Passport Mitts

Here’s One Way to Get Rid of Some WIPs:

Posted on by alexand knits

Just frog ’em all. Froggity frog frog frog. Then, you can cast on for something new with a clear conscience! I made the decision to rip out (ribbit) my Color Dipped Hat (thanks for all the advice). I haven’t actually done it yet, but I will. That one I will restart, but I guess I got the frog bug because I just decided to deep six another project that was giving me headaches. The Lacy Loo just was not going to work in Berroco Linet. Just not happening. So, that one will get ripped out too and I’ll keep my eye out for a better yarn choice for the pattern. I also decided to scrap a dishcloth I cast on a couple months ago as I have no idea where I was in the pattern, and not a ton of interest in dishcloths at the moment. So there! Two WIPs gone and one on the way to recovery!

I’ve been knocking WIPs out another way today, too. I’ve actually been working on finishing some of the damn things! I finished the knitting, and even wove in all the ends, on my Garter Yoke Baby Cardi ages ago but was dragging my feet on sewing in the buttons. Well, I sewed on all five of them today and even gave it a wash. Once it dries, it will be ready to get out of my life and off the WIP list! These aren’t the greatest pics, but they prove there are buttons:

IMG_4224 IMG_4225Of note, I used TECHknitter’s button shanking technique. Black yarn is really tricky to photograph. Once it is done drying, I’ll try to get some shots in natural light that are a little clearer.

Another WIP that’s teed up and ready to go is my Sunlight Shawlette. I finally got around to blocking it today. It’s currently drying on our very tidy guest bed:

IMG_4222I’m really happy with how it turned out. I of course forgot to take pre-blocking measurements, but it grew a lot. I hope the recipient likes it! I should be able to give it to her this week.

Oh yeah, and I straight up finished another WIP. Say hi to my third pair of Passport Mitts! I made them out of the same orange Ella Rae Lace Merino DK. These are the size large but like the other orange pair, I stuck with US2s the whole time instead of switching to 3s. This yarn is just not anything close to DK weight and I like the way the knitted fabric was with the 2s. Also, the intended recipient wants a snug fit. I think they’re just about perfect!

IMG_4221So, I’m down to six WIPs. Two are blocking and will be done within a day or two. One is my Drachenfels which I still just haven’t blocked and taken final photos of. I really just want to wear it all the time so I don’t want it out of commission for a couple of days! Plus, to block it, I’d have to legitimately clean off the guest bed and that hasn’t been high on my priority list. I’m left with the Color Dipped Hat which is back to square one and two old-ish WIPs just waiting around for some finishing. Capucine needs tassels and Twirly Summerskirt needs elastic in the waistband.

You know what the next question is, right? What should I cast on next? Well, I swatched for Hermione’s Everyday Socks the other day and came in closer to 8 sts/inch than 9. I was even using US1s! I thought about casting on anyway because I would need to adjust the pattern for my big feet, but I’m starting to wonder if that’s the best next sock pattern for me. I kind of want something with more explicit instructions for how to make size adjustments, or at least something that offers different sizes so that I can see more clearly how to manipulate things. I stumbled across a link to get a free Craftsy.com class the other day and chose to use it on a sock class. I think I might watch that before I start my next sock project.

So, what else is on my queue? A few things, but nothing I’m ready to start yet. I guess I’ll just commence with the frogging!

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Orange Passport Mitts

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This is the second pair that I’ve finished. See my post about the first pair here. I’ve already cast on for pair #3!

The rundown

Pattern: Passport Mitts by Carol E. Herman

Yarn: Ella Rae Lace Merino DK in orange

Size made: Women’s small, but they came out extra little (I forgot to go up a needle size after the cuff)

Needles: US2

Techniques used: Tillybuddy’s very stretchy cast on

Modifications: I added one extra row of K1P1 rib at the beginning as that is what works best with that particular cast on. I also picked up one extra stitch on each side of the thumb gusset, then decreased it on the first thumb round.

