Gifted Knit 2016 Part 2

Posted on January 4, 2017 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

Still catching up on 2016 knits…

The other gifted knit was a pair of felted mittens for one of my grandson using a generic mitten pattern that I tweaked, made larger and then felted.

The wrist ribbing was knit with Lions Brand Wool-eze in a dark green that won’t felt and the hand part of the mitten was Cascade 220 in Primavera that did felt.

Before felting, I drew around on of the mittens so I could see the difference.

I felted the mittens by hand so they aren’t as “solid” and machine felted ones but I think they will do the job of keeping his hands relatively dry and warm.

I filled two bowls with water, one cold and the other one HOT.

The mittens soaked in the cold water for several minutes.

Then dipped and swished in the hot water.

Cold water…

“scrubbing” the mittens to felt the yarn…

…then back into the hot water.

Add hot water periodically to keep the temperature contrast. I had to wear rubber gloves to protect my hands from the heat.

and repeat again, and again, and again until the item is felted to your liking.

They didn’t felt as small as I thought but then again, I did this by hand. Machine felting would have definitely been better but this was a small project and I wanted to have more control over the process.

The process took about 20 minutes of switching between the two bowls and rubbing the mittens together to get them to felt.

They are a bit big but he can grow into them.

If any one is interested in the pattern (I made up as I went along), just leave a comment below.

Gifted knits 2016 Part 1

Posted on December 30, 2016 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

Fingerless mitts were on the needles of knitted gifts for my granddaughters this year.

The twins wanted mitts just like the ones I knit for their mother. I used some stash yarn I purchased years ago for sweaters for them (that didn’t get made). The difference is the edging color so they can tell them apart. Easy care acrylic yarn that is machine washable and dryable.

Shirl’s Mitts. Using worsted weight yarn and dropped down to size US 5 needle so they would be smaller.

I understand that as soon as these were unwrapped on Christmas morning, the girls put them on and wore them all day!

My other granddaughter wanted fingerless mitts as well. I decided to use a more complicated pattern since I only had to make one pair.

Point Reyes Mitts from Classic Elite. The pattern called for a wool/bamboo yarn but once again, I shopped from my stash. The color was the important part along with easy care so I used Cleckheaton Country 8 ply yarn, 100% washable wool. I also went down one size needle to US 3 to make them smaller.