Marling Ate My Yarn Stash

Since I had so many little bits of fingering weight yarn, I decided to knit them all together to make a sweater. I went with all my blues and grays and started a simple drop shoulder sweater. I held to yarns together and changed them at the end of the rows, keeping it somewhat random and somewhat balanced. Before I finished the sleeves and neck I ran out of yarn! I stuck it away until I get more blue scraps.

I had so much fun using up my scraps, I started a new sweater. This time I made sure I had enough yarn! I went with my red/orange/gold scraps and held one strand of Plotulopi and one strand of fingering weight yarn. This one is a oversized seemed cardigan and I’ve finished all the pieces and it’s being block now.

As I was watching youtube shows while I was knitting these sweaters and I found out this style of knitting has a name! I’ve been knitting for 50 years—-yes, you heard that right—and I did not know the word “marling”. I’ve used two and three strand to make interesting yarns to knit my whole life. As a spinner, I would take the unused yarns off bobbins and spin them together essentially making a marled yarn. As a weaver, I’ve taken the cut ends off the loom and knitted them together working the 8 inch strands together slowly to make a hat.

All of this marling has eaten up my scrap yarns and lots of my perfectly good balls of Knit Picks Palette yarn. During this time I was taking a break from designing and writing patterns. I took some time to research other yarns to use once I get back to designing. After an exhaustive search for locally made yarn (by locally I mean the West Coast of the United States), I went back to large companies. I ordered some new yarns and will give them a try. You see, I’m afraid to write a pattern that requires yarn that will be unavailable or discontinued. I’m looking for fingering weight 100% wool (not superwash) in a variety of colors. If anyone has an idea of a yarn company that’s well established and located in the US, let me know!

I want to end this rambling post with a rare project that didn’t involve wool – well, not much wool. I marled together a cotton/hemp yarn and a hemp/wool yarn and got this nice blue color. It doesn’t end with this market bag. I’ve got Lopi scraps that are just bagging to be knit together.

Five Floral Mittens

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Greetings! I wanted to write a bit here about how I ended up making an ebook called Five Floral Mittens. I have spent the last few years knitting and writing patterns that I put out for free on this blog. It was lots of fun and some of the patterns got attention and were knitted by folks that found me here or on Ravelry. Some of the patterns did not do so well but I left them up anyways since I found out that you can not delete a pattern of Ravelry. It can become “unavailable” but the photos and information remain.

Over time I felt uncomfortable about some not-so-good patterns and wanted to fix them. I reknitted and rewrote a few patterns and they did look better. In the mean time I was starting to work with an editor for my new pattens and anything I had edited I would charge money for. No more free pattern. The more I learned while working with the editor the more I cringed at my old patterns.

I went back to work on Carmelita Mittens. I actually changed the yarn/gauge and fixed some awkward elements in the design (long floats, ugly thumb, etc.). I set them aside and started working on one another pattern called Wild Flower Mittens. Again, the thumb was difficult with long floats, so I change that and reknitted them. I kept the basic design the same. At first glace, they look like the same mitten, but they knit up easier than the original pattern.

After re-working the Wild Flower Mittens pattern I started looked for the next in line of poorly written patterns. I thought Floriculture Mittens needed some help. But WAIT! This is when the idea came to me. There was theme to these pattern that I was rewriting. Floral designs. 2 colored stranded knitting. Same front and back, so all mittens are not designated left or right. All fancy thumbs!

I looked through my patterns and decided that Flowerfest Mittens needed to be in the group. My plan was to compile all these patterns and send them off to the tech editor. I arranged them as an ebook with a plan to sell them on Ravelry. Since it was a little odd to take free patterns and turn them into for-sale patterns I thought I’d take them time to create something new. The new pattern is really what you are buying and the others are kind of thrown in for the editing. I was planning on charging the price for one pattern and the other four were kind of a bonus.

Floria Mittens were designed with the same elements as the others: floral motif, fancy thumbs, same pattern front and back, 2 colors.

