Free Newfie Mitten Pattern

Newfie Mitten
Size: Adult
Need:
· 2 colours of worsted weight yarn – preferably a light and a dark
· Set of 4 -4mm double pointed needles
· Stitch holder or large safety pin or even some scrap yarn

Pattern 1: *k4, sl2* repeat
Pattern 2: k1, sl2, *k4, sl2* repeat

Notes: Slip slipped stitches purl-wise.

Directions
With colour A, cast on 40 sts. Rib in K2, P2 for 3 inches increasing to 42 sts on the last round. Do not cut off colour A.

Join colour B and work 5 rounds of Pattern 1. Purl 2 rounds with colour A.

With colour B, work 5 rounds of Pattern 2, and purl 2 rounds with colour A.

With colour B, work 5 rounds of Pattern 1, and purl 2 rounds with colour A.

With colour B, work 5 rounds of Pattern 2, and purl 1 round with colour A.

Next round (Thumb): P3, slip next 6 sts to a holder, cast on 6 sts, and complete purl round.

Continue working until 7 more patterns are complete – alternating Pattern 1 and Pattern 2 with 2 purl rows of colour A after each pattern.

To decrease:
Row 1: *K4, K2tog* repeat
Row 2: *K3, K2tog* repeat
Row 3: *K2, K2tog* repeat
Row 4: *K1, K2tog* repeat
Row 5: * K2tog* repeat
Draw up stitches and fasten off.

Thumb:
Slip 6 stitches from holder, pick up and knit 8 more stitches (14 sts). Divide on three dpns. Work in stockinette stitch 2 ¼ inches or until desired length.

To decrease:
Row 1 *K2, K2tog* repeat
Row 2 *K2tog* repeat
Draw up stitches and fasten off. ENJOY!!

For child’s mitten – Cast on 30 sts. Work thumb on 7th row of Pattern 2, and work 4 more patterns for hand. 12 sts for thumb.

For larger child’s mitten – Cast on 36 sts. Work thumb on 3rd Pattern, and 7 more patterns for hand, and 14 sts for thumb.

Sugar Babies

This is a baby themed post. Well, not actual babies, although it does lead, in the end, to actual babies. I have a bunch of friends and coworkers who are all expecting in a few months and I have been scouring the internet for more baby patterns. I've already casted on for a feather and fan blanket in white for one friend who doesn't yet know the sex of her baby. I think blankets make nice gifts and all of the blankets that I've gifted have been put to good use.This weekend I made my first commissioned baby shower cake for the daughter of a friend/coworker. The shower was for two expectant moms, one having a boy and one having a girl. I needed to make a cake that would be appropriate for both and made this one with little angels floating around it holding piping bags.I am pleased with it and as usual went a little overboard and made these tiny babies out of fondant.They make me laugh. They got placed in the silver gazebo on top. I thought it may be a little creepy but T insisted that the babies be included on the cake. I hope someone eats them.

I'm not sure if it's as cold where you are as it is here but hope that you're staying warm and sane.

T

Top of the muffin to you!

My Ravelry queue is getting crazy and super long! What’s a girl to do, but add more! And to top it off, London Yarns just sent out their reminder about the Clockwatcher’s Sale on January 26! I do NOT need more yarn, but how can I not go? Oh dear. So despite whining that I have enough yarn to last me a lifetime, don’t despair, I will be there.

I have officially joined the Forest City Knitters group. I paid my annual dues, and I am very excited about getting to know these ladies better. I feel very welcome and part of the group already. It could be because I dragged the rest of my posse there as well, but nevertheless they feel like a new-found family.

Rather than continue to ramble on about the mundane goings on around here, I searched out some cool links to share.

- A tiny pin cushion tutorial.

- Bookmarks with vintage fabric.

- Remember these snowflakes that Grace taught us to make for the Winter Celebration Diversity Display?

Happy Thursday!

N

Alligators and Avocados

Dear N,

I'm back! The suitcases are unpacked, the laundry has been done and groceries bought. It's back to normal for us and surprisingly, it's not so bad. Even though the snow is suppose to come through tomorrow and it's at least 30 degrees (Celsius) colder than Miami was it's always nice to come home. Of course we are leaving behind this:And waking up every morning to this:And avoiding these dangerous yet beautiful jellyfish:But at least I no longer have to come across these guys on a hiking trail in the Everglades:
And I have these amazingly huge avocados still to eat.

I swear these are as big as my face and I would've totally given you one if we lived in the same city. The biggest one that we brought home weighs in at a whopping five pounds and could easily make the biggest mound of N's delicious guacamole ever. So satisfying.

So, Florida was really amazing, especially the Everglades and coming so close to alligators. T and I had a hoot just hanging around and being beach bums all day. You should be happy to know that Pepto Sock also had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed the view from our Fort Lauderdale hotel room!

Resolution Evolution

I’ve always been one to make my resolutions mid-January. I start making the list New Year’s Day, but I like to hear what everyone else is doing first. Perhaps it’s because I am cheered on by the gads of resolution makers, and hey, I love to hop on everyone else’s train. I’ve always been more of a follower rather than a leader, and New Year’s resolutions are no exception. Other people’s resolutions are rather inspiring, don’t you think?