Ravelled: here.

The pretty

FullSizeRender 93 FullSizeRender 92 IMG_4171I’m using the same yarn for another pair. I love them! I love the color, the stitch definition, the cables, everything. The yarn is pretty soft when knitted up. They’re too little for me to even try on (I have big hands) but I have a recipient in mind for them 🙂

Happy knitting!

I’m Just Not Sure About This or Experiments in Yarn Selection

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I cast on a new project last night. It’s one I’ve been thinking about for a few days but just couldn’t settle on what yarn to use. The pattern is Lacy Loo and it’s for a shirt/tunic/dress for the little. It calls for worsted or aran weight at a gauge of 4 sts to the inch. Now, in my mind that’s closer to bulky. But the pattern is, well, lacy, so I’m afraid bulky weight won’t show the lace well. The aran weight choices I already have in my stash in sufficient quantity are some malabrigo twist or some acrylic. The malabrigo is not in a great colorway for this, so I hesitate to use it. The acrylic? Just not doing it. It’s not decent acrylic. It’s older stuff that I want to use for things that won’t be right against skin. So I started looking at worsted, knowing it would have to be on the loose side.

I have tentatively settled on Berocco Linet. I have a ton of it from the legendary Goodwill windfall. I think it could be really cool, but it also might not work at all.


Here’s the first few rows of the neck started. It’s a pain in the ass to knit. I’m using US9s and will be switching to US10.5s shortly as that’s what it took to get gauge. I don’t have circs in that size so I’ll be using dpns. The yarn is a weird texture and construction. It seems like the metallic pieces are less flexible than the rest so it bends in a weird way. It’s kind of splitty. Those six rows of seed stitch took me approximately forever. There’s a good chance the fabric will be too loosely knit to be practical for a garment for a three year old.

At the same time, I kinda love it. It’s shiny and has that linen-y drape. I’m going to keep going with it for a bit and see how it progresses.


If it goes all right on the 10.5s I’ll invest in an appropriate set of circs.

One pro to getting this done is that, according to the pattern page, you can get a free pattern of you complete a Lacy Loo by November 15. I’m totally down for free!

In other knitting news, I have finally finished my second pair of Passport Mitts and have cast on for a third in the same orange yarn. I’ll give the finished pair a review post of their own soon. I’ve also finished and blocked my Tunbridge Hat but have not been able to get modeled pictures in natural light yet.

I’m making good progress on a Color Dipped Hat for my SIL’s bf (not sure I’ve blogged about this one yet). The pattern is from Purl Soho and is the first of theirs that I’ve attempted. I love their stuff, though. Everything has such clean lines and lovely color choices, and most of their patterns are free. It’s turning out beautifully but I am a bit worried it’s too big. I’ve made the decision to carry on (the 3.5″ of brim I’ve done so far have taken forever–fisherman’s rib eats both yarn and time) and to go for long and skinny when I block it. I’m going to drop the blue and finish it with just the charcoal from here on out.



It’s reversible! And so squishy! This pattern is definitely a favorite.

I’ve been trying to reach out and find more knitting community lately. I’ve been hanging out at my LYS a bit when I have time and I went to a fiber arts meet up last night. It’s been good to meet other knitters and fall into the natural collaboration that happens. I hope that once I go back to work, I will still be able to find the time to continue.

There’s a lot more in my head, but my phone is threatening to overheat! So until next time, happy knitting and I’m feeling some healthy jealousy for everyone who was able to go to Rhinebeck last weekend. Next year, I’m going and that’s final!

Just the Facts, Ma’am

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Since most of my time these days is spent shuttling from appointment to appointment and taking care of a nearly three year old, I haven’t had a ton of time to blog. So here’s just a few snippets to tide you over until I have a few minutes to concentrate.