The ebook has been edited and Five Floral Mittens is now available on Ravelry. I have taking down the links for Carmelita Mittens, Flowerfest Mittens, Wild Flower Mittens, and Floriculture Mittens. You can find them, plus Floria Mittens, in the ebook. I’m listing it for $8.50.

For more info and to purchase: Five Floral Mittens.

Children’s Fair Isle Mittens

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Back in November I started a small project of Children’s Fair Isle Mittens. Each grandkid got a pair this year and that allowed me to make every size that’s available in the pattern. The pattern has been tech edited now and is up on Ravelry as of today!

Children’s Fair Isle Mittens have a corrugated cuff, checkerboard palms and thumbs, and a star motif on the body of the mitten. Each size has it’s own chart in the pattern. Although it’s best to measure the child’s hand to get the right fit, the sizes are: Size 1 age 2-3, Size 2 ages 4-6, Size 3 ages 7-9.

Finished Measurements:
Mitten length from cuff to tip: 5.5 in/ 14 cm (6 in/ 15 cm, 7 in/ 17.5 cm)
Mitten circumference at knuckles: 6 in/ 15 cm (6.5 in/ 16.5 cm, 7 in/ 17.5 cm)

The colorwork charts are in grayscale and the instructions include information about choosing colors. You can use the colors noted from the sample mittens or choose your own colors from your leftover 100% wool fingering weight yarn. The mittens have a main color (MC) and three contrasting colors (CC).

Size 1
MC – 51 yds/ 47 m
CC1 – 30 yds/ 28 m
CC2 – 15 yds/ 14 m
CC3 – 15 yds/ 14 m

Size 2
MC – 71 yds/ 65 m
CC1 – 36 yds/ 33 m
CC2 – 15 yds/ 14 m
CC3 – 15 yds/ 14 m

Size 3
MC – 76 yds/ 70 m
CC1 – 41 yds/ 38 m
CC2 – 15 yds/ 14 m
CC3 – 20 yds/ 19 m

You can buy this pattern on Ravelry. buy now

The Jacobina Set

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Introducing my latest pattern: The Jacobina Set. This pattern is named after my daughter – her middle name actually since I’ve already used her first name in a pattern! I just published it on Ravelry this morning. It’s sold as an “ebook” because the pattern contain both the hat and the fingerless mitts.

The ribbing is knitted with US Size 2/ 2.75mm needles and the charted colorwork is knitted with US Size 3/ 3.25mm needles.

Materials needed: Knit Picks Palette, fingering weight 100% wool. 1 ball = 231 yds/ 212 m/ 50 g

Color	Knit Picks color name	Yarn Estimate for Hat	Yarn Estimate for Mitts	Yarn Estimate for Full Set
Brown (MC)	PumaHeather	41 yds/ 38 m	66 yds/ 61 m	107 yds/ 98 m
Light Blue	Clarity	46 yds/ 42 m	51 yds/ 47 m	97 yds/ 89 m
Gray	MarbleHeather	25 yds/ 23 m	30 yds/ 28 m	55 yds/ 51 m
Teal	TidepoolHeather	20 yds/ 19 m	25 yds/ 23 m	45 yds/ 42 m
Cream	Oyster	20 yds/ 19 m	15 yds/ 15 m	35 yds/ 33 m
Sage	Sagebrush	30 yds/ 28 m	25 yds/ 23 m	55 yds/ 51 m

You can buy the ebook for $7.50 on Ravelry.

If you’d like to be redirected to Ravelry to buy this pattern click: buy now.

Twoolen

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Today I posted my first sweater pattern for sale on Ravelry. I started designing this is April 2025. It took about 3 and a half weeks to knit, then I wrote the pattern. It went to my editor, then back to me—then back to the editor and so forth. Finally it was ready for the test knitters. I found the test knitters on the Stranded Knitting group on facebook. The timeline for them was 14 weeks or so. That process was very helpful to me. So here we are in October 2025 and it’s ready!

