K's Harry Potter Mittens

 K loves her Harry Potter Mittens!  The pattern is Expecto Patronum!  Mittens by Dianna Walla.  She loves the Harry Potter books and movies.

There are many very long floats in the stranded knitting, so I made a few changes. In addition, her hands weren't as long, so I had to take 3 rounds off the top of the mittens and 4 rows off the bottom of the thumb.  Some mitten patterns are easier to adjust, based on the design since you don't want to cut off too much of the picture.

I used Knit Picks Palette wool yarn and size 2.25 mm (US 1) needles.  Instead of the colorwork cuff, I knit a rib cuff of k2, p2 to help keep out the cold weather.

This is a fun pattern to knit!  

My notes:

Palette yarn in red and black.  Needles 2.25 (US1).  Cast on 60 stitches with Norwegian cast on.  Cuff k2, p2 ribbing for 2 1/4" then knit one row and increase 2 stitches.

Thumb, row 25, 13 stitches to scrap yarn.  Cast on in pattern with backward loop, 13 stitches.  Thumb gusset 2 5/8" - 2 3/4" long, ok.  Pick up one stitch in each corner in black--framing stitches.  K's thumb, 2 1/2" long, so about 22-23 rows.  So start on row 5.  Make sure pattern matches to thumb.

Gauge per pattern:  9 stitches/inch, 10 r/inch.  Mine:  8.75-8.9 stitches per inch.  About 8.9 rows per inch.  I added some contrast stitches to reduce some of the long floats. 

2.75" = 24 rows then thumb.  Gusset length is fine.

K's hand is 7 1/2" long, 2 1/4" long thumb.  Take out 3 rows at the top of mitten, so had to lose a bit of the trees at the top.  Last decrease at top:  sl1, K2tog, psso.

Norwegian Selbu Socks

I love taking classes, and with the covid virus numbers, traveling to a sheep and wool festival wasn't possible this year.  But, I was so happy to hear that Patricia, of Knitography, was giving online classes for Norwegian knitting projects. Patricia lives in Norway.

I signed up for her Selbu Socks, and she showed us pictures of a number of different patterns she designed, and we chose the one we wanted to learn to knit.  I chose Design number 5.  I decided to make them for my granddaughter.

The classes consists of videos, blog posts, and Zoom lessons, if needed.  I really enjoyed the class.  Patricia even shared her Farmor's pattern for her Raggsokker, which are heavy woolen socks. Farmor is Patricia's father's mother.  The pattern was never written down until now.  

The pattern calls for fingering weight yarn, but I used sport weight yard for a heavier sock.  I used Wool of the Andes Sport in Winter Night, and Nature Spun Sport in Snow.

The color is a darker blue than the image.  We knit a pretty pattern on the underside of the sock, which Patricia calls a secret message.

I really enjoyed knitting these socks!  Someday I would love to knit more Norwegian socks from Patricia's ebook on Selbu Socks.

K loves them, and they are so warm!

My notes:

Cast on 64 stitches, Norwegian Cast on with US 1 (2.25 mm) needles.  K1, P1 for 1 3/4".  Yarn: 2 balls of each color, 50 grams each. Size 2 sock pattern.  Gauge: 7 stitches per inch.  Leg circumference in pattern: 9-9.5".  K's 9.5" about 5 inches above ankle.

Leg: U.S. 1.5,  (2.5 mm) needles. 2 repeats of the chart plus 3 rows, ending after an odd row.  16 rows of colorwork = 2" long.  8 rows per inch.

Heel and foot:  I switched to 2.25 mm needles because I thought the sock might be too big for her. About 8-8.5 stitches per inch.  8 rows per inch. 

K's foot:  9 3/4" long, size 8.5 shoe.  Heel flap should be 6-8 cm.  (2.36 to 3.14") 32 slip stitches for heel.  Pick up 16 plus 2 extra.  First stitch, pick up in pattern color.

K's foot: 7 7/8" long, then toe.  3 stolpe stitches remain each side, not decreased.  Decrease every other row until 40 stitches, one more knit row, then decrease every row to 24 stitches.  Kitchener 12 to 12 stitches.

