Another Project Finished

Posted on August 7, 2025 by Deborah Cooke

I showed you this scarf and mittens in progress last month in this post about Comfort Knitting. The project started with a bag of mill ends from Spinrite of Patons Rumor, a long discontinued yarn. Here it is on Ravelry. It’s a bulky weight yarn that’s mostly acrylic but also is 15% alpaca, which makes it very soft and a bit fuzzy.

This colourway, which is a light purple, is called Hibiscus Heather. This was the picture I showed you last month of the mittens and part of the scarf.

Mittens and scarf knit by Deborah Cooke in Patons Rumor

The mittens are from the Tin Can Knits’ World’s Simplest Mittens pattern. (That’s a Ravelry link.) If you don’t have a basic mitten pattern, this is a really good one – and it’s free! It includes instructions for four sizes of mitten, each in four different weights of yarn. I used the chunky instructions for an adult small.

The scarf is a design I made up as I worked. It ended up with nine diamonds – mostly because I mucked up the fifth one and made it a bit smaller by accident. It thus became a midpoint design element. 🙂

Here’s the completed scarf.

scarf knit by Deborah Cooke in Patons Rumor, no pattern

I think it could do with a blocking. The edges are very curly.

Rowan Gypsy hat designed by Grace Melville and knit it Rowan Cocoon from Rowan 48

I have enough yarn left for a hat, but I tend to dislike knitted hats. I had a sift through my library on Ravelry (I love that search engine!) and found a possibility – it’s Gypsy from Rowan 48, a seed stitch hat with a cable trim. (That’s a Ravelry link.) I like the brim on this one. The pattern specifies Rowan Cocoon, which is similar in weight to Patons Rumor, so I’ll give it a try. It’s a hat, though, so I’ll probably have to knit, frog and reknit at least once.

Of course, now I’m flipping through Rowan 48 and being distracted by other designs. 🙂

Comfort Knitting

Posted on July 18, 2025 by Deborah Cooke

As mentioned last week, I’ve been doing some comfort knitting. Besides making clothes for the girls, this usually means knitting socks and/or mittens. I also sorted some stash and rehomed a bunch of it, which meant I rediscovered some goodies, too.

The mittens are from one of these rediscoveries. They started with a bag of mill ends from Spinrite of Patons Rumor, a long discontinued yarn. Here it is on Ravelry. It’s a bulky weight yarn that’s mostly acrylic but also is 15% alpaca, which makes it very soft and a bit fuzzy.

This colourway, which is a light purple, is called Hibiscus Heather.

I first made a pair of mittens for myself, using the Tin Can Knits’ World’s Simplest Mittens pattern. (That’s a Ravelry link.) If you don’t have a basic mitten pattern, this is a really good one – and it’s free! It includes instructions for four sizes of mitten, each in four different weights of yarn. I used the chunky instructions for an adult small.

I also cast on a scarf for myself to match and am just making it up as I go. I’m really enjoying this knitting – it’s the combination of the yarn, which feels nice, and the Brittany birch needles, which I always love to use. This is about the midpoint. I’ll make nine diamonds, then taper down to the other point. Will it need a tassel on each end? Possibly…

Fairy Fingers

Posted on March 22, 2023 by Deborah Cooke

This is a pattern from Fleece Artist to make fingerless gloves called Fairy Fingers. Fairy fingers is also an old term for foxglove flowers. As seems to be happening a lot lately, I made my first pair from Koigu KPPPM. (They were done last week, but a gift, so I couldn’t show you before the recipient saw them!)

Here they are:

Fairy Fingers knit by Deborah Cooke in Koigu KPPPM

This is the colourway that made a swirl in my teal Navelli so was frogged and returned to the stash as a result. I wasn’t sure what it would do in these gloves and was pleasantly surprised by the result. The colourway is P528. Here’s the other side of them:

I did only 12 repeats of the pattern on the cuff instead of the 15 specified.

The pattern calls for 2.75mm needles but I thought the cuff looked too loose, so I went down to 2.5mm needles. I really like the fabric that resulted, but this might make the gloves too small for some people. They fit me perfectly 🙂 which is inevitable since they were a gift.

