Painter’s Palette Premium Merino (100% merino wool; 175 yd/50g)
1 skein of each of two colours;
or
[MC]: 40 g/140 yards of equivalent fingering weight yarn
[CC]: 30 g/105 yards of equivalent fingering weight yarn
2.5 mm/US 1 double pointed needles, set of 4 or 5;
or 32-inch or longer circular needle, or two circular neeedles
2 stitch markers
waste yarn
tapestry needle

Gauge
32 stitches and 36 rounds = 10cm/4in square in two-colour stockinette stitch, chart pattern

Important Sizing Note:
The Galileo Mittens shown here were knit to fit very small hands and are shorter than this pattern will
produce as written. The Chart as presented will result in a very slightly different pattern on the back of the hand, as several rounds were inserted before the decrease rounds at the top of the mitten (not shown). If your mittens look a bit different from the photo near the top of the hand, don’t worry! You’re still on the right track!

How to Buy
This 5-page PDF download contains written instructions and charts. File size: 1.4 MB Ravelry download. Payment is by Paypal balance or credit card (no Paypal or Ravelry membership needed).

October 31, 2008
first snow!

It snowed a bit overnight! Not much, mind you – the road is just wet, but there’s about a cm or two on the rooftops and lawns. Snow is still falling, a little bit, with occasional bursts of wind carrying snow off the roof and making it look like it’s snowier than it is.

Suddenly it feels like it’s really winter, even though it isn’t ~~October~~ NOVEMBER (yikes) yet! The snow should all melt today or tomorrow when it warms up a bit, and it’s supposed to be warmer for Hallowe’en, but somehow the first snow is just so potent in conjuring up real winter.

So, cold-weather accessories are on and off the needles!

Some basic fingerless mitts, worked up in an Araucania yarn whose name escapes me at the moment. They’re too big for me, but that’s good – they’re a sample for the store and a basic pattern card for sale that I’ve worked up, and they’ll fit normal-sized medium/large hands!

And in the ever popular Misti Alpaca Chunky, I knit up a nice long mistake rib scarf to show off the yarn – and to have something to show customers when they say “how much does one of these make?” (the scarf is 2 skeins, but 80″ long).

Just off the needles and onto the blocking towels, a ruffled scarf out of oh-so-yummy Malabrigo worsted.

And these mittens that I’ve dubbed “Galileo Mittens” are done, worn, and the pattern is just being proofread. Soon, soon.

Why does time move faster in the morning when you need to get ready for work? It’s a time warp!

October 29, 2008
giving thanks

Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post. I’m grateful that I have so many nice readers and that this is somewhere that I can share my thoughts! Today I had a day off from the store for Thanksgiving, and I spent it doing lots of crafty stuff (in addition to the cooking that I didn’t photograph!).

Big finishing day/weekend, actually – I finally finished up some socks that I had lingering around on the needles, out of Jojoland Melody superwash.

These were an experiment – I tend to knit quite loosely, and although I usually do my socks on 2mm needles, I don’t get a really satisfactory gauge. I mean, it’s okay, but not as tight as I’d like sometimes. So for this pair, I used a 1.5mm/US000 addi turbo needle and did magic loop on 72 stitches (I usually do 64). You know what? After lingering for so long and working on them off and on for months….they’re a little small. Sigh. Oh well, I’ll probably wear them anyway. Probably shouldn’t put them in the dryer, though…

I also finally cast off the first of my stripey knee socks, knit out of Indigo Moon sock yarn.

Here’s hoping the second one goes a little faster! This sock was actually really not too bad to knit, but I kept putting it down in favour of other projects. So I’m thinking that the second sock will be my Rhinebeck car project.

I also managed to do a little handsewing (my machine’s a bit buried, so needle and thread it was) to finish off the elastic waist of my roundabout hemp skirt.

Pattern’s forthcoming, even as we head into the cooler months. I think the skirt would be great knit out of a nice sturdy wool.

And a little more weaving in of ends and blocking…and more brown/pink.

I finally knit the thumbs of these koigu mittens this weekend, and now they’re all done. In this photo the mitten on the right is blocked, the one on the left isn’t. There’s a really big difference in person, as per usual with blocking! Now they’ve both had a dunk, and I spent the evening working on the pattern – so as soon as I get some photo taken, the pattern for these will be going up. I’m hoping for before Rhinebeck.

Speaking of which, are you going? I’m super excited!

October 13, 2008