Something other than Red

 I'm taking a few sick days, and blogging is something I can manage.

These are NOT slate blue.  They are totally navy. Weird. They're Free Flat Knit Baby Socks. I used Vanna's Choice by Lion Brand taht I found in the stash. It's a "Medium 4", 16st/22rows on 5.5mm/9. I used 4.5mm. I really wouldn't want to go with a smaller needle. I casted on flat but then knit them in the round. You do end up with a fake seam at the back, but I think it looks nicer than most seams I see. I sewed the sole as per the instructions. If I do them again, I will cast on 2 less than half the stitches, then pick up in those stitches and go back to the start. On the first row, increase into each of the centre 4 stitches.  These were really quick to make, and I love how they are deep for the instep. Babies have thick feet. Like, there's no flat part on the top of their feet, they just angle up from the toes to the calf LOL.  However, there are so many baby bootie patterns out there, I like to try different patterns.  These took 42gr. I'm trying to use up the left over yarn on a hat but I just don't think I have enough. 

This is the second pair of mittens I made with the Country Style DK yarn. They're a size 4 and I remembered to do the plain rows after the ribbing before the thumb gusset! They took 47gr.  Gram by gram I am chipping away at the stash!

Yarn In:  0 grams

Yarn Out:  89gr + 592gr =    681gr

Balance:  681gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $0

New Mitten Outlet

 Winter hit Ontario. We were spoiled last year, and made up for it this February. 

We even had a true snow day--not just no buses, but schools were closed!!

The school I work at one afternoon a week noticed a need for winter gear and other school supplies for students. The principal took an unused small room/closet and created the Lion's Locker, where students can go on their own to grab mittens, a sweater, etc. I knew this would be a great place to donate my bag of mittens that I used to take to work when I was a lunch supervisor. I've added a few pairs in the last couple years as I was working at a small school, but I'm not there much anymore and they don't have kindergarten. I made another pair last week, and started a pair this week. I have so much yarn!

52grs, it's Sirdar Country Style DK weight. It's only 15% wool, but I double stranded it and knit it fairly snug. However, I didn't like the thumbs! They seem too long and thin. After, I started the next pair and I realized I misread the instructions and forgot the 4-8 plain rows before starting the thumb gusset.  Oops. The other pattern I use starts the thumb gusset right after the ribbing, but at a slower rate of increases. They'll still keep someone warm!

If you have small amounts of yarn that's a wool blend, I highly recommend making mittens to donate. Superwash wools are ideal, but even wool blends can be warm (as long as they don't get too wet). Knit slightly tighter than you would normally. You can even turn them inside out and pick up stitches at the top of the ribbing and knit a liner (I wouldn't knit the thumb on a liner, unless I made them bigger). 

Yarn In:  0 grams

Yarn Out:  52gr + 540gr = 592gr

Balance:  592gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $0

Another Pair

 Recently, we re-organized our bins of winter accessories. We have three baskets which worked perfectly in our last house, but just have not worked well here. I found a single dark charcoal fingertipless glove. 

I took a deep dive into my blog to find the orginal. It is so old that I couldn't find the original post--I started blogging in 2006! I did find a post about a replacement pair I made.  That was 2017 and apparently they're still being used in the garage. I decided (actually, decided before I found the blog post) to make a new pair.

No modelled pictures; they seem to be in use! This time they are in Paton's Classic wool and I think Topsy Wool (the red). 

Yarn In:  0 grams

Yarn Out: 73gr + 133gr =  206gr

Balance:  206gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $0

Tiny Mittens

 One thing I knit over the past year was some tiny mittens. When I worked as a lunch supervisor in a kindergarten room, I made a bunch of wool mittens as back ups for when kids got cold, or their mittens got too wet, etc. The kids loved them! This past year, I was in a kindergarten class for 4 hours a week, but no duty. I took the bag of mittens, but the teacher didn't think they were needed. There were only 14 kids in the class too. But I kept knitting mittens anyway. They're an easy "purse project". 

Sometimes though, if I don't have the pattern with me, or a ruler, the ratios get a little messed up. I really should go back and fix those pink ones LOL. 