I did end up with a pair for myself, though. When I cast on the second glove from a different skein of Koigu, it didn’t look like it would match the first one. I knit one with 15 repeats in the cuff then and made a second pair, which I kept. You can see that glove in the middle here – doesn’t it look a bit lighter than the outside two?

Instead of using a second skein, I went back and cast on the second of the shorter gloves from the leftovers of the first skein, to make sure it matched. Koigu comes in skeins of 50g and the first short glove used 28g. For the second glove, I got all of it out of the remainder of the skein except the fingers – if there’s a colour difference, you can’t see it.

This pattern also launched me on a hunt for Fleece Artist yarn. I love their colourways. There’s some new Fleece Artist yarn on its way to me, which I’ll show you once it’s knitted up.

Just editing this to show the other pair, the longer ones that are for me.

I’m also noticing the pooling on the hand with this pair – the other pair has it, too, but I’m taking a better look now. 🙂 If I flip one over, you can see that it worked out the same way on both, just it ends upon on the back of one and the palm of the other.

I did do the fussy-knitting thing of casting on at the same point in the colour gradation – I usually do this with a self-striping yarn by choosing a point (like where the burgundy changes to the turquoise) and making my cast-on knot there for both mitts (or socks). That way, the striping will unfurl the same way on both. A second fussy-knitting fix would have been to knit an extra half row on the hand before starting the thumb gusset, moving it to the other side so that the two palms would be the same (and the two backs). They wouldn’t mirror but they’d match.

Maybe next time. 🙂

Mummers from Saltwater Mittens

Posted on February 9, 2022 by Deborah Cooke

Things have been quiet here on the blog. I had a bit of a crazy January – I was (as usual) racing toward deadline on a new book but got sick with a mild case of Covid-19. It still pretty much flattened me, which makes me glad we’re vaccinated. I’ve been working like mad on that book ever since and now need to catch up on everything else.

Of course, I’ve been knitting, too, just not documenting it all. Today, we start to fix that.

These mittens are from a book called Saltwater Mittens by Christine LeGrow and Shirley A. Scott. Here’s a Ravelry link to the pattern book, and here’s a link to the book’s landing page at the publisher, Boulder Books.

This pattern is called Mummers. I was so excited to discover that they have mummers in Newfoundland – yet another reason to visit one of these days. How amazingly blue the light is here right now. I took these pictures at midday but in the shade since the snow was so bright.

Mummers mittens from Saltwater Mittens knit by Deborah Cooke in Harrisville Highland

I knit mine in yarn from my stash. One of the recommended yarns is Briggs & Little Regal – that’s the B&L website. You can order directly from them. I have some of that, but I also had Harrisville Designs Highland left over from Mr. Math’s sweater and I like the colours together and thought it similar. This is an interesting yarn because it’s put up in two different ways – washed and skeined which is the link above, or unwashed on cones which you’ll find on this link. It’s cheaper on the cone if you need a lot and I like seeing it full when the finished garment is washed.

Balkan by Brandon Mably knit by Deborah Cooke in Harrisville Designs Highland

On the left is Mr. Math’s sweater in the same yarn – the pattern is called Balkan by Brandon Mably (that’s a Ravelry link) and here’s the link to my Ravelry project page. I made a yarn substitution – it’s supposed to be knit in Rowan Colourspun (Ravelry link) which is a yarn I like a lot and is now discontinued. The mister thought it was too soft plus he wanted a more graphic color combination. Done and done. (Hmm. Did I blog about this project? Yes! I did! Balkan sweater for Mr. Math.)

And now there are mittens to coordinate!

Another Pair of Alaska Mittens

Posted on September 8, 2021 by Deborah Cooke

Last week, I shared a pair of mittens knit from a free pattern, Alaska Mittens. It’s not a free pattern anymore, btw. I had started a second pair and since they’re done, I’ll show them off today.

Alaska Mittens knitted in Sirdar Tweedie Chunky by Deborah Cooke

This time, I used two yarns together – a strand of that same Sirdar Tweedie Chunky and a strand of Rowan Kidsilk Haze. The KSH makes the knitted fabric softer and gives it a bit of fuzz. It might prove to be warmer, as well. I incorporated my changes from last time, and started the thumb gusset four rows later – that took out two increases, which made the thumb smaller. They fit perfectly!