First, I’m working on a new test knit, the Tunbridge Malabrigo Hat. This is my third test knit and, like the first two, is a hat. I’m using two matching balls of mystery yarn I got in a grab bag a bit ago. Initially I thought it was wool but after working with it for a bit, I think it’s a wool/alpaca blend. Or some kind of blend. It’s very soft and a little hairy. So far, so good!

IMG_4131Second, I am very close to finishing my second pair of Passport Mitts. I just need to weave in the ends and they will be done! More detailed review post to follow. FYI, the KAL is still happening. There’s a month to go, which is plenty of time to knock out a pair or three! Check out the pattern here.

IMG_4096Third, I am getting more serious about stashbusting. I have a list of Christmas/gift knits I’m working on and once those are done, I’m going to focus more on some of the stashbusting projects I have percolating. There will be chenille scarves, acrylic afghans, and lots and lots of charity hats. It’s gonna be great!

Fourth, I am making progress on my Sunlight Shawlette. I wasn’t exactly sure how I wanted to use the darker blue. On the recommendation of the wifey, I switched to dark blue when I was down to one ball of light blue. I’ll knit a wide band of the dark blue (until I run out of yarn) and then finish it off with the light blue. My aim is to use up as much of the yarn as possible. I even switched colors mid row so I didn’t have to waste a length of the light blue. I’m not bothered by it; I think it looks cool. The darker blue in the pic blends in with my jeans a bit, but you can get the idea.

IMG_4130Last, but not least, I’m a winner! Yeah, I won something! Actually, two somethings: knittinginfrance hosted a giveaway on her blog, and I am one of two lucky winners! I will be receiving a skein of sparkly hand-dyed sock yumminess called Strawberry Frappuccino and a sock pattern (Strawberries & Cream Frappe Socks) written specifically for that colorway. Check out pictures of both yarn and pattern here (as I foolishly forgot to ask permission to use her photos) and stay to check out her blog and her shop! Also, be sure not to miss her awesome sock knitting prowess!

Happy knitting!

Knitting Save!

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I’ve felt a little at odds with my knitting over the past day or so. Out of four active WIPs, I finished one, worked on one out of obligation, was bored with another and having issues with the fourth. I toyed with the idea of casting on something new but nothing was really coming together.

So, let’s review: the one I finished was my third River District Toque. This one is adult sized. I haven’t taken pictures of it yet, but given that it’s nearly identical to the other adult one I made and is in the same yarn (malabrigo Rios in Archangel), I’m not really motivated to do so. This will be going to my SIL for an early Christmas gift as soon as I’ve given it a wash. I was getting over a cold while working on it so I want to make sure it’s clean. Highlights from that project include grafting in pattern (I’m getting pretty good at that) and weaving in most ends as I went. As a result, I was able to get all the finishing done really quickly. It’s really pretty and I think she will like it!

The obligation WIP is my garter yoke baby cardi. I’ve blogged about this project and its woes before, and it hasn’t gotten any better. It got put on hold for a while because, despite the fact that there are tens of thousands of buttons in this house (really) I could not find more than two matching ones in an appropriate size and color. So, I eventually bought some buttons, then dragged my feet on knitting the button bands and doing all that stuff. I picked it up the other day because if I wait any longer, the baby I made it for will have outgrown it and it won’t be sweater weather anymore! I knit the first button band (the one which will have the buttons sewn on) and then debated for a while on what form of buttonhole to use. I didn’t want to do just a yo/k2tog because the buttons are really too big for that. I didn’t want to get super fiddly and do real buttonholes because, let’s be honest, how many times will this even get worn? I don’t mind putting effort into things, but babies grow so fast! So I figured I’d do applied I cord with button loops.