I usually just cast on 32, 36, or 40 sts, depending on how much yarn I have. Once I get into the thumb gusset increases, I measure the gauge and see what size that matches. I have the schematic from Anne Budd's "Handy Book of Patterns" but I can't find the actual pattern pages anymore and my library doesn't seem to have the book any more! 

I have actually started two projects because we're going on a road trip! I still have dishcloths in my drawer unused from the last round of vacation knitting, so I decided it was time to make something for myself. I've decided on shrugs. I thought they'd be a good way to use up single balls/skeins, but appreantly not. They're more the mid-amount--not as much as a sweater needs (obviously) but more than a small scarf. I have some skeins of lovely yarns I'd like to use, but I don't need anymore socks, mittens, scarves or hats. Ideas?

These took about 120gr in total. 

Yarn In:  0g
Yarn Out: 350gr + 120gr = 470gr
Balance: 470gr more OUT than in
Costs: $0

Hello!

 Well. That was a long break! I unexpectedly started working full time in October. It was only supposed to be 5 days. Then 10 more days. Then a few weeks. Then a month...another month....another month...At the start of May I was told it would definitely go until the end of June. So, needless to say, I haven't been knitting much. Another factor was that in December we switched cable providers, and I lost everything I had saved on the PVR. When I tried to figure out the new cable service, it was confusing, and I just never got back into watching TV. I'm doing a lot of drawing if I have spare time. Right now it's summer break, so a perfect time to get caught up here. 

Last summer Lucy and her boyfriend were visiting Kingston, and I heard that Topsy Farms was having a pop up yard sale in Kingston. I told her, jokingly, that she should go and buy me some yarn. They did! They came back with two skeins of cream, and one of a brown marl. The boyfriend, Liam, was hoping for a pair of mitts.

The brown marl was a little thinner than the cream. When I finally got to this in mid December, I thought the Newfie mitt style would be a good fit (bottom swatch).

However, Lucy didn't really like that. I tried out some brioche variations. It worked best with the cream as the main yarn, though I was skeptical about functionality as these were going to be worn during field study classes, out in the forest. I went ahead anyway, and made them flip top so they'd be usuable during note taking outside.

I felt they kind of looked a little funny, the way the top part is bigger than where it joins. I figured once a pair of man hands were inside, they'd look fine. 

He says they're very warm and practical for out in the forest. This guy is awesome.

I had some left, so I thought I should do a simple hat. Liam has very long hair and wears it in a bun, and he thought something that could accomodate that would be fantastic.

My first attempts were a little too pouffy at the top. I'm so glad I ripped it back.

Such nice smooth decreases. It’s really worth it to rip back and retry something if you’re not happy. 

 Most hats for ponytails/buns just leave the top open, but I knew that wouldn't work, so I started the hat in the round and separated at the slit and knit flat. I also switched it to the opposite of the mittens, with the brown as the main colour.

Liam is very happy with the hat! It's also reversible, which is pretty cool. I'm so glad to be done these though LOL. 

The hat weighed 170gr and I don't have a weight for the mittens. The yarn was 450gr total, and I have some left, so I'm going to just put this down as 350gr for the set. 

I have received a bit of yarn when we cleaned out a kindergarten room, but I'm not going to include that.

Yarn In:  0g
Yarn Out: 350gr
Balance: 350gr more OUT than in
Costs: $0

A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

 Work (supply [substitute] teaching) has been crazy busy. I don't get any time to sew, and only bits of time to knit. And not much left over to blog! So I'm combining a few things here today because who knows when I'll get to blog again.

These three bikini bottoms are all I have sewn (other than repairs) since....summer 2020? I don't even remember. 

Top was the first one. I couldn't decide on black or brown for my first pair. Opted for brown because I did have some RTW black bottoms, I just didn't like their fit. I wasn't sure on the waist band but compared to the other two, I think I prefer it. I used the Scrundlewear underwear pattern with my modifications. I didn't add leg bands, just folded back with elastic. They seem cheekier than my underwear! Much cheekier than my one piece suits! The bottom right are a reversible pair. There's no waist band, or any elastic. Theoretically these sew up very quickly, but realistically, nothing in my life is quick, except time. The left pair is hot pink and leopard neon print, reversible. I think I'm going to open them up and add some elastic to the front waist. They kind of puff out in the hot tub. 

