Lamplight Mittens


Just a quick post to alert the knitting world to a new mitten pattern I released today :-)


A classic mitten design featuring a subtle cable pattern. Contrasting lined cuffs add warmth and a pop of color to give these mittens a touch of unexpected luxury.


Starting with a provisional cast on and contrasting yarn, the inner cuff is knitted before switching to the worsted weight yarn. After completing the outer cuff, the inner cuff is turned in and joined as you continue to knit the body of the mitten.

Utilizing just one skein of Quince & Co. “Owl” and a small amount of fingering weight yarn, this project will fly of your needles and onto your hands before the spring warmth has time to set in!


Find them on Ravelry now!
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How to Make Your Christmas Season More Stressful


That's right.  If there's ever been an authority on creating more stress for yourself, I'd like to throw my hat in the ring for the title.  There's a big part of me that thrives on deadlines and coming in right at the buzzer.  At the end of a 5k or 10k race, I enjoy digging deep and finding my last bit of energy to finish in a mad sprint.  It seems I have adapted this same tactic when I approach my knitting, especially when knitting before Christmas!
So, on the 18th of December, I decided that Sam needed a new sweater vest for the holiday season. Things started great.  I cast in the morning and sat knitting among the kids while they played.  As Clara napped in the afternoon, I enjoyed some hardcore knitting while Sam enjoyed a show... or two.  Before heading out to the bus stop in the afternoon, I was just about ready to start armhole decreases and add in steek stitches. 


But then the Christmas season hit.  I wasn't worried about the project and kept putting it off to do silly things like wrap presents, send out Christmas cards,  and hit the grocery store way too often.



The project was small which made it quite convenient for throwing in my Field Bag  and bringing it along while waiting for tables and other holiday season excursions.

Then I realized I had to pause and actually take some time to figure out what I was doing.  When I originally cast on, I took some measurements, did a gauge swatch and started knitting.  When it came to the top of the vest, I took a garment out of Sam's closet and measured, planned, and fumbled my way through to the end.


And two days before Christmas, I had something that looked like this:

Now, here's the tricky part.  I always think that this means I'm almost done.  It doesn't. 2x2 ribbing in fingering weight yarn isn't the quickest of knitting ventures.  Especially when you're in a Christmas fog and don't cast on enough neck stitches.  That's right- a sweater of any sort will NOT fit over a giant toddler noggin if the neck hole is not large enough (lesson learned).  So after ripping back and re-knitting I was left with just the ends to weave in on Christmas morning.



Or so I thought.  Enter younger toddler sister.  Who, despite being incapable of living an hour a day off my hip while I prepare dinner, ends up being totally capable of  operating a pair of small scissors.  Thank you, fine motor skills.

By no means was the sweater destroyed, but it was enough to put last-minute-knitting-mom into a tizzy as I frantically tied whatever ends I could and reinforced cut stitches.  Lovely, no?!


But, by the time we were ready to head out to relatives, a sweater vest was complete... along with all that other stuff people make you do for Christmas!

And as the rest of the day was such a blur, the finished sweater vest did not get much time in front of the camera.

More soon...





When Good Knits Go Forgotten


Welcome to 2016!  I hope you all enjoyed the holiday season.  The down time was much needed and appreciated in our neck of the woods, but it's good to be back on a schedule and to be making goals for the New Year.

In the midst of the New Year productivity, we decided to switch our kids bedrooms around.  Clara moved into Sam's old room, Sam moved into Elise's old room, and Elise moved into Clara's old room. *phew* Not an easy task!

With all the moves came cleaning out closets and drawers.  I have a box of hand knits stowed away in the back of the nursery closet.  I thought I had gotten out all of Elise's old knits for Clara to put into rotation but to my surprise, I found this beaut' tucked in bottom:



So, while Clara was busy wearing her Merriment Cardigan around town all Christmas, this one was sadly tucked away.  The good news?  It fits!

The sweater was knit for Elise for Christmas back in 2011.  Although I limited use/wear to the holidays back then, now I'm just happy Clara has a chance to wear this hand-me-down-hand-knit while it's still chilly!












































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Inside Scoop- Merriment Cardigan and Bonnet

Wow.  I feel like this has been a long time coming.  These two patterns have been my focus since I quit my job in October (well, these and raising three small children!).


I've known for a long time that these were the patterns I wanted to kickoff my "comeback" with.  The sweater and bonnet set are very dear to my heart.  When I think back to the time I spent creating them last year, it was blissful.  I was off work for almost two weeks at the holidays.  That amount of time away from the job was unheard of in my life for many years.  The company I worked for started everyone off with two weeks of vacation.  I didn't get Christmas Eve or New Years Eve, so vacation days were always saved for this time.  What this meant is that I went many years without a vacation of more than just a long weekend here or there.


Last year I knew I was winding down.  Joe was about to start his last semester of grad school, and I knew I would soon be the one home with the kids.  But I wasn't yet, and I cherished those weeks around the house.  My nights were spent knitting on the couch, in the light of the Christmas tree, listening to audio books.  I'm pretty sure I listened to every book by L.M. Montgomery along with Little Women.  With the extra free time and no work commitments, knitting was exciting to me again.  It wasn't a burden or something I had to get done because I had a duty to fulfill, I was creating for the very love of it.  Like I said: blissful.



I started with Clara's stocking, posting pictures on Instagram and seeking the opinion of the knitting community along the way.  I loved what had resulted from this power session and it made me fall in love with knitting all over again.  I decided that since Sam and Elise both had knits to match their stockings,  Clara also needed something special I could hand down to her.



The end product made me giddy.  So much so that I wrote up a quick version of the pattern to share.  I promised a pattern for both, along with multiple sizes and just couldn't deliver on the time line I was hoping for.  Winter came and went, and demands of everyday life started to press in again.  I ended up working a little longer than expected, so when I finally 'retired' I knew exactly what was going on my needles.



So here I sit, typing in the light of the Christmas tree, reminiscing about last year, and thinking about what this year has brought.  A chance to stay home with my kids, a chance to make knitting/creating/designing a bigger part of my life again.  I have agonized over this pattern.  Writing, rewriting: top-down, bottom-up, steeked in the round, flat with no steek, lice stitch removed, lice stitch back in.  I wanted it to be as special for your little one as it has been for mine.



And maybe even bigger than this, I wanted this pattern to represent who I am as a knitter and designer.  I'm back, and there may be no stopping me this time!


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