Hey Friends, we’re just a few days from the wedding and I’m using knitting as Stress Reduction Therapy.  In addition to the wedding, school started this week-which means we’re up to our ears in homework, class schedules and backpacks.  Mike has drum lessons and Adrienne has art class, the dog needs a booster vac, the other dog has another ear infection–it’s just normal ordinary life with out of town company and a wedding mixed in.  It’s a fun, exciting, chaotic time.  We’re enjoying these days as much as we can.

Here are a couple free mitten patterns:

Hello New York Mittens

and

Tweedy Mittens

-with these I suggest if you’re a first timer to double pointed needles, just knit the whole mitt in one color.

Double Pointed Needles (DPNs) They are just what they sound like-they have points on each end.  With them, you can knit in a round. DPNs come in different lengths-longer ones so you can knit a sleeve onto a sweater and short ones to knit socks and mittens.

Knit Picks

I bought the set above just so I would have short enough dpns to knit mittens.

(photo by Craft Stylish showing how to knit in a round cuz I’m too busy to take my own picture)

Double pointed needles aren’t hard, just a bit cumbersome when you start. And you have to be able to set your knitting down somewhere safe.

I hope you have fun and enjoyed our K2gether Mittens. When the dust settles after the wedding, perhaps we’ll try another one with a bit more challenging skills.

laugh. dance. learn. create. knit.

Hi friends.  Well this is it.  We’re finishing mittens today.  I hope you’re having fun with them and seeing that they really aren’t hard after all.  Next week I’ll have a free mitten pattern for you and a few words about double pointed needles.  My daughter is getting married in less than 2 weeks-so please bear with my lack of posting.  I promise I’ll be back with enthusiasm and ideas soon.

Cast off. If you’re new to knitting, Cast off or Bind off is the same thing.  Knit the 1st 2 stitches of the round like normal, then with your left needle, lift the 1st stitch that you knitted up and over the 2nd stitch and off the right needle, so now you only have 1 stitch. (You have bound off or cast off 1 stitch.)  Knit another stitch.  Lift the stitch on the right over the  stitch on the left and off the needle. Continue in this way across the row.  (try to keep your stitches kinda loose)  At the end of the round, you’ll have 1 stitch left.  Cut the yarn about 6″ and pull the tail of the yarn through the last stitch to make a knot.

Now turn your mitt inside out and using the 6″ tail, sew it up.  Way to go!!!!

********

Tackling the thumb:

You’re going to cut that waste yarn you used to mark where the hole for the thumb would go. Go slow. Don’t panic. As you cut, little by little pull out the waste yarn at the top and you’ll see little loops just waiting for you to do something amazing with them.  Slide your knitting needle into those loops as you go.

If the bottom loops are coming out, too, don’t panic.  Take a sewing needle and some yarn and thread some yarn through those bottom ones so that they can wait for later. (Usually thumbs are done with double pointed needles, and knit in a round.  Since I wanted this to be simple enough for a beginner and people that might be a bit afraid of double pointed needles, we’re knitting two flaps (bottom and top) and sewing them together just like we did the top of the mitten. The shaping isn’t great, but it gives you the idea and concept of what you’re doing.  You can do something harder next time.)

You should have about 8 stitches on your needle.  Now you’re going to take those circulars that you’ve been going round and round with, and instead, go back and forth like they are plain straight needles.  (and this is why I LOVE circulars-they can be used as circs or straights.)

Knit the knit side and then Purl coming back. Do this for 13 or 14 rows whichever ends with a purl row.

On your next knit row, knit 2 together at each end.

Purl back.

Knit 2 together at each end of next row.

Purl back.

Cast off.

Turn inside out and sew up.

Put your mitten on.  You did it!  You made a mitten!

YOU ARE AMAZING!!!!

You took a couple pointy sticks and some yarn and made a mitten out of it. A band is playing for you.

******Now when you make your 2nd mitten, make sure with the thumb, you put it on the other side.  So you’ll knit the waste yarn 7 stitches before your 2nd marker, which is the same as knit 9, knit 7 onto the waste yarn. That gives you a thumb for the left hand.******

Right hand mitten.

I had a comment about the shape of this mitten being too boxey.  Again, yes, I know.  It’s not shaped as well as it could be. But that’s because I wanted even a newbie to be able to knit mittens and not have to mess with 4 or 5 double pointed needles right off.  I wanted everyone to get the concept and for that we sacrificed some shaping.

Mitts I knit last winter for my daughter, Adrienne.

Would love if you wanted to send me a pic of you and your mitts-would love to see what you’ve created.  Happy Knitting!

laugh. dance. learn. create. knit.