More tiny hats for the hospital. I found a third. They are baby blue Bernat Lollipop Sparkle. I used a lot of that yarn (mostly in white) twenty years ago. Very nostalgic. The mitts are not that dark in real life. So, you see, I'm really not knitting a lot. I'm not watching TV much in the evenings anymore.

I did buy some dishcloth cotton when I was visiting my mom in her small town after Canadian Thanksgiving. We didn't go on a trip this summer, so I never made my vacation keepsake dishcloths. My older ones are starting to look pretty grungy. Staying at my mom's for 3 days was my holiday, and I figured it might be easier to get the yarn up there since all the stores down here have stock issues. Not a big colour selection. I'm almost 20 ridges (40 rows) into the first dishcloth. Slow going. 

What does keep me busy is making art on my iPad Mini, using the Procreate app. If you're interested in that, I'm on Instagram, tracykmvetzal and my account is public. 

Yarn In:  340gr + 2769gr = 3109gr

Yarn Out:  60gr + 4526gr = 4586gr

Balance: 1477 gr more OUT than in

Cost:  $14.66 + $30 = $44.66, 304 days, $0.05/day

It Happened!

I haven't been knitting much. Work has been so busy, mothering has been very busy, the TV has been busy by others (so I don't have a place to sit and knit). I finished another pair or two of little mittens. I'm up to 5 pairs since I started this summer. They don't use much wool for each pair, 35-45 grams. It adds up though!  It seems I only posted about the first pair. Pairs 2 and 3 weighed in at 89gr total, and pairs 4 and 5 are 73gr.

Not too exciting to photograph, especially in summer/fall. 

What IS exciting is that I finally bought some yarn! Megan and I went thrifting, and I hid a jackpot at the Salvation Army store. 

All worsted weight yarns, and except for the yellow and blue I can probably use them all together. The balls of pink in the middle are different than the big skeins.  All together this weighed in at 1369gr. This is the first yarn I actually paid for this year! I can make more charity blankets....if I ever get to use the TV again...

Yarn In:  1400gr + 1369gr = 2769gr

Yarn Out:  4364gr + 162gr = 4526gr

Balance:  1757gr more OUT than in

Cost:  $30, 275 days, $0.11/day

It's Coming...

 A few years ago, I made wool mittens to have spare mittens for the kindergarten classes I supervised at lunch. They were a hit. I had stocked up on wool (I also liked making felted slippers). Then I quit. Now I have a lot of smaller balls of a variety of wools. The gnomes I made used up some (and now there's another mystery gnome knit along! Do I join? Give Gnathan a sibling?), but there's lots left. When a pair of toddler/kindie size mitten only takes 34gr of wool, it's going to take quite a few pairs of mittens to use up the wool. Why not? I have six charity blankets ready to go, but they're not accepting any right now, and I don't really have any acrylic worsted yarn for more (I do have some pastel coned yarn but it speaks more baby than senior). 

I used Ann Budd's pattern from The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns. This is an excellent book if you don't mind not having your hand held every row. I used the second size, and I think 5st/inch. The cast on was 30st. I've started another pair with 32 stitches. I do them two at a time. If I get low on yarn, I'll do the thumbs before the tops, and then I can add stripes in the upper part.

Yarn In:  1400gr

Yarn Out: 34gr + 3730gr = 3764gr

Balance:  2364gr more OUT than in

Cost:  $0, $0/day

Outside My Box

 I wanted some new mittens for my winter/spring coats. One is plum-ish, the other is bright pink. I found some superwash wool in my stash and at first, I was going to play it safe. Stripes, maybe black. As I looked at the balls of yarn though, I started to think---why not get a little crazy? I have the pair of fingerless gloves that I wear all the time, and people often comment on how cheery they are. Why not do something like that? I thought Fair Isle would be good because the floats on the inside add to the warmth. 

I dug out my stitch pattern books and got looking. At first, I liked some large scale designs but I worried about having enough yarn, and wanted to incorporate several colours. And I didn't know how many rows I'll end up with, and didn't want to have them look like they ended abruptly.  I settled on this simple 4st, 3 row repeat. 