A Fisherman's Kep for My Granddaughter

I learned about the Fisherman's Kep pattern by Anne Sinclair from the knitters on Fair Isle who were selling the pattern to buy new windows for their local museum, the George Waterston Memorial Centre and Museum.  They have a Facebook group, The Fair Isle Fisherman's Kep Page, where knitters can ask questions and receive help with the pattern, and also post pictures of their finished keps.

So, I made this fisherman's kep for my granddaughter.  This will be so warm for her this winter.  This is a fun pattern to knit.

C

Fair Isle has a long history of trading their textiles, including their handknit keps, with passing ships for goods that were not produced on Fair Isle.

My notes:
I used Galway sport yarn and Cascade 220 sport in light pink. I used size 2 (2.75) needle for ribbing. 144 stitches and size 3 (3.25) mm for the body of the hat.
When turning the brim, p 1 row and then purl 1 row after turning so 2 purl rows aren’t at edge.
Next time, use a smaller needle for the outside ribbing on the brim so it holds in a little more.
I used a centered double decrease at the top so the pink thread would be on top of the stripes. So, slip 2 stitches together as if to k2tog, and then k1 stitch. Slip the 2 stitches over that stitch. Knit the stitch in pink, and each row, knit the stitch above the decrease in pink.
My decreases start with 112 stitches, decrease every other row to 16 stitches (all pink). 6 decreases.
Motifs from any of these books: A Shetland Knitter’s Notebook, A Shetland Pattern Book, or Traditional Fair Isle Knitting.

Norwegian Mittens for my Granddaughter

I took part in a Knit Along course by Kristin Myrmel of Norknit.com and SKD (Scandinavian Knitting Design).  Kristin is a Norwegian knitter.  Her courses are very informative, and she includes lots of videos on various knitting techniques.  Along with the course, there's also a closed Facebook group where everyone can share their progress and pictures.

I love the design of Norwegian mittens.  Norwegian mittens have several design features that make them easy to recognize.  They have a thumb gore, and the design on the outer thumb is different from the inner thumb, which matches the inside of the hand.

The outside of the hand has a large design--often Norwegian stars, snowflakes, or animals.  The inside of the hand has a small repeating design.  Between the two is a line which separates the hand--often 3 stitches that form stripes or dots.  The cuff can be a ribbed cuff, often with stripes, or a colorwork cuff, or a lacy cuff.  The mittens have a pointed top of the hand and the thumb.

                                              Norwegian Mittens, Inside and Outside of Hand

I used Galway sport yarn and size 3.0 mm double pointed needles for the mitten, except I used a size 2.75 mm needles for the thumb.  I used 2.75 mm also for the cuff.  I knit into the back of the knit stitches for the K2, P2 cuff. 

I once took a Norwegian mitten class (2009) from Arnhild Hillesland and enjoyed her class, too.  There were a few differences between the 2 classes.  Kristen uses k2 through the back loop for the cuff, and Arnhild knits the cuff regularly.  Arnhild taught us to use k2 through the back loop as our Left Leaning Decrease, and Kristin uses S1, K1, PSSO (or SSK).  The top of the mitten was a little different, too.  Arnhild takes the last stitches through the yarn tail, using the white yarn tail for the white stitches, and the pink yarn tail for the pink stitches.  In Kristin's mitten we did a double decrease at the top first:  S1, K2tog, PSSO.  I've loved the mittens I've made from each class.

My pattern notes:

I added 3 rows to the thumb gusset, alternating 2 rows of each design. Thumb: use 2.75 mm needles. Skip last row of top of outside thumb. Added some Xs to first row of thumb to continue pattern.
I was afraid the mitten would be too long, so I took out 2 rows in the center, so only 1 row between the 2 stars. Center diamond is 1 x, x space x, x 3 spaces x, x space x, x. The length would have been fine. The mitten fits very closely.
I used k2b for left slanted decrease as Arnhild does.
Finished 7 1/4” mitten, excluding cuff. 21 rows = 3”, about 7 rows per inch. K: wrist to thumb 2 1/4”, pinky 5 1/4”,  hand about 7”.