Sounds simple, right? Well, there are directions in the original pattern for how to do that, but they just weren’t making a ton of sense to me. I’ve done this kind of thing before but couldn’t quite remember how to get going. So, I poked around ravelry and couldn’t find anything. I know it’s there, I just wasn’t able to stumble across it. Then I went to TECHknitter and read everything there about buttons and buttonholes…no luck. I was about to just resort to google when I decided to bring out my go-to handbook again, The Knitter’s Book of Finishing Techniques by Nancie M. Wiseman. Sure enough, it was all spelled out clearly with clear photos and illustrations. Great! So I did the button loops and cast off. I was feeling like a martyr so I just kept going and wove in all the ends*.

IMG_4085It’s proving difficult to get decent photos of black yarn, but you get the idea. Here’s a better look at the button bands:

IMG_4091 IMG_4092So now all I have to do for this is sew on the buttons and wash it. Depending on how it looks after a wash, I may try steam blocking it a touch…but I don’t really think it’ll be necessary. I’ll be happy to have it done.

The WIP I’m a little bored with is my Sunlight Shawlette. I know the idea is that it’s a simple pattern, but it’s just turning into a lot of stockinette to slog through. I’ve made a little progress on it though.

And last, the WIP that was giving me some trouble? My second pair of Passport Mitts. Everything was going fine. I was working on the first mitt (the left one) and making progress. I was liking the stitch definition of the yarn I’m using as well as the semisolid colorway. Then, I tried it on and realized I was doing something wonky with my tension on the m1r stitches along the right edge of the thumb gusset:

IMG_4081It’s not the most awful thing, but the contrast with the left edge of the gusset is pretty stark. That one looks so neat. So, I wasn’t sure what to do. Rip it back? Ignore it? Mess with the surrounding stitches to try to even things out? Hope it blocks out? I stalled for a little because I really didn’t want to rip it out, but I also didn’t want to ignore it. Well, I picked it up today while I was between chiropractor and PT appointments and just started adjusting the tension. I used the tip of a dpn to snug up the holes and work the extra yarn into the stockinette panel to the right of it. I am very pleased with the results!

IMG_4089So, moving forward I will just try to be more conscious of the tension on those stitches. I also switched out the stitch marker I was using there for one with a lower profile. Hopefully that will help prevent it from continuing to happen.

I’m glad I’ve worked through some of my knitting issues. I’ve been very frustrated with the rest of life in general–it’s taking me so much longer to heal than I’d thought it would and I’m getting really tired of not being able to do stuff that I want to do. Knitting has been sort of my saving grace, so not having a project that I just wanted to pick up and work on was frustrating.

I’ll leave you with a little dose of cuteness. Lately my daughter has been talking about wanting to learn to knit. It’s a little early (she’s not quite three) but it’s really sweet that she’s interested. The other day she put on some dress ups, grabbed some crayons and told me she was knitting:

IMG_4078 IMG_4079 IMG_4080

*I’ll tell you a secret about weaving in ends when using Caron Simply Soft acrylic: Tie knots. Just do it. That yarn is so slippery that I don’t think anything else will hold. What I did in this case was weave in the end with duplicate stitch for a while then split the tail into two pieces with two plies each. Then I ran one half through a neighboring stitch and tied it to the other half with a secure square knot. This thing needs to hold up to machine washing!

A Little Pick Me Up

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I am behind on reading blogs, which I intend to remedy shortly. Until then, there are a couple of things I want to mention. First, many thanks to Carol for reblogging my post about Passport Mitts! It’s my first reblogged post and I’m honored! Second, I’ll get on the Thursday sock bandwagon. It just might not coincide with any actual Thursdays. Third, have you all seen the slow fashion October things going on? If you haven’t, here is a good place to start. I love it! So many people are starting to think about where our clothes actually come from, and what changes need to be made on that front. I’ve even seen a post or two about the link between crafting and privilege which is something that’s been bothering me lately. More on that to come.

