Knit Accessories

Hello Colorful Friends…..

I hope you have had a good week. It’s a bit of a long one this morning. We had a snowstorm this week and then the snow became coated with ice and became very treacherous. At least it wasn’t as much as other places. Luckily it will melt soon. If you are experiencing severe weather, I hope you and yours are safe and warm.

The hills in Western Massachusetts are coming alive with folks tapping the maple trees, hanging sap buckets, and running plastic sap lines in preparation for sugaring season. We know spring can’t be far off when this precursor to warmer days begins. All in all, it has been an uneventful winter with barely any snowstorms.

What I’m working on now is this….

It’s a new crochet blanket which I will reveal more about in a month or so. I’m using a yarn called Ultra Alpaca which is 50% alpaca/50% wool. It is lovely to work with and there were colors that I needed. I’m using a size 4.5 mm crochet hook (size 7 US). **

Here’s a beauty shot of the luscious colors.

Back to Week 3 of my introductions to the new collection of PDF knitting designs that are available on my website and Ravelry. BELOW each design, I have given you the links in case you want to purchase. Thanks so much to all of you who have been supporting me with purchases of downloads. I really appreciate it.

Last Minute Mitts and Hat

This hat and fingerless glove duo came about at the very last minute before my deadline. I knew I had to include a pair of fingerless gloves in the collection. They are simple to make without any fingers. As usual, I wanted more to add to the project photo. A hat was in order and thus the “Last Minute Hat and Mitts” was born. Both are edged in a fun textured and bobbled border. The Fair Isle is over a very small repeat so it is quick to memorize and easy to knit. I added a tiny bit of embroidery to tie all the colors together. If you don’t like the border, begin with the garter stitch stripes and the resulting projects will be just as nice and colorful.

And for all you cat and kitten folks, the kittens are Tommy and Annika, named after the Pippi Longstocking book which Julia was reading at that time. Dear Tommy is still with us even though he is now 14 and slowing down. He has spent the majority of the winter in front of the woodstove.

To order the Last Minute Hat and Mitts from my website, click here. To order from Ravelry, click here.

Cuffed Mittens and Socks

Last week I shared my Bloomsbury Gauntlet Gloves design with you. This week it’s a similar cuffed pattern which includes both mittens and socks in multi-sizes. The pair begins with a fun loopy edging and rounds of reverse stockinette stitch. A simple Fair Isle floral two color border is knit. Instead of adding embroidery to jazz up the main part of the socks and mittens, I chose a simple 2 round stripe design in 4 colors. When they are complete, a teeny bit of duplicate stitch ties all the colors together.

To order from my website, click here. To order from Ravelry, click here.

Mad for Plaid Mittens

When Julia was small, we had a favorite book called Mad For Plaid by Jill McElmurry. The story was about Madison Pratt who finds a plaid purse in the park. She doesn’t know it but the purse is cursed and all of a sudden, Madison’s whole neighborhood starts turning plaid. As you can imagine, the illustrations are so much fun - full of color and pattern and life.

I’ve always been mad for plaid. My husband Mark The Farmer wears a plaid shirt every single day. I’ve got plaid throws from Scotland tossed around on sofas to use when it’s chilly. You could say plaid is a big part of our domestic life. It was fun to take the plaid motif and translate it into a knit design. The edges of the mittens are done in a two color corrugated ribbing. This project is sized in 5 sizes from kids to adults.

To order from my website, click here. To order from Ravelry, click here.

Over the Top Shawl

Last week I introduced you to the Southwest Style Sleeved Wrap which uses steeks to create a fringed bottom on the coat. This week’s project uses steeks knit in the round too. The Over the Top Shawl is worked in the round with a steek. The shawl begins with a fun bobbled border, stripes, and mini Fair Isle design. Then the zen begins with a graphic diamond design worked over several inches. The shawl is finished with the same stripe it began with and is bound off with a bobbled edge. Lastly the steek is cut and the steek stitches are unraveled. Groups of steek yarn ends are tied in an overhand knot to create a sturdy edge. This design could be easily turned into a blanket by knitting the main section for a longer length.

