Glacia Mittens

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Glacia Mittens kept me busy for a week. After designing on the computer, I sat down and started knitting. I didn’t do a swatch this time!

I’m sure we all have knitting “focus” categories in our minds. Mine are: Everything quiet, No talking, Ok for music to be playing, Ok for podcast to be playing, TV knitting, Conversation knitting, etc. I get motion sickness so I can never knit while riding in the car. There are, however, transportation knitting categories: OK for flights, OK on a ferry, OK for walking (never for me!). Glacia Mittens start with the cast on (No talking, No sound). Work a simple 2X2 ribbing (TV knitting). Work a Latvian Braid (OK for music). Start the charts (No sound for a few rows, then put on music). End with a kitchener stitch (No sound, No talking). Thumb (Music). Weave in the ends (Conversation or Podcast). Categories may very. Warning: if you don’t weave in your ends as you go you will need to listen to several podcasts to weave them in at the end.

Here’s the pattern for Glacia Mittens. If you make them please send me a photo or post on Ravelry. Enjoy!

Please do not post this pdf on other websites! If you want to share it, just link to this page.

Glacia MittensDownload

All-Star Mittens

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This week I’m presenting the free knitting pattern for All-Star Mittens. These wool mittens are knitted on Size 2 needles with fingering weight yarn. There’s a chart for the corrugated ribbing cuff then you follow 2 charts for the mitten body and the thumb. The front and the back of the mitten are the same. This is a pattern that I designed and knitted while traveling this summer. They are part of my cold weather back-stock of patterns that I plan to put out over the fall months

I though it would be fun to share something I’ve been keeping in a box for years. Let me first say that I am not a keeper of things and it’s very unusual for me to hold on to something for years. I’ve made lots of knitted items that were worn out, donated, or given away—never to be seen again. That’s why it’s so incredible that I kept the very first pair of mittens that I designed and knitted!

Centering the stars was just too difficult I guess! These mittens are so funny to me because I know I didn’t think ahead on how to place the color-work part. I actually wore them the winter I made them but I don’t remember how long ago that was.

Fast forward a few decades— I know how to design with the motif centered now! Here’s the pattern for All-Star Mittens. Enjoy!

Please do not post this pdf on other websites! If you want to share it, just link to this page.

All-Star MittensDownload

Starla Mitts

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There are two design elements that I’ve been focusing on lately–fancy thumbs and mittens that are the same pattern on the palm and back of the hand. It is true that I’ve made several fingerless mitt patterns with star motifs, but Starla Mitts are different because the palms also have the star pattern.

The other change I made in this pattern is to use ribbing on the thumb and finger opening. I really like how they fit. I used Size 2 needles for the ribbing and the charted star pattern. I always make mitten with Size 2 needles when using a fingering weight yarn because the closer knit makes a sturdy mitt.

If you prefer a seeding pattern for the palms check out Star Lit Mitts and Star Power Mitts, patterns I posted in 2023.

Here is the FREE patten to download if you want to make Starla Mitts. If you want to share this pattern just link to this page. Please do not post the pdf of the pattern on other sites.

Starla MittsDownload

Edie Beanie

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Because we were camping without cell reception/internet, I didn’t post weekly patterns like I said I would. Instead we went to Utah to the Uinta Mountains. There I found bright fall colors! I also realized how each region has different fall colors. (Of course there are no fall colors at my home in the Mohave Desert.) When I designed Edie Beanie it was still summer and I was going by memory of what fall feels like. I still love the colors in this hat pattern, but they are more subdue than the real life bight fall colors that are happening in some places. It doesn’t matter really because are we just trying to match the colors in our coats, right? 🙂

Edie Beanie calls for small amounts of 7 colors. I think it’s a good use of fingering weight scraps. The pattern of alternating botanical motifs travel up to the crown and meet in a way that creates a star at the top.

This is a free pattern for now. Please do not use any of these images without consent or post the pattern pdf on another site. It is okay to link to this website so others can find it.

Happy Knitting!

Please do not post this pdf on other websites! If you want to share it, just link to this page.

Edie BeanieDownload

Bonney Lake Cowl

12 Replies

Earlier this summer I started making cowls while traveling around in our camper. I brought lots of balls of Knit Picks Palette yarn and worked on small projects while camping in Oregon and Washington. I tried several sizes of cowls to get a fit I like. The first cowl pattern I put out was Ozette Cowl which is 7 inches tall. Bonney Lake Cowl is 10 inches tall so it is a bit more ample.

Sometimes choosing colors for a project is time consuming and other times it just clicks and I know what I want. I usually make my patterns on the computer using a gray scale or just black and white then add in the colors. With Bonney Lake Cowl I knew right away which colors I wanted and I was happy that I had enough on hand.

Here’s the free knitting pattern for anyone who wants to make it. I do not care if anyone links to my free pattern BUT it’s not ok to take the pdf and use it for commercial purposes. This happened to me this week and I’m not happy about it. I’m trying to figure out what to do in the future so my work isn’t used for someone else’s gain. Even though my patterns are free I consider them my intellectual property. I ask for no money but I do want proper credit for my designs. Enough said. Here’s the download for Bonney Lake Cowl. Enjoy!

Please do not post this pdf on other websites! If you want to share it, just link to this page.

Bonney Lake CowlDownload

Blyn

12 Replies

So many of my designs lately have a flower motif. This kick started a while back when I notice I had so many greens in my yarn collection I decides to use them for leaves. That’s how I came up with the design I called In the Weeds.

In the Weeds has 9 color changes for a busy colorwork project. I recently had a comment on Ravelry about this hat and they called it “controlled chaos” which I took as a great complement because that was the effect I was going for!