I’m still dealing with my injury and still not back to work. I have a lot of challenges on my plate at the moment, you could say. I’ve been coping remarkably well so far but yesterday our awesome nanny gave us her two weeks’ notice. There’s a lot of good reasons behind that and I don’t fault her for it one iota, but it does make everything just seem harder. Every little thing seems like the last straw except what choice is there? Just have to keep going. So, knitting is of course my refuge right now.

I noticed the other day that the top two rows of my projects on rav were monopolized by grey, black, blue and purple with not a warm shade to be seen. So I started casting on bright stuff: first, my second pair of Passport Mitts in orange Ella Rae Lace Merino DK. This pic is a little more orange-y than the actual color, but it gives you a decent idea:

IMG_4060Shortly after I took that photo I unfortunately ripped the whole thing out. I had accidentally cast on too many stitches. I’ll redo it, though. That still wasn’t enough color on my project page, so the next day I cast on for a third River District Toque, a pattern I tested for Rachel at welfordpurls. I’m using the same yarn as for the first two–malabrigo Rios in colorway Archangel. So far it’s turning out equally as luscious as the first two:

IMG_4066The actual color leans a little less toward magenta and a little more toward purple. For some reason that one is tricky to photograph. In any case, my project page is looking a little brighter. I was still feeling pretty down today. Then, I came home after picking my daughter up from school and found a little pick me up in my mailbox:

IMG_4061 IMG_4065Who wouldn’t feel better with a handful of squooshy madelinetosh yarn? Especially in such a luminous colorway (Cousteau)! With 225 new yards of Tosh DK, I know where my third pair of Passport Mitts is coming from! Everything seemed just a little bit better.

Aaaaaaaand then my daughter pooped on the floor. I think I’m going to need more yarn.

Passport Mitts Revealed

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The second FO I have to share today is my first pair of Passport Mitts! I’ve posted here before about this pattern and the designer, but I want to say a little more. Specifically, if you’re looking for an awesome and supportive group of people to “hang out” with on ravelry, please go check out the group at Carol E. Herman Designs. Carol (cehermanator) and many of the group members have been so welcoming to me that, even though I hadn’t yet knit any of her designs, I still felt comfortable just jumping in and chatting with people. There’s currently a KAL going on for the Passport Mitts. It’s the first time I’ve participated in one, and it’s been really fun so far! It just started a couple of days ago so there’s plenty of time to come join in if you’d like. There’s great chatting, camaraderie and some awesome prizes!

The rundown

Pattern: Passport Mitts by Carol E. Herman (psst–one of my photos is featured on the pattern page!)

Yarn: Classic Elite Yarns Inca Alpaca in Navy Heather, about 168 yards

incaalpacaSize made: Women’s small

Needles: US2 and 3

Techniques used: Tillybuddy’s very stretchy cast on

Modifications: Only one. I added one extra row of K1P1 rib at the beginning as that is what works best with that particular cast on.

Ravelled: Here.

The pretty

IMG_4013 IMG_4020-1 IMG_4022

Not only would I make this pattern again in a heartbeat, I have yarn picked out for the next pair. I’m planning to use Ella Rae Lace Merino DK in orange.

IMG_3335_mediumI haven’t decided yet if the orange will be for me or for a gift for someone else. The only thing I would do differently next time is bind off a little tighter. I know, I know, tight bind offs are the enemy! But I did these a smidge on the loose side. I will be sending these off to my mom soon but in the meantime I might have been wearing them a little 🙂 I love the way the thumb gusset is constructed–it looks so sharp and finished. The cables remind me a little of how sand ripples under the water in the Gulf of Mexico. So pretty!

I wish I had enough of the Inca Alpaca left to make a second pair. If I make the small size again and skip one cable repeat, I could probably just swing it. It’s really soft and silky but still strong and substantial and I love the colorway. I would call it more of a midnight blue than a navy. It has strands of white and turquoise in it that are really pretty and make it interesting close up.

In all, this is a great pattern to add to my repertoire! It was a quick knit and I’m hoping to make at least another pair or two this year.