I started the cuff, and I wasn't sure what my direction was going to be. I thought let's go random stripes. It's usually hidden inside my coat anyway. I do kind of wish I had gone more basic though. 

Then I started the pattern after the ribbing. I really got into the stitch pattern and kept forgetting to start the thumb gusset!! So the mittens end up being rather long inside my coat--have to put them on before my coat LOL. 

For the increasing section of the thumb gusset, I kept the stitch pattern to every other stitch, rather than try to incorporate the hand pattern. 

 

It got up to my knuckles and I really was afraid of running out of the pink. It was kind of an awkward length. So I made the end cuff long. They're almost mittens. I thought I might make them as convertible mittens, but there's not enough yarn to keep with the pattern. 

These will keep me toasty through much of the winter. I can tuck my fingers inside for those "didn't know I'd need mittens" times. 

Yarn In:  0gr

Yarn Out:  83gr + 1196gr = 1279gr

Balance:  1279gr more OUT than in

Cost:  $0, $0/day

Woolies by Request

 When Christmas lists were being created, Lucy asked for some custom Tricolour mittens. I wrote about that HERE, and choosing the Topsy Farm yarn. I finally got started on the mittens just after New Year's. I used the schematic and math from Ann Budd's "The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns".  This is a great book! It's even better if you actually do a gauge swatch LOL. The cuff went fine, but as often happens, I had gotten almost all my thumb gusset stitches increased, but still needed more height to the gusset.  Instead of 3 plain rows, I did 4 or 5 and then the next increase. 

I almost always knit my mittens two at a time on one circular needle, for the very reason that if I need to alter the pattern, I don't have to try to remember what I did for the second, or look for something to scribble on and then try to interpret my scribbles for the second mitten. 

At the thumb gusset, to continue the body, I cast on about 3 or 4 stitches. Then I decrease these out over the next few rows. This just gives a bit more ease to the gusset. 

I ended up knitting the top decreases a couple times before I got the length right. Maybe I should have just done some math LOL. 

I also knit the thumb maybe....three times? I just couldn't get it to look good. I had increased a lot of stitches in the gusset but the thumb didn't need that many. Decreasing them out make the thumb look wonky. When I start the thumbs, I pick up extra stitches from where I had cast on for the main part of the hand. Those also needed to get eliminated.

I soaked them in the sink with some Soak. I think I might have put them in the dryer for just a little bit to get out some moisture. The Topsy Yarn does soften up with washing, but these are definitely not merino. They're hardwearing, rugged, see you through a Kingston winter, mittens. This also happened this past week:

Would have been cool if she was a '23 but we've got a '22 there now (in another program...who seems to be on a 5 year plan...).

My kitchen scale seems to be malfunctioning, so 80gr is the best answer I have for the weight. Which means I have enough left for two more pairs of mittens if I do other colours as the dominate colours.  That means $9 for a pair of handknit wool mittens. Pretty awesome. I think if I do another pair (I wish her birthday wasn't in November, but actually, that gives me some time), I'll make them double layered, and use a softer wool on the inside. Such a spoiled girl, she is. But at the same time, it warms my heart to know that she values wool mittens, and that she wanted ME to make them.

Yarn In:  0gr

Yarn Out: 83gr + 517gr =600gr 

Balance:  600gr more OUT than in

Cost:  $0, $0/day

I rounded up to 83gr because I had some small bits left after reknitting the cuffs because the stripes were too thick. And, it's my blog, so I can do that. And 600gr out looks better than 597gr. 

Tricolour

 What is "Tricolour"? It is the official colours of Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario (Canada). A royal blue, scarlet red, and golden yellow. They do have actual colour values, and I believe it's trademarked. However, for aftermarket items, sometimes things are more rust, or more golden. It can be hard to get red, yellow and blue in the same item if you want to make something, like yarn. Often, there's a good red and blue, but no yellow.  Lucy wanted me to make her Tricolour mittens for Christmas. She drew out the design even.

