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Where to begin?

January 10th, 2010 | Posted by admin in Handmade | Knitting | Patterns - (0 Comments)

I think I’ll start with mittens.

Last April, after finishing my practicum, I took a knitting class at a local yarn shop. I had been in University for the past 7 years so to go from learning every day to nothing I needed something to fill the time and that’s when I discovered my passion for fiber art. I’d been crocheting since I was very young, my Grandma taught me how to make butterfly fridge magnets and I was “hooked”.

So I took knitting classes and loved them, I actually can’t stop thinking about knitting. I’m addicted to Ravelry, the patterns section of Etsy and the public library for patterns and tips. So for Christmas I decided to make knitted gifts. Most of those gifts turned out to be mittens;

These mittens were for my girlfriend in England. She was so excited to get them, she said she put off buying a pair because she had good feeling I was making her some for Christmas. She was right.

These were for my girlfriend in on the coast. I started a pattern that was for two needles on four needles so I had to switch patterns and make some adjustments to make them work. They turned out a little big but are still adorable. The snowflake is embroidered on.

These Bella mittens are for my youngest cousin. She loves Twilight and her favorite color is royal blue. This was the first project I did with cabeling and they turned out perfect. So perfect that I wanted to keep them for myself.

This pair I made for my brother. He lives in Edmonton and needed a pair of manily mitts. His only comment was that the thumbs were a little tight and they're not appropriate for snowball fights but overall he was happy to receive them.

Here are the patterns:

Owl Mittens

Snowflake Mittens – you need to log on to Ravelry for this one, it’s free and AMAZING!

Bella’s Mittens

Man’s Mittens -  this pattern is in a book I got at the public library called “The Knitting Experience: Book 2, the Purl Stitch”  The patterns in it are kind of dated but this mitten pattern is very good.

Twilight Addiction

November 14th, 2009 | Posted by admin in Knitting | Patterns - (0 Comments)

Yes,  I’m one of those.  All my students have been reading the series so I like to tell myself that my curiosity turned addiction was strictly motivated by wanting to relate to the students. Never-the-less,  I’m addicted to everything Twilight, books, movies, etc.  One of the “etc” I stumble upon was a free pattern on Ravelry called Bella’s Mitts.  Very similar to the books,  this pattern has become a phenomenon.  It was easy to knit and my first project with cabling. Bella wore similar mitts in the first movie and the pair I made are going to my youngest cousin and Twilight’s biggest fan this holiday season.

Bella MittsThese are the pair the author made, to whom I am in debt for this amazing pattern and the “best cousin” award I will receive come Christmas day.

Because I can’t knit and read at the same time,  I’ve discouvered audiobooks. The whole series of Twilight should be available through your pubilc library. If not Amazon has it.