Sweater Weather Tag

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I was tagged by Lindsey at Nightowl Knit & Crochet the other day. So, here goes!

  • Favorite candle scent? With a toddler, two cats and a wifey with asthma, I don’t get to light too many candles! But I am partial to the Pacifica line–most of their scents are really lovely.
  • Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate? If I have to choose just one, coffee. But I like all three.
  • What is the best fall memory you have? My daughter’s birth almost three years ago.
  • Best fragrance for fall? I don’t think I’m trendy enough to rotate fragrances with the seasons!
  • Favorite Thanksgiving food? Stuffing
  • What is autumn like where you live? I like to call it “that two weeks every year when the temperature is above freezing but there’s little to no humidity”
  • Most worn sweater? A blue, white and grey argyle dealy I got a few years ago.
  • Football games or jumping in leaf piles? Leaf piles. It’s much safer.
  • Favorite type of pie? Blueberry
  • Which makeup trend do you prefer, dark lips or winged liner? In my teenage goth days, I’d have said eyeliner, hands down. Now I’m not so into makeup.
  • What song really gets you into the fall spirit? The rustling leaves
  • Is pumpkin spice worth the hype? No. It’s good and all, but I don’t go overboard.
  • Favorite Fall TV Show? I’m honestly not sure what constitutes a fall TV show. I did just watch the first few episodes of The Daily Show (new host–Trevor Noah). Does that count?
  • Skinny jeans or leggings? I’m more of a baggy and/or boot cut jeans kinda guy. I know–not trendy at all.
  • Combat boots or Uggs? Flip flops for as long as possible, then something easy to slide on quickly.
  • Halloween – Yay or Nay? I think it’s fun, but I don’t go all out (can you tell I’m sort of a moderate person?)
  • Fall mornings or evenings? Evenings. I am not a morning person at any time of year!
  • What do you think about Black Friday? I think it’s a shame people have gotten trampled in the name of shopping.
  • One Fall 2015 Trend You Love: Cool weather, beautiful foliage, prime knitting time! Just to prove it, here’s a sneak peek at my latest WIP:

IMG_4010

So I’m clearly not the most conventional person, but hey…I am what I am 🙂 To go even further against the grain, I am almost always hot so I rarely wear sweaters (although I do like them). I will say that I’ve been wearing my Drachenfels every day since the weather got cooler! Please consider yourself tagged if you feel so inclined!

Gift Knitting Sucks

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Okay, so it doesn’t really suck. I actually really like gift knitting. I love when ideas and yarn and pattern just click, and something cool starts emerging from the needles. I love the anticipation of finishing it and sending it off, hoping that the recipient will love it. The thing that sucks about it is that I have a project going right now that I’m really excited about it but I can’t blog about it without spoiling the surprise. I’m bottling up all my thoughts about it so after all is said and done, I can share all the details here.

In the meantime, I’m slogging away at my Clapotis. If I made this again (which I very well might) I would choose a different yarn for sure. The texture and drape of the Plymouth DK Merino Superwash is nice, and I like the color, but it has very low twist to it which makes it kind of splitty. As a result, the yarn in the dropped stitch columns just doesn’t look quite as neat as I would like. But, overall it’s pretty minor, so I think the finished product will be good. The knitting is getting a little boring but it’s at least going pretty quickly.

I haven’t blocked my Drachenfels yet but I’ve been wearing it anyway. Not surprisingly, I love it! I’ve gotten a handful of compliments on it already. The weather just turned a little cooler a few days ago so it’s been perfect for the chilly mornings. I realized that I never finished weaving in the ends of the wifey’s Quicksilver, so I’ve started working on that. I want to get that finished and blocked soon so that she can get some use out of it! I’m about halfway done. It’s super tedious.

IMG_3953Somebody thinks he’s helping:

IMG_3957 IMG_3956That one is not usually a lap cat, so that was a nice treat. Shockingly, he only chased the yarn once or twice.