My only quibble is that since I started the thumb gusset later, I should have kept working the stitches on the palm side in ribbing, instead of changing to stockinette. See?

This pair took 77 grams of the Tweedie Chunky and 17 grams of the Kidsilk Haze. I made the M size, with the modifications discussed last week.

You can guess what this means. I’ve cast on a third pair, in the green Sirdar Tweedie Chunky again with a strand of a yarn similar to KSH. This pair will be perfect. 🙂

I have some other projects moving closer to completion and hope to be able to show you something more than mittens soon! Happy knitting!

Alaska Mittens

Posted on September 1, 2021 by Deborah Cooke

I knit some mittens this past week—even though it was a zillion degrees outside. This pattern was free and it looked intriguing. I had some yarn in my stash so away I went.

The pattern is called Alaska Mittens by Anna Zhuravleva—here’s a Ravelry link—and it’s still free as I write this. It calls for aran weight yarn, and I had some Sirdar Tweedie Chunky in my stash—that’s a Ravelry link, too—it’s discontinued so I’d found it on sale once upon a time and just liked it. I have three colourways but used the dark green, which is #285.

Here are the mittens, knit in the M size:

I found this pattern a bit confusing and ended up writing all over my chart while knitting the first one. The second one went more smoothly as a result. You work Row 2 fifteen times, and since the next row is labelled R3, I missed that the first time – I changed it to be R17 and renumbered the rest of the chart. I also added a G on the rows that I was to add a gusset stitch and drew a line across the chart where the palm changes from ribbing to stockinette. I think there is one mistake in R13 of the original labelling of the chart – the two knit stitches should be purls.

The chart for the fingertips really confused me, so I drew it out again. I wanted the decreases to be one stitch in from the edges, so there are two stitches that run up to the top of the mitten. The chart shows it that way, but if there are two knit stitches, you can’t K1, SSK without taking up the third stitch. I also had to work two additional rows in the middle before doing the middle twist, as it occurs every 4 rows, not every 2.

I also found the thumb a bit too wide for me at 16 stitches and took it down to 12. I had added four extra rows of ribbing to make a longer cuff on this pair. These mittens weigh 73g and I have 76g left of the green. I’m hoping I can knit another pair with just the specified cuff length.

I cast on another pair in another colourway of the Tweedie Chunky and am working it along with a strand of Kidsilk Haze. The result is very squishy and soft:

This one has the cuff in the specified length. I also started the gusset increases four rows later, so I’ll have two less stitches for the thumb—instead of having to decrease twice, I’ll just have to decrease once to get the thumb the right width.

You have to pay a bit of attention with this pattern, but the mittens are really nice. I particularly like that the cables mirror each other on the left and right mittens. They fit well, too.

Finishing Up the Cyochin

Posted on February 10, 2021 by Deborah Cooke

A few weeks ago, I showed you my wonderful new Felix cardigan in Noro Cyochin. I started with seven skeins of Cyochin and had a little over two left after finishing the sweater. I decided to use up the yarn on a hat and mitts.

I used my go-to hat pattern, First Snow, but added some ribbing and another repeat to the circumference. (That’s a Ravelry link for the pattern.) I also added an extra repeat to the length.

Then I used Tin Can Knit’s free mitten pattern, The World’s Simplest Mittens, and got two pairs of mittens out of the rest. (That’s another Ravelry link.)

The pompom is from Yarnspirations. It’s the Bernat one in Black Mink.

They look so nice in the sunshine on this winter day!

More Mittens in Gemstone

Posted on March 23, 2020 by Deborah Cooke

Remember those three balls of Red Heart Gemstone I found in the mill ends at Spinrite? Here they are again:

Seconds of Red Heart Gemstone

The three balls are all a little light. They should be 200g each and are closer to 140g each, which would be why they were in the mill ends. I’m knitting mittens with the free pattern from Tin Can Knits called The World’s Simplest Mittens. I finished up the ball of Flourite and got two pairs of the second largest size out of it, with a bit of yarn left over.