Twoolen uses two strands of wool yarn at a time to create a sweater with Fair Isle style. Knit in the round, this drop shoulder sweater uses steeks to form the armholes and shape the neck. Worked bottom-up, the sweater starts with a generous colorwork ribbing that matches the cuffs of the sleeves. Follow the colorwork charts and a beautiful pattern with 6 colors will be revealed. Finish off with a smaller colorwork ribbing for the neck.

Each size has it’s own chart for the sleeves so it’s easy to keep track of your decreases while working the colorwork pattern.

Sizing
Choose size according to the largest measurement around your chest. There should be 6-10 in/ 15-25 cm of positive ease.
Chest circumference of finished sweater:
Size 1 34.75 in/ 88.5 cm
Size 2 39.75 in/ 101 cm
Size 3 44.75 in/ 113.5 cm
Size 4 49.75 in/ 126.5 cm
Size 5 54.5 in/ 138.5
Size 6 59.5 in/ 151 cm
Size 7 64.5 in/ 164 cm
Size 8 69.5 in/ 176.5 cm

Materials
Knit Picks Palette 231 yds/50 grams, fingering weight 100% wool
Light 1/cream Cream (MC) 2 (2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3) balls
Dark 1/rust Autumn Heather 2 (2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3) balls
Light 2/tan Coriander Heather 2 (2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4) balls
Dark 2/dark blue Abyss Heather 2 (2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3) balls
Light 3/light gray Finnley Heather 1 (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1) balls
Dark 3/brown Grizzly Heather 1 (1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2) balls

Substitutions: Always use 100% wool in fingering weight. Superwash yarn is not advised due to the steeking sections. For alternative colors, choose 3 light colors and 3 dark colors to achieve the desired contrast.

For more information and photos from the test knitters, see my Ravelry page. To purchase this sweater pattern click on the link in the right hand column of this website.

The Darrington Set

Materials

Knit Picks Palette, fingering weight 100% wool.

1 ball = 231 yds/ 212 m/ 50 g

Color	Knit Picks color name	Yarn Estimate forHat	Yarn Estimate forCowl	Yarn Estimate forMitts	Yarn Estimate for Full Set
Brown (MC)	Grizzley Heather	46 yds/42 m	66 yds/60.5 m	51 yds/47 m	163 yds/150 m
Tan	Coriander Heather	25 yds/23 m	25 yds/23 m	20 yds/18.5 m	70 yds/64 m
Cream	Oyster	30 yds/27.5 m	41 yds/38 m	15 yds/14 m	86 yds/79 m
Navy	Abyss Heather	20 yds/18.5 m	25 yds/23 m	20 yds/18.5 m	65 yds/60 m
Orange	Brindle Heather	15 yds/14 m	30 yds/27.5 m	11 yds/10 m	56 yds/51.5 m
Gold	Brass Heather	20 yds/18.5 m	20 yds/18.5 m	5 yds/4.5 m	45 yds/41.5 m
Light Gray	Finnley Heather	25 yds/23 m	30 yds/27.5 m	11 yds/10 m	66 yds/60.5
Blue	Opal Heather	20 yds/18.5 m	25 yds/23 m	15 yds/14 m	60 yds/55 m

Size

One size: adult. Hat fits a 22-24 in/ 56 – 61 cm head. Cowl is 8.5 in/ 21.5 cm tall and 23 in/ 58.5 cm in circumference. Mitts are 5.5 in/ 14 cm from cuff edge to finger opening. Mitts are 7.5 in/ 18.75 cm around the knuckles.

Big News

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I’ve dropped a few hints that I’ve been designing a sweater and working with an editor. My plan was to publish the sweater pattern this fall and I’m on track. I’ve had 5 test knitters working on the sweater over the summer and I will put that pattern out on Oct. 11th. It will be for purchase on Ravelry.

