Are You Kitten Me?

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Introducing Are You Kitten Me?...
© Jennifer Pfeiffer

Whether playing dress up or trying to stay warm in cold weather, this hat is perfect for every kitty‐lover in your life. Sized from newborn to large adult, it fits a wide range of sizes and the length is easily adjustable to ensure a perfect fit. Meow!
Sizes:
XXS (newborn): 14”/35.5 cm
XS (baby): 16”/40.5cm
S (toddler): 18”/45.5cm
M (child/teen): 20”/50.5cm
L (adult): 22”/56cm
XL (large adult): 24”/61 cm
This pattern is suitable for an advanced beginner. Techniques used include:
  • alternate rib cast on
  • knitting in the round
  • grafting
  • duplicate stitch (full charts included)
It calls for 75-250 yards of worsted weight yarn, though the estimates are generous. Plus a few yards of contrast color for the ears. You can buy it now using the button below, or visit the Ravelry page for more details. It's currently on sale for $2 until Friday. Happy knitting!


A Slew of Mitts

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I've been on a mitt(en) knitting spree lately. In the last month, I've knit four pairs. Two of them for my kids (one pair for each kid) and two for me. Fair, right?

Both for both kid pairs, I used the Kveta Mitt pattern by Monika Sirna, just opted for different embellishments. For my daughter, I chose to crochet some flowers. Her mitts have fold over cuffs on both ends. The top cuff will cover her fingers when fully extended. They're not the best snow mittens, but they did a great job this fall keeping her tiny hands warm while still allowing her to play.


My son decided he wanted a sea theme for his mitts, so I embellished them with an octopus and a fish with bubbles. He loves them! His don't have the fold over cuffs, since he didn't want them. He likes to wear his mitts with those cheapy 3/$1 mittens underneath anyway. And again, they add some warmth without restricting his hands at all.


After knitting mitts for both of the kids, I realized that I don't have any mittens. So I made a pair of Kveta Mittens for me. They're reverse stockinette, which I love. It adds just a tiny bit of texture to a relatively simple pattern.


I still hadn't had enough of mitten knitting, so I knit a pair of A Time to Reap mitts. Pattern is by Melissa Schaschwary. These are perfect to wear when I need some dexterity. They're slouchy and casual, and oh so warm!


All of the mitt(ens) were fun to knit, but especially the kids mitts. They were super quick, too (added bonus of tiny knits). All pattern notes and yarn details can be found on my project pages. 





Carabe

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I had the pleasure of test-knitting Carabe - a new pattern from Justyna Lorkowska of Lete's Knits. It's a striped sweater with a slip-stitch detail and shawl collar. It has easily become my favorite comfy sweater.



I had a lot of fun picking colors for this knit. After some back and forth, I finally decided on Silver Fox and Nassau Blue, both on Tosh Vintage. It wasn't until after I'd knit a few stripes that my husband pointed out it looks like the Eagles team colors. Oh well - you can take the girl out of Philly, but I guess you can't take the Philly out of the girl. Maybe next time I'll knit one in black and gold. :)


I made a few minor modifications to the pattern, which you can read about on my project page.

Project Details
Pattern: Carabe by Justyna Lorkowska
Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Vintage in Silver Fox and Nassau Blue
Needles: US 6 (4mm) and US 8 (5mm)


A Finished Shifting

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I can finally re-home that ill-fitting bright pink cabled Gap pullover because my Shifting is finished!



I couldn't be happier with the fit. I did make some modifications to the pattern to make it more tailored to my shape, including less stitches in the back, additional straight rows after the raglan increases before dividing for the sleeves, and additional length. Oh, and then there's the scoop neck. I mostly winged that. I've knit one scoop neck before. So, I kind of knew the proportions I wanted, but I wanted to knit the scoop while incorporating the cables in the best way possible. I didn't want partial cables coming out of the sides of the scoop. I took it one row at a time and did a lot of holding it up and squinting to make sure it was perfect. You can see all of my notes on how I did this on my project page. 


I did have some hiccups along the way though. Mostly the fact that out of my 5 skeins only 3 of them matched. The other two were noticeably darker and therefore created stripes when I tried to work them in. Not a good look. I also had this mess to contend with:


Due to the mismatched yarn, I ended up alternating 2 skeins on the sleeves, but was knitting from both ends of both cakes (instead of 4 separate smaller balls) and ended up with this tangled rats nest. The effort and tangles were definitely worth it though because the skeins blended really well together and I love my new sweater.

 Project Details
Pattern: Shifting by Justyna Lorkowska
Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Sport in Vintage Sari
Needles: US 4 (3.5mm) and US 6 (4.0mm)

Alice in Wonderland

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Over the weekend, Justyna Lorkowska released her newest pattern - Alice in Wonderland. I had the absolute honor to test knit it. It's the adult version of Goldilocks, which I knit for Grace last month.

Alice has an amazingly flattering silhouette - a low scoop neck, fitted through the bust and then a-line to either tee, tunic or dress length. I opted for the tee length, but the tunic and dress versions I've seen are also fantastic!
 



And because I couldn't resist, here is a picture of me and Grace in our matching hand knits!


Project Details
Pattern: Alice in Wonderland by Justyna Lorkowska
Yarn: Malabrigo Sock in Violeta Africana
Needles: US 4 (3.5mm)



Superman Stripes - FO

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I finished Jack's Gathering Stripes last week and as predicted, he wanted to wear it on the hottest day we've had so far this year. I guess that means he likes it.





I really love this pattern and I can definitely see myself making it again as my kids grow.

And with this being off the needles - I've finished my July sweater. Knocking it out early this month. For those that asked, the buttons are custom made by Digits Designs. Judy was lovely to work with and the buttons are fantastic!

Project Details
Pattern: Gathering Stripes by Veera Välimäki
Yarn: Cascade Yarns Heritage in Marine; KnitPicks Palette in Serrano
Needles: US 2, US 4, US 5

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