World's Simplest Mittens by Tin Can Knits, knit in Red Heart Gemstone by Deborah Cooke The repeat on the colour was longer than the amount of yarn needed for one ball. I just knit the four, then matched them up the best I could.

Last week, I finished up the Amethyst ball. I made two pairs of the third size, then one pair in the second size – with some stripes of Flourite, just for fun. Here they are:
World's Simplest Mittens knit in Red Heart Gemstone by Deborah Cooke It’s interesting how the mitts matched more easily, even though this was the smaller size. The repeat on the gradation must be shorter in this colourway.

Next up, the red ball – Fire Agate!

Lined Stargazer Mittens

Posted on March 11, 2020 by Deborah Cooke

I showed you my Stargazer Mittens a few weeks ago. These are knit from Natalia Moreva’s Stargazer Mitten pattern, in Lichen & Lace 80/20 sock. Here they are again:

Stargazer Mittens by Natalia Moreva knitted in Lichen & Lace 80/20 Sock by Deborah Cooke I decided to line these mittens with Rowan Kidsilk Haze. I had Jelly in my stash, which is a little more green than the Citron sock yarn, but it works. Here are the lined mittens, one with the ilning tugged out:

Stargazer Mittens knitted by Deborah Cooke and lined in Kidsilk Haze I used the same size needles for the lining, but picked up the stitches at the end of the ribbing. When knitting the mitten, you increase four stitches at the end of the first band of stars, so this means that my lining has four stitches less than the mitten. I figured that would help it slide inside more easily. Similarly, for the thumbs, I put 11 stitches on a holder instead of 13, so my thumbs in the lining have 4 stitches less than the mitten thumbs. I also knit the linings a little bit shorter: 4 rows shorter for the mitten and 2 rows shorter for the thumb. When the lining is pushed inside the mitten, it puffs a bit at the cuff as a result.

The cool thing about lining mittens like this is that there are no ends visible or even carried threads in the fair isle that can be snagged. Everything is sealed between the mittens. To do this, I finished all the ends on the mitten, then knit the main body of the lining. I pulled the tip of the mitten through the hole for the thumb once the top had been sewn with Kitchener stitch, and wove in the ends. After the thumb was done, I worked the end in from the right side, then pushed the needle through the work to leave the end inside.

This lining is lovely and squishy, but maybe a bit thicker than it needs to be. You can see that when I picked up the stitches at the cuff, I first knit with a strand of Citron and a strand of Jelly held together. That seemed too thick and was a bit stiff. I tried with a single strand of the Kidsilk Haze and thought it was too thin, so used the KSH double. In hindsight, the single strand probably would have been fine.

I used just over a ball of KSH for the linings, which mean that I could have lined the mittens with a little over half a ball if the yarn had been single. That’s good to know!

Gemstone Mittens

Posted on March 9, 2020 by Deborah Cooke

A few weeks ago, I bought some yarn in the mill ends at Spinrite, and later identified it as Red Heart Gemstone. It looked like this: Seconds of Red Heart Gemstone I had knitted one mitten from it when I took this picture, but now have finished that first ball of Flourite. I used Tin Can Knits’ World’s Simplest Mittens pattern. I got two pair of mittens out of it, in the second-largest size:

World's Simplest Mittens by Tin Can Knits, knit in Red Heart Gemstone by Deborah Cooke The repeat on the colour gradation was a bit more than the amount used in one mitten, so they don’t match. I knit as many as I could and made the best matches possible. You can see that I couldn’t match the thumb on the second one from the right. Hmm. Looking at the pattern picture, I might have knit fewer rows than specified for the ribbing. I get bored with ribbing and often end it early.

I have 13g of yarn left, but remember that these balls were underweight. They were between 140 and 145g, instead of 200g. From a full ball, then, it would be possible to get three pairs of mittens in this size.

I’ve cast on the smaller size in the Amethyst and am hoping to get three pairs out of that ball. We’ll see!

My Ravelry project page for these is right here.

Alive & Knitting

Knitting and other tangled webs we weave

Category Archives: Mittens