To order from my website, click here. To order from Ravelry, click here.

Mending and Recycling

Today, I’ve got some info on recycling and reviving old textiles and clothing. Last week, I wrote about visible mending and it is a trend that is growing (finally*). US companies including J Crew, Patagoinia and Eileen Fisher are now marketing mended clothes. Here is a website called Fixing Fashion which aims to cut down on the waste of the fashion industry and includes many tutorials. The British company Toast is selling clothing that has come back to them and then been visibly mended to be “re-newed”.

*(I will say that back in the 90’s I procured a British recycled yarn when I was Creative Director of Classic Elite Yarns. It was a lovely blend of recycled cotton and wool that we called Evergreen. The fashion and world in general has been “introducing” the recycled trend for years. Here’s one of my most favorite designs that used Evergreen. It is available in my first book Knitting The New Classics. Let’s hope this trend starts to stick.)

Years ago, most families had a mending basket. Each winter, clothing was renewed by patching pants, turning collars (great tutorial here) and general fixing of everything. These were the days before fast fashion and widespread commercialism. When Julia was small, I discovered a fantastic kids book by Simms Taback called Joseph Had A Little Overcoat. Based on a Yiddish folktale, this story was fun to read and share with a child. Colorful illustrations full of pattern, die cut paper cut-outs, and a memorable moral - never mind the introduction to mending and re-use. Here is a clever video that brings Joseph Had a Little Overcoat to life (2 minutes, 32 seconds).

Ever since reading that book, I’ve been hooked on mending. Here is my “barn sweater” that I knit several years ago out of wool from our sheep. It has had a long life and is still going. I used handknit swatches to fix the holes made by my dog’s toenails (yes, they jump when they shouldn’t) and by general wear and tear. There needs to be another mending session to revive the cuffs on both the sleeves.

The artist Crispina Ffrench has long worked with recycled clothing. For many years she had a store in Lenox, Massachusetts selling her clothing and super cute toys. She is now helping others learn how to run a similar business and you can sign up for classes with her. Check it out here.

LINKS I’M LOVING

• Swanson’s Fabric is a fabric (and yarnstore) in nearby Turners Falls. They sell all fabric for $4/yard. It is like a thrift store for fabriholics. All of the fabric and yarn comes to them from donations made by sewers and quilters. I think this is a fantastic concept that will catch on as more and more folks learn about ]the recycling world. After all, all knitters and sewers have a fabric stash (me included). Swanson’s also sells on-line.

• Close to Boston (in Somerville), there is an art supply store that works on a similar concept called Make and Mend. Check them out here.

• If you’ve been on the internet for years, you probably remember the blog Yarnstorm. I was a faithful reader and sometimes commenter and when it went away, I missed the author Jane Brocket and her words and photos. Jane wrote many, many books including The Gentle Art of Domesticity. She was smart, well-read, inspirational and loved color as opposed to other blogs that were mostly how-to. Happily, I discovered that Jane now writes a Substack newsletter which she sends out once a week. You can sign up for it here. Well done Jane! I and others have missed you.

• Check out this cozy cabin in Swedish Lapland.

• More on the secondhand/mended clothing trend from Fast Company

• Fun podcast on the BBC about the Chicken Who Sailed Round the World.

• These are pretty. Battery powered and made of Tyvek.

Would love to hear about your mending and knitting adventures. Leave a comment below so that all readers can hear what you are mending and/or knitting.

And thanks for all the orders for PDF Knitting Patterns. I really appreciate your support of my family and work.

Colorfully yours,

**Speaking of Ultra Alpaca, when I was looking for yarns to substitute into my new PDF line of knit designs, I settled on this one as a good substitute. It’s a bit thinner than my original yarn but you can get the gauge you need and the project will not be as heavy. That said, it comes in 100 gram hanks that took me forever to wind the 10 colors.