Excuse my rambling about an old project. This post is really about a new project called Blyn. (Named after the town Blyn, Washington. I was camping there when I was knitting this hat.) Blyn came about because I decide to use something other than green for the leaves. Why be so literal, right? I started using a color called Bittersweet Heather from Knit Picks and it gave me the effect I wanted–dark leaves.

Here is the Free Pattern for Blyn. Enjoy!

Please do not post this pdf on other websites! If you want to share it, just link to this page.

BlynDownload

Floretta Mittens

8 Replies

I’m excited that fall is around the corner. It’s time to start publishing my patterns! My plan is to put out a pattern a week until I work my way through all my summer projects. I’m currently knitting baby sweaters and they should be done later in the fall too. I’m happy to have all this pattern writing part of my hobby to work on. I have a shoulder injury and have to take it easy on all repetitive movements–so no epic knitting sessions for now.

Floretta Mittens have quite a few color changes and a fancy thumb. This is the most complex project I worked on during the summer so I’ll start here. I personally enjoy lots of color changes—that’s why I do color work! But these mittens might take more time to make compared to a 2-color project. I figured if someone wanted to make them for this winter/fall you could start now and get it done.

I love fancy thumbs and have recently designed several mittens where the pattern continues up the thumb. Yes, it’s a little fussy to change colors in such a small space, but it’s worth it in the long run. You will end up with a really cute thumb—and who doesn’t want that? I use shorter needles for thumbs and it goes pretty fast. Regular length DPNs will work just fine too.

Here is the Free Pattern for Floretta Mittens. Enjoy!

Please do not post this pdf on other websites! If you want to share it, just link to this page.

Floretta MittensDownload

Ozette Cowl

3 Replies

We are back from our epic 2 month camping trip. It was going to be longer but we got smoked out so-to-speak. The West is on fire! We had lots of fun and visited lots of people and places. I designed and knitted almost everyday but as usual I didn’t have good cell/internet so I didn’t post anything. I didn’t even check my blog or Ravelry for 2 months!

Over the next few months I’ll be putting out some of my new mitten patterns. In the mean time I thought I’d share a new pattern for a cowl. I named it after a place we visited: Lake Ozette on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. We also went to Neah Bay which is just north of Ozette – ah fresh air and no forest fires! (That’s what originally brought us to the coast.)

Cape Flattery, Washington

The Ozette Cowl was designed to keep your neck toasty but not strangle you. I tried on several cowls before deciding on the dimensions. As for the color palette, I pulled out my yarn and played around with it until I put these 6 colors together. I think this would be a good project for someone new to colorwork because there is no shaping. You start with 168 stitches and you end with 168 stitches. The begging and end of the tube is constructed with a 2-color ribbing. This gives it a somewhat stiff edge that does not curl.

Corrugated ribbing

Here’s a few tips if you are new to stranded colorwork. It will save you so much time (and yarn) if you learn to weave in the color changes as you go. There’s many techniques for doing this; just pick one and try it out. However, you may want to leave long tails at the beginning and end of the project and weave them in with a yarn needle. This way you can direct the tails away from the opening so they don’t show.

Another tip to get a nice edge is to cast-off with a needle that one or two sizes bigger than the one you are using. That’s the way I get a loose cast-off.

Below is the pattern for Ozette Cowl that you can download for free. Let me know if you make it or if you do, please post it on Ravelry.

Ozette Cowl

Please do not post this pdf on other websites! If you want to share it, just link to this page.

Ozette CowlDownload

Adelinea Mitts

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Because I love corrugated ribbing, I worked out a new pattern that highlights this feature. This knitting project kept me busy for a couple of weeks while I knitted them in two sizes and in a few different color combinations.

The sizes are Small/Medium and Medium/Large. This photo shows both sizes on my medium-sized hands. The one on the left is size M/L and has a slightly loose fit on me. The one of the right is size S/M and fits me tightly. The difference in the sizes is just over half an inch around (4 stitches).

As I was saying, I love corrugated ribbing. However, it’s the one structure in colorwork knitting in which I don’t weave in the ends as I go. I’ve never found a good technique for this so I just wait to the end and weave them away from the openings so the little tails are not visible. It’s a little more work, but worth it.

The pattern below shows the colors for the smaller sized mitts on the right. Here’s the colors for the mitts with blues/reds, all of which are from the Knit Picks Palette line of 100% fingering weight wool: MC1- Garnet Heather, MC2- Marine Heather, MC3- Opal Heather, CC1 Coriander Heather, CC2 Finnley Heather, CC3 Cream. (Amounts needed are noted in pattern.)

Here is the free knitting pattern for you to enjoy. Please let me know if you make them by messaging me or posting on Ravelry.

Please do not post this pdf on other websites! If you want to share it, just link to this page.

adelinea-mittsDownload

Aluma Hat and Learning New Things

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Greetings! This has nothing to do with knitting, but I’m learning to ride a motorcycle out on some crazy dirt/gravel/sand roads. This photo is of me, taken this morning up on Flat Top Mesa near Mesquite, Nevada.

Did you think I just sit on my couch and knit all the time? (Well, I do sit and knit a lot!)

I just wanted to put it out there that even with knitting you have to be brave to try new things. So if you are thinking about knitting something that’s more complicated than you have previously tried—go for it. If you want to knit something way out of your comfort zone–give it a go. What’s the worst that can happen? Even if it’s a total mess you will surely learn new things.

Earlier this week I had a good time designing and knitting this hat.

This hat has all the classic elements: corrugated ribbing, stars, diamonds, and a fancy crown. I tried to put these all together in a new-to-me way and came up with the Aluma Hat.

The crown is my favorite part. Here’s the FREE PATTERN for you to download if you want to knit this hat.

Please do not post this pdf on other websites! If you want to share it, just link to this page.

aluma-hatDownload