So I have come up with a ‘queue of resolutions’ for both T and me. It was always a joint-dream of ours to one day knit socks, and I have whipped up two pairs to date, and T is in the midst of sock #1, so I believe we can scratch that off the list as completed. 2007 was also the year we got drop spindles and wool roving. We have yet to learn how to spin. Spinning makes the queue. Intarsia or fair isle knitting is something else that I have yet to achieve. And next week, I shall have a load of sock-sized Addi Turbos in hand to begin knitting socks on two circs – a new way of knitting in the round. It is definitely a thrilling prospect. T knits in the round using the magic loop method, and I am also curious to learn how to knit that way as well. On the other hand, T can’t knit on double-pointed needles – this is after we hid out in the building and risked our jobs so that I could show her how! I admit that knitting with double-pointed needles was not love at first sight for me either.

2008 Queue of Knitting Resolutions
· Fair Isle/Intarsia
· Socks on Circs (N) and Dpns (T)
· Lace
· Spinning

I believe these are achievable if we put our minds to it, and we have so much more support now than when we started blogging last year. We are going to be even more awesome by the end of this year. Woo-hoo! 2007 was also the year I built up my stash, so 2008 should be the year that I try to make a dent in it. This should be made easier by the mountain of patterns in Ravelry – I just need to key in the yarn, and search the pattern ideas and project list. Easy peasy.

N

Recognition

I never did find my carefully laid out 2008 monthly planner, but as luck would have it, J brought the exact same monthly planner home from work with all of his work shifts already inputted by hand. I think I should take credit for this attempt at orderliness. Perhaps my organizational skills are rubbing off on him after all. Of course, I took over the planner and inputted all of B’s child care and kindergarten days in it too (for his sake naturally), and the planner is now always at MY arm’s length. It is always available if he would like to take a peek at it. Poor guy. I am sure he tries to help, but it would seem that his plans to have his own planner have been thwarted. There’s really no use to us having two planners. Consider it a ‘Family’ Planner (where I schedule and input everything, and he just needs to do as I say). Sound good? Yeah, I think so.

I feel that sometimes I am wrapped up so much in my own personal day-to-day turmoil (mostly nonsense and silly stuff that isn't worth sweating like a lost planner) that maybe I am missing recognizing my friends and relatives' serious and sometimes painful issues. I mean, I sometimes say the wrong words or act silly and awk-mo or I completely forget (selective memory) or better yet, when I am the listener in a serious conversation, I frequently zone out trying to come up with appropriate words or a face to make to show that I really do care. I actually get so anxious that I might come off insincere that I completely miss the specifics and come off looking like an ass because I have to ask the poor soul to repeat their whole ordeal again. I wish that compassion was more natural and smooth for me. I am exceptionally lucky to work with the most sincere and caring people in the world. It's very easy to feel like a klutz around these women. I am sure T can attest to this ! I guess I just want the people I know for real to know that I try so hard, and it might look like I don't care at all, but the truth is all these realities keep me up at night. T once called me stranded at a motel in the most dire of straits, and I couldn't talk because I was laughing uncontrollably. That's what I do.

This afternoon I decided how I would recognize one special co-worker I know going through a very difficult time by dedicating my first lace project to them. I know that I promised T we would work on the Woodland Shawl together very soon, but I know she would understand. I was thinking of something quick, not too much pattern following - a wide comforting shawl that I could use my Knit Picks Shadow lace-weight merino wool. I came up with Elizabeth Zimmerman's Pi Shawl - I have the Knitter's Almanac, so this is perfect. I can make it as simple as I want. I have to count rows, but that's not horrible. It's doable. It's simply knitting in a circle, and I can handle that. How long could it possibly take? Maybe unconscientiously I needed to learn to knit so that rather than relying on words of comfort and making the right gestures, I can hand over a knitted item that speaks volumes about how much I care. Because I do care - a whole lot actually.

Here's proof that I did indeed swatch - albeit backwards. Turns out the first size of needles I swatched on were closest to gauge, and yet I continued to swatch with three other sized needles. Brilliant! This is my Rowan Soft Tweed in Twig for my Drops Cardigan . Feel free to ooh and ahh.

And look what Em brought back for me from the France pavillion at Epcot! A Manet original. Manet really painted this mug - I am most certain it is a relic. A relic in which I will relish sipping my peppermint tea. She also gifted me some sweet 'bon bons'. Only Em would be able to find a suitably classy 'cadeau' from a Disney gift shop! Isn't my 'tasse' most lovely? Merci beaucoup, Em.

Here's my slow progress on the Newfie Mitten. I just have the thumb to go. Well, and the matching mitten.Well, I just remembered that J recorded some 30 Rock for me to watch. He likes me.

N

Love Song

Seems I have a bad case of the "incompletey's" 'cause I got lots of works-in-progress goin' on.

Look at what I have cast on next. They're Newfie Mittens, and I stumbled upon them at Parkspin in St. Thomas, and the owner was kind enough to share a hand-scrawled pattern. Once I knit the pair, I will try to key the pattern into a pdf or something to share with everyone. Think ball-band dishcloth turned mitten! The yarn is some Bernat Satin I had in the stash.

I got an email from T, and she is relaxing on some beach surrounded by ocean and quite content as she should be. All the snow here has melted, but it is still chilly. I am looking forward to the spring!

And because I feel like I need to spread the love, please watch my new favourite song to sing at the top of my lungs and shake my arms in the air like I just don't care! It feels so good!

N