Here’s what I have in mind for my next few projects:

image_medium1Fun, right?

Flawsome Sock!

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A few years ago, I had the opportunity to go to a workshop on internalized misogyny (don’t be scared off–this really is about knitting and it has a happy ending). One of the exercises we did was designed to help people of the female persuasion recognize some of the unconscious misogynistic thoughts that are very, very common. I was shocked at how my typical self-talk measured up when I started paying attention to it. I would generalize that many, if not most, women habitually, internally, unintentionally demean themselves in a myriad of tiny ways. When I started thinking about how to blog about my newly completed sock, I found myself automatically including tiny apologies for the things I did wrong or don’t like about it.

Then I remembered that, for realz, I made a freaking sock. And that is awesome, period. So I am borrowing a term from the wonderful and slightly crazy Tyra Banks and dubbing it “flawsome”. Get it? Flawed + awesome = flawsome. It’s awesome, not in spite of its flaws, but because of them. Furthermore, I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the phrase “flawsome sock” just makes me think of “awesome sauce”.

So….yeah. I made a sock! And it’s just what it’s supposed to be. It fits, it’s comfy, it’s a cool color and making it helped me up my knitting skills. I won’t bore you with details of any of its less than perfect features because they really don’t matter (and to be honest, I pretty much covered all of them in a previous post).

IMG_3893I even wove in the ends and everything. How’s that for awesome? Check! And just to make sure that I don’t succumb to SSS*, I’ve already cast on and made it halfway down the cuff:

IMG_3892I used (one size smaller) dpns for the ribbing and otherwise will use magic loop for the rest. Hopefully my gauge is the same! It’s just much nicer knitting on my Addi sock rockets than the aforementioned awful dpns I used for half the last sock.

In the meantime, I have more fun stuff on the horizon. I should get my extra skein of Koigu KPM on Saturday so then I can work on getting my Drachenfels finished. I needed something a little easier on my hands than the socks, so a couple of days ago I cast on for my first Clapotis. Those of you who’ve paid attention to the online knitting community for a while will know that I’m over ten years late on riding that trend, but I would argue it’s become timeless at this point! Plus, it really seemed like the best pattern for the project. I’m making a wrap for my mother in law out of this Plymouth DK Merino Superwash:

IMG_3250_mediumI’m hoping I’ll be able to make it a little wider than the pattern calls for, but we’ll see how it goes. I don’t have the best pic yet of my progress but this should give you an idea:

IMG_3889 IMG_3894Other mods I’m making are to follow the advice of (literally) thousands of knitters ahead of me and to RS purl/WS knit the stitches to be dropped instead of using stitch markers to mark them. Also, while the pattern calls to knit the stitch right before and the stitch right after through the back loops, I’m also doing the purl equivalent on the WS. This is supposed to shore those stitches up even more so that when the stitch column between them is dropped, the edges are secure. The setup was a little confusing but once you get going, the pattern is very easy (and very easy to memorize). I hope she will like it!

I got some really exciting news this morning. Carol of Carol E. Herman Designs and knit = joy has released her Passport Mitts pattern early! Check it out! She’s planning to host a KAL starting October 1:

PASSPORT_MITT_small2

Copyright Carol E. Herman Designs. Used by permission.

image_small2

Copyright Carol E. Herman Designs. Used by permission.

Palm_small2

Copyright Carol E. Herman Designs. Used by permission.

When my mom was visiting, she asked for a pair of fingerless mitts. We looked through some patterns and she really liked this one, so I’m planning to make her a pair. I have had the best yarn picked out for it forever: Classic Elite Yarns Inca Alpaca in navy blue. I got it from the Goodwill windfall so I think that will be great karma for a gift for her. I’ve got to hurry up and get some other projects done so I can start these soon!

Happy knitting!

*Second sock syndrome: the often insurmountable inertia a knitter must overcome when faced with making an object identical to the one just completed.