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NW Damm Fine!

Cassie in Brooklyn sent us a link to a small photo that has us jumping for joy and clapping our gloved and mittened hands here—Håndplagg til bunader og folkedrakter (ISBN: 82-496-0187-4), from publishers N.W. Damm & Søn. Yeah, knit-babies! New inspiration in small projects!

Cassie, who has her copy already, says there are examples of gloves, mittens, and wristwarmers from various regional museums in Norway, and along with the examples are beautiful patterns and beautiful photography as well. I called Nordic Fiber Arts immediately and my copy is on its way. I even forgot to ask how much it was, now that I think of it. But we don't care! We're nearly mad with joy! Thanks, Cassie!

My current knitting has still not decided whether it is going to be mittens or gloves, but at 10 st/inch, it has time yet to make up its mind.

Friday! Let's all learn some Norwegian from Theresa so we'll be completely ready for our new book!

We wish you a happy day, a stroll in the park, and a lovely weekend. Gjør Ræt, Frykt Ingen! See you Monday!

Best Readers in Knit-Blog-Land!

You know who you are! You stop by here frequently, and I'm always surprised and delighted by how completely generous you are with your time and your supportive comments (and praise of dachshunds!). Thanks! You make my day!

Q&A

Maus asks: how much wool did the Apple Butter mitts use?
And I sez: Approximately two-thirds of each hank. Those are big generous skeins from Apple Laine, and I have enough wool left over for baby booties, or wrist bands, or any number of yummy little decorative items. Except those little sweaters used as egg cozies. We're not having that.

Judy asks: What's up with the Knitted Stitch sweater by Meg Swansen?
And I sez: The colorway is being reconsidered. The purple and orange mittens reminded me that, astrologically, I am a Leo and I like bold colors and unusual combinations. The colors I began the project with are lovely. But I wanted a red one. So, I am waiting on some extremely snazzy and decidedly *me* wool to begin the project again. Knitters, for the happiest knitting experiences, to thine own preferences be true. (Or, as Wendy sez: Be a Bad-ass knitter!)

Pups

Thursday. We are whirling like dervishes here from overloads of Busy. Jack and Dyna remind you to slow down and share the love!

Cheers, and happy knitting!

New Mittens

Or maybe gloves. I'm not to that point yet in my next set of hand-cozies. The latest are of rare and astonishing subtlety. . .in fact, they are almost too subtle, you know? Overly subtle and mysterious, I'll show them to you tomorrow, when there is a bit more progress.

Thank you all for your lovely comments and emails on the Applebutter mitts. The wool did most of the work :-) because it's just so luscious, but I appreciate the compliments! Maus asked about the invisible thumb; it is indeed on the palm-side of the mitten, rather than having a gusset or the sore-thumb effect. This type of thumb is well documented and clearly described in Zilboorg's Magnificent Mittens and (of course) Bush's Folk Knitting in Estonia. It's the first time I ever tried to make the thumb invisible by working it in the main pattern; I like the effect and recommend to you both books. Is it an afterthought thumb? The construction does seem similar to EZ's afterthought heels and pockets, but I don't have surplus research time today.

Ginny asked about keeping the tension even while working on two circulars. It is easier for me to do this with two circs than with four or five dpns. However, most famous knitters will tell you that if you are knitting too tightly while stranding two colors, whether on two circs or a bunch of dpns, you might want to try turning your work inside out. You can still read your knitting, but since the floats/weaves are on the outside of the work now, they stay a bit looser. The Applebutter mitts are actually the first pair of mittens I've ever knit. I didn't think I would like them, but felt I should add them to my knitting repertoire. Mittens are loads of fun! Lots of room for design, and no fingers to fret over! Yay Mittens!

Stash Diving

Whoa! Look what I found while I was diving in the stash for more mitten wool!

This is an unfinished project from so long ago that I still used straight needles! And the Tomato Factory was still in business! And you could buy Alice Starmore's Scottish Heather wool in every color imaginable! Long, long ago. This project was to be a Rowan waistcoat; miles upon miles of seed stitch. The Scottish Heather is a defunct color called Wilkinson. It's not really dark dark purple as in the photo above. Instead, it's one of those magical Shetland creations, as below:

HolyCOW!! it's beautiful in person!!! Does this color still exist in Jamieson-land? I don't often find projects that I've forgotten about completely. How nice to find such an evocative one; it's a trip down Knitting-Memory Lane. Cleverly, at some point I stuffed the pattern, upon which I actually made a note of the size I was knitting, into the Tomato Factory bag with the wool. Sometimes I'm just brilliant like that.

Pups

Everyone (except me) got short haircuts over the weekend. All are pleased with their new looks, but they have been a little shy about showing off their glossy loveliness. Little Jack finally sat for the blog, but he did it only for you.

Wednesday! Have a wonderful Wednesday! It's downhill from here!
Cheers!

Hiho! To the Post Office!

The mitts are finished just barely in time; they are still a little damp from Sunday night's dip into Euclan. I'm wondering what will happen if I use my blow dryer on them. (Hmmm. wonderwonder.)

Here you see completed damp mittens that were designed by Anna Zilboorg and worked in two shades of Apple Laine's beautiful handpaint Applebutter wool:

Hey Waldo! Can you find the nearly-invisible thumb in the photo above? From the right mitten:

And from the left mitten, here is the reverse-color cuff with double applied I-cord, per Elizabeth Zimmermann.

I'm not happy with the wool tensioning I did in these mittens; I guess that goes to show that no matter how much color work you've done, you still need to pay a tiny bit of attention. I found I worked significantly more loosely with double points, and significantly more compactly with two circulars. I much prefer the two circular method now, feel more comfortable with it, and prefer my results.

These must go in a Priority mailer today to be in time for a birthday; I will enjoy imagining these mittens out for a walk through Central Park in wintertime. I miss the City. I'm glad I can send mittens to visit!

The wise Kim S. was looking for a link to a Russian mitten website that's been around for a bit; I happened to have it and sent it on to her, but you might enjoy looking at it too. By selecting the knitting link on the left side of the page, you can view some fancy handknit Russian mittens with beautifully crisp graphs. The rest of the website is very interesting, too. Save some time to browse the recipes and the embroidery. (Hint: if you haven't had lots of coffee yet today, turn sound down.)

Monday! Monday! Monday! Della says gRRRRRRRR and we agree.

For some cute kitty photos, go meet Hillel!