But that is not all I’ve been working on. Since I’m making the jump to having an edited pattern in which I charge money for I figured I’ll go all in and publish several patterns in that fashion. The sweater feels like such a big deal I thought I should start with something I’m familiar with– accessories!

I designed and wrote the pattern for the Darrington Set while in Darrington, Washington this summer. I had brought a bag a yarn and was going through the colors when I became inspired by this palette.

Although there are 8 colors involved in these colorwork accessories, you can make all 3 items with only 1 ball of each color. The pattern for the Darrington Set will be for purchase on Ravelry in a few days.

The sweater that will come out in a few weeks is called Twoolen. It’s an all over colorwork sweater that comes in 8 sizes. I’ll leave you with this little sneak-peak 🙂

17 years of blogging

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It was August 2008 when I got the idea to start a blog. I opened up the page to create a blogspot account and it asked what I wanted to name my blog. I gave it ZERO thought and the words Fleece Love and Happiness popped into my head. Knitters on-line tended to use puns—okay, I like puns. I didn’t plan to stick with it, I was just seeing if I could figure out how to get a free blog at the time. (Ah, remember when blogs were free.)

In the old days I wrote about spinning, carding, and dyeing wool. There was a time that I blogged about weaving. I always knitted and blogged about that too. All those old post are still out there on the internet. I ended up losing that account, changing my last name, changing my email address, but I kept my knitter “handle”. I moved over to wordpress—and here I am. Still Fleece Love and Happiness after all these years.

To celebrate the anniversary of my blog, I decided to put out a free pattern. A gift to you! Sleeping Bear Hat was designed and knitted this summer while we were traveling. I made it with 3 different color schemes and decided to put them all in the written pattern. I’m assuming people will use their own scraps of fingering weight yarn if they want to make this hat. The colors I chose are just a jumping off point. There’s so many color combinations that would look good with this pattern.

Sleeping Bear Hats are fun to knit to the very end!

Here’s the FREE KNITTING PATTERN for Sleeping Bear Hat. Happy Knitting!

Sleeping Bear Download

A Little Warmer

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Back in 2023 I wrote a knitting pattern called A Little Warmer Mitts and posted it to Ravelry. It holds the record for my least popular knitting pattern that I have published with a total of ZERO people knitting it. I thought I’d take it down so my “portfolio” of knitting patterns looked good. It turns out once you post on Ravelry it’s there forever. That was news to me!

My next idea was to knit a new pair with more interesting colors and post new photos. I chose these natural colors: dark dray, medium tan, tan, and cream.

This was also a chance for me to update the pattern. I’ve been writing patterns for a few years now and I’m getting more skilled at it as I go. I’m going to slowly go back through my old patters and update them. I’ve already updated Golden Hour Mittens and it feels better having something out there that I’m proud of. Here’s the new and improved free knitting pattern for A Little Warmer Mitts. Happy Knitting!

A Little Warmer Mitts, updated Download

Golden Hour Mittens

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I’ve been designing mittens and other items for a few years now. I’ve learned a lot during the process of posting over 50 pattern on Ravelry. I didn’t know once you post something it’s there forever!!! Well, I’m not exactly proud of a few designs I’ve posted. In fact, I would take them down if I could. I figured the next best thing would be to update the patterns. I’ve started with the eye-sore Golden Hour Mittens. I’ve changed the colors and made some adjustment to the colorwork charts so that there are no long stretches of one color. I’ve added a row of the contrasting color around the edges and redesigned the thumb so it’s easier to knit. The cuff now is a 2-color ribbing because it just looks better with the mitten design.

The original Ravelry post had only 1 photo! Oh my, what was I thinking? The updated version has more photos so you can see the front, back, and thumbs of the mittens.

Also, in the pattern I’ve tried to make the instructions more clear. Here’s the updated Golden Hour Mitten Pattern. It’s free. Please post on Ravelry if you make them. Enjoy!

Golden Hour Mittens Download

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