I first looked at an Ontario wool company and found red and blue, but no yellow. Then I remembered about Topsy Farm! Located on Amherst Island, just south-west of Kingston, they would be familiar with the Tricolour! I contacted them, and had some great customer service!! Top notch. This is what you get with farm to fork. Or, farm to needles! They pointed me in the direction of their Tricolour woven wool blankets, and indicated they used Sunflower Gold. It was not the yellow I had selected, but I trusted their intimate knowledge of their yarns. 

Then I was shocked at the shipping cost. It seemed a lot for 339gr of wool. I asked if they stocked it at the locations listed on their website, but no. If my kid could meet them at a certain location in Kingston the next day, they could bring it into town with them. It wasn't really practical for my kid as they don't have free bus service this year. So I asked about the shipping and they said they will charge only the actual shipping--the website averages out shipping costs. So they saved me some money and I'm really grateful! Not only that, it arrived SO quickly, and before Christmas! I had planned to just wrap up Lucy's mitten sketch with an IOU. I was able to wrap up the wool! 

When I opened the box, I was a little disappointed with the earthiness of the yellow, and Rob said it was flat out wrong. I said, it goes with the natural qualities of the wool---it would be strange if it were bright yellow. It would also not show dirt like a bright yellow, and there was only supposed to be small amounts. Lucy said she liked it, so that's the final decision! Sorry, no pictures, it's too awkward right now. Just go to their worsted wool page  and scroll down to the red, royal blue and sunflower gold. I wanted to get the totals in before the end of the year. I know I could have the mittens knitted before the 31st if I got my butt in gear, but I don't want to rush, and I'm picking up more duties around the house now. 

Yarn In:   339gr + 6477gr = 6816gr
Yarn Out:  10 597gr = 10635gr
Balance: 3819 gr gr more OUT than in!
Costs:  $140.68 + 44.07 = $184.75/363 days = $0.50 per day

It Feels Like Winter...

We had a super nice week in April, but then winter came back and we continued to get random snowfalls into May! Then, all of a sudden, summer hit. Nonetheless, I did actually make these back in the middle of real winter. 

If you've been around here for awhile, you know I love mittens, and am always trying to find the best mittens. I love to knit wool mittens but I recognize how much faster sewn mittens are. Naturally then, mittens from sweaters was a natural next step. I tried other patterns but I don't understand why they had thumbs coming out of the palm LOL. And, what about flip tops?

When I saw these flip tops at Melly Sews, I knew I had to make them! And from a recycled sweater of course! First up, though, a test pair with actual fleece.

I don't appear to have any issues with them. I might have adjusted how the thumb gusset was done so I could use the serger. They fit looser than I'd like, but  going by the picture with the pattern, that is how they were designed.

Up next, a sweater. I chose this teal sweater because I have a teal scarf I love, and at the time, I was picketing with the elementary teacher union, and our signs had teal on them LOL. 

The ribbing on sweaters make for awesome edges, as long as they're not overly felted. Thinking that I might want a matching hat, I realized that sleeve cuffs are already sized to fit your wrist LOL

But....but...the cuff is much bigger than the pattern! And why should I have to cut the cuff just to seam it again? Oh, the brain power I used to figure out how to make the mitten body into one piece!

I realized I had to make a snip into the body, between the curved top and the straight portion, so I could sew on the partial piece for the flap.

Can you see, on the right edge, where the serged piece overlaps the curved piece, there's a bit of a slit?

Serged the thumb on

Not sure what I was trying to show here, I think it was serging on the thumb, very carefully

Not sure about this either LOL. 

They ended up way too long for my short fingers so I had to keep trimming the tops. Also, I thought it would be cool to have the cuff at the top of the thumb so I didn't have to hem. I didn't measure very well though LOL. Fully down, it does keep my thumb warm and I can fold it back if I need my thumb.

These aren't as warm as the two layer mittens from felted sweaters--this was a thinner, less felted sweater as well. Even with all the thinking and the adjustments, it was still quicker than knitting them. I do find that they slide down though. I was at one of the pickets events and the union send an email with photos of the event, and there I was, at the front, tugging on my mitten LOL. 