Welcome Back!  Please forgive the silence on my blog.  I’m still knitting a bit and Knit is still on my mind pretty much most of the time.  But I’ve this wedding thing happening in a couple weeks and school starting, so there’s stuff to do that doesn’t involve Knit like AT ALL if you can imagine.  Please know I’m still here, and there are all sorts of fun ideas rumbling ’round in my wee brain that I will get to share with you soon.

Today we’re gonna tackle the place where the thumb will go-a simple process that will make you feel smart and clever.

We’ve knitted till our mittens measure to between our thumb joints and finished the round by knitting to the ring.  Now dig out a piece of scrap yarn that is a different color than what your mitten is.  This is called waste yarn.  Make sure it’s like 12 inches long so that it’s easy to work with.  Now you’re going to knit the first 7 stitches after the marker onto the waste yarn, like the picture shows:

knit onto piece of waste yarn

****

Now slip those stitches back onto the left needle. Then knit them with the regular yarn. Like the picture below:

knitting the waste yarn

******

Now you just keep knitting round and round till you get to the top of your Pointer finger.

knitting round and round

Now we are going to decrease! This mitten is a bit square because I wanted you to be able to knit this on just those little circular needles without needing double points.  (When you knit your next pair of mittens, if you choose to use dpns or double pointed needles, you will be able to knit patterns with lovely perfect shaping.  Double pointed needles allow itty bitty circles in knitting. The circulars just can’t do that.)

You have to count. Hopefully you have 32 stitches.  If you don’t, no worries, just find half way round the circle and place another marker or tie another piece of yarn.  So you have 16 stitches between the first and second markers-that’s the palm of the mitten, and 16 st. on the other side-that’s the back of the hand of the mitten.  All your decreasing will take place right next to the markers on each side of them.

If you’ve never done it before, Knit 2 together is literally knitting 2 stitches together.  Like this:

Knit 2 together: knit through both stitches and pull off needle just like normal

#1:  Decrease: Okay you’ve just passed the marker to the right needles and you’re ready to knit the round.  Knit 2 together, knit until you get to stitches before the 2nd marker, then knit 2 together, slide marker, knit 2 together, knit to 2 stitches before the marker, knit 2 together.  You’ve now decreased on each side of both markers.

#2:  Next round just knit.

#1: Next round decrease again just like above.

#2: Next round just knit.

Do these 2 rounds (decrease and knitting plain) till you only have 16 stitches total on the needles.

If you know how to cast/bind off, do it, turn the mitten inside out and sew up the seam.  If not, stop till next week.  We’ll CAST OFF.  Sew it up. AND knit the thumb.

(Now if you decide you can’t wait and choose to get started on the other mitt before next week, you can totally do that and have two thumbless mitts ready to knit thumbs onto.  Just be aware that you’ll want the thumb on the opposite side if you’re knitting a pattern to the back of the mitt.  So you’ll knit the waste yarn 7 stitches before your 2nd marker, which is the same as knit 9, knit 7 onto the waste yarn.)

See you next week!

(Again, if something seems wonky, please don’t hesitate to contact me.)

laugh. dance. learn. create. knit.

Okay, are you ready?

Using long tail cast on, Cast on 32 stitches.  Careful to cast on loosely or you’ll hate yourself when you try to join and start knitting. Join your yarn in the round and put a marker in so you know where the beginning of the round is.

cast on 32

join in the round, careful not to let it twist

place marker at beginning of round

(Your marker {red in the above pic} can be just a piece of another yarn you tie on and slide loosely from one needle to the next as you go around or you can buy a marker.)

Rib a Knit 2, Purl 2 rib for about 2.5 inches-this is the cuff of your mitten, or about how long you want it to be.  Hold it up to your hand and wrist and decide.  It doesn’t matter how long it is-if you like a short cuff, make it shorter, if you like a longer cuff, make it longer.

When you decide that your cuff is long enough for you, get round to the marker and then just start the HAND by knitting (knit, knit, knit) ’round and ’round and ’round till you get to between your thumb knuckles.

(NOTE: If you have signed up and receive my newsletter there are instructions in there if you want to knit a pattern on the back of the hand-that will be sent today (if my head quits pounding) or tomorrow for sure.)

It’ll be about 2-2.5 inches from the top of the cuff where you starting just knitting. But’s aprox depending on your hand size.  It’s not a big deal, this is no time to be obsessive/compulsive. Just use your hand to measure like this…

When you get there-STOP.  Look at how amazing you are!!!  We’ll pick it up again next week.  And get the thumb started.

(Please, if something isn’t clear, or you think I’ve forgotten something please ask!  This is supposed to be FUN.)

laugh. dance. learn. create. knit.