Quick Mittens

A few years ago, I made a lot of sewn mittens from wool sweaters and other (usually recycled) materials. It was great how fast they were, but I didn't like the pattern design and I didn't like my finishing. Most recycled wool sweater mittens have you use a cuff and some are folded back up so it hides the awkward seam. I didn't want to be like everyone else.

Since then, I've gotten into the world of independent designers. Not people posting a free pattern on their blog, but real companies selling pdf sewing patterns of a professional quality. One of these designers has a mitten pattern that uses the mitten shape/design I like (thumb at the side).  And then it came on sale! Yes, I know, I could trace my hand...but what about all the different kindie kids that wear the spare mittens I bring for lunch supervision? I was going to become a mitten factory! I've got fleece, and wool sweaters, some thinner knits....Surely not every mitten opportunity has to be wool.

 I made this first pair, I don't remember what size. The outside is a fleece scarf from Value Village. I don't remember what the inside is. I think they were a little large for the kindies, but too small for me, so I put them on the mitten tree at the school.

I wanted a pair for myself. I found this black microfleece in my stash awhile ago. I think it was from Wazoodle back when they were Canadian. Not sure if I bought it or got it somewhere else. There's quite a bit of it though. I thought it would make great skating pants for Megan but she thinks they'd be too warm. Perfect for mittens then, right? The wool was a sweater that I had already used part of. I thought there was lots, but then found out there were raglan sleeve seams. In the end, I used it for only one side of the mitten. The inside is also the black microfleece.

These are quite warm. Not good for doing up kids' zippers and putting their own mittens on though. But they look nice with my black coat. You know, the coat for which I also knit bright green flip top mittens. The coat with no buttons so I can't wear it when it's cold, coat. Yeah.

I do want to make more. I think I serged these which was tricky around the thumb. Maybe I did most of it on the serger, but the thumb on the sewing machine. Now that we have the Consew industrial machine, I want to do more, but I need some finer thread.

The one drawback of the pattern is that it's sized by hand measurement, so if you're making for someone else, especially kids, ask around and find out what size kids' hands are.

Green Mittens

I'm not 100% sure why I choose green. I do like the colour, but it means I can only wear them with my black coat, which I don't wear to my lunch supervisor job. They are Rowan Superwash Worsted, I believe, left over from custom Christmas stockings 2016. I made them two at a time on one circular--so that I could do the gusset shaping at the same time and not have to try to figure out what I did on the second one. However. Got to the flap business and apparently forgot that I do not have two right hands.

I fixed up the left one. I wasn't happy with how pointy the tips were, not my usual mitten style. But after re-knitting them a few times, I left it. And the thumbs are a smidge long. They are decent mitts though. We just had strange weather here. If it was really cold, I had to wear my work jacket as my black jacket has lost it's buttons. So I only wear it when it's warmer. When I wouldn't need 100% wool mittens.

I don't seem to have a finished picture. But they look basically the same, just one left and one right mitten. The totals were included in last year's totals even though I realized late on Dec 31 that I had goofed and it took a while to get back to them. I was almost done by the end of the year. They were 84gr.

Ugly Mitts

Not all of the mitts I make are gorgeous! I made another pair of the Newfie mitts for the kindergarten kids, and I was determined to make them bigger. It went well, but as often happens, I got impatient with the ribbing and started the hand. Once I was done, I really felt it needed to be a longer ribbing. I just picked up all the purl bumps from the cast on and then increased into these. Or something. It was too tight to pick up each stitch on the cast on edge anyway. Sure, it shows. But not one kid has said to me that it's a problem.
For the thumb gusset, this time I did short rows starting with one stitch in the middle of the outer side of the thumb, working short rows with one more stitch until I had all the front stitches in work, then worked all the way around the thumb, increasing one in the corners. As far as I can tell, they fit much better.

These are 100% wool and did not use up as much grey as I was hoping. Oh well.

I did buy two balls of cheap yarn at Dollar Tree for a project. $2.82 for 100gr. Yeah. Wait till you see what I made.

Yarn In: 100gr + 1542gr =1642gr
Yarn Out: 57gr + 1448gr= 1505gr
Balance: 137gr more bought than used
Costs:  $2.82 +$37.91= $40.73/88 days = $0.46per day