THE PICK-UP (Part 2 of 3 - The Afterthought Thumb)

This is Part 2 (of 3) of my mini-tutorial on the afterthought thumb used in making my Multi-Pane Mittens. Part 1 was THE FORETHOUGHT.

THE PICK UP.

Before you can knit the thumb of your mitten, you will have to place the thumb stitches on needles, and remove the waste yarn. The Multi-Pane Mitten pattern has step by step instructions with photos. This tutorial will show the process in greater detail. 

Using two (double pointed or circular) needles, with first needle, from right to left, pick up 9 sts below waste yarn. (If you think of each knit stitch as a ‘V’ with a right and a left leg, you will be picking up the right leg of each ‘V’ below the 9 ‘V’s of your waste yarn. This part is rather straightforward.

 Your picked up sts should begin and end with A.)

Rotate the mitten 180 degrees.

With second needle, in a similar way, pick up 9 sts below waste yarn. In this position, the stitches you pick up will appear to be a half stitch to the left, and some of the 'V's will be have two different colored legs -- but once again, pick up the right side of each ‘V’ below the ‘V’s of your waste yarn.

Hint: Your 9 picked up sts should begin and end with B.

Carefully remove the waste yarn. I like to use a spare knitting needle to lift the waste yarn stitches, half-a-stitch at a time. (Remaining photos are with mitten cuff down.)

Now your mitten has a thumb hole. Some of the upper 9 stitches will have floats attached. Don't let them scare you. Tuck them into the mitten, and try to ignore them. They really will not be a problem and will stay behind the work after the first round of the thumb is knit.

What a lovely thumb hole!

My next post is on knitting and finishing the thumb. 

Part 3 of the The Afterthought Thumb: THE THUMB & MORE
  

   

THE FORETHOUGHT (Part 1 of 3 - The Afterthought Thumb)

This is Part 1 (of 3) of my mini-tutorial on the afterthought thumb used in making my Multi-Pane Mittens.

THE FORETHOUGHT.

When you reach round 16 of the mitten chart you will cement in place the location of the thumb... A major event in making your mitten... and yet, so easily done.

For the same reasons that your right and left mitten will mirror each other, the thumbs will be placed in opposing positions on round 16 for each mitten. In this post I will show photos for the first (the right) mitten in the pattern.

For round 16 of the right mitten, you knit one stitch in color A and then knit 9 stitches with your waste yarn.

[For the left mitten, you work round 16 as all previous rounds until 11 stitches remain. At that point, you knit 9 stitches with your waste yarn.]

In either case, for each mitten, the thumb location has now been established. For each mitten the next instruction is, "slip these 9 sts from right needle back to left needle." I recommend that you slip them one at a time, which looks something like this.

And results in this.

At this point you go back to following the chart. For the right mitten shown here you begin with the second stitch of of Row 16. For the left mitten you begin with the fourteenth stitch.

You will be knitting into the 9 stitches made of waste yarn.

With all necessary forethought for your afterthought thumb accomplished, you can happily knit on to the tip of your mitten. My next post is on picking up the stitches to knit the afterthought thumb.

Part 2 of The Afterthought Thumb: THE PICK UP
 
    

Happy May Day!

May Day is an ancient northern hemisphere festival of spring (never thought about that northern hemisphere thing until I started this post...) I am growing in my global awareness.

You may never wear mittens in May (if you live in the northern hemisphere) but you might enjoy knitting a mitten or two this month.

Today is the LAST day that you can purchase my Multi-Pane Mitten pattern with an introductory 50% price reduction. The promotion ends at midnight EST. Click here to buy it now at half price. See the pattern page or my last post for more information.

Today is the FIRST day of the Gosh Yarn It MULTI-PANE MITTEN KAL. Please join us in the Gosh Yarn It KAL discussion thread. I would love to have you virtually join in the KAL! Just chime in to participate, even if you are too far away to knit with us at the shop. The KAL runs through the end of May.
   

MULTI-PANE MITTENS: Design Release, Promotion(s) & KAL

My MULTI-PANE MITTENS pattern is now available on Ravelry! Please read more to learn about the pattern, my introductory promotion(s), and an upcoming KAL!

My goal with this design was to create an easy stranded colorwork pattern for a mitten. I began with corrugated ribbing and carried on with many more rectangles in stranded colorwork… reminding me of windows with many panes…

This pattern was designed for those with previous experience knitting small diameters in the round on double-pointed or two-circular needles, or by using the Magic Loop method. There are step by step instructions for the “afterthought” thumbs.

I have set up a half price introductory promotion on the MULTI-PANE MITTENS pattern. From now through midnight on Monday, May 1, the pattern price will be $2.50 (no coupon code required). The regular price of the pattern will be $5.00. Click on this link to buy it now at half price!

OR, even better... 

You can get the pattern absolutely free from now through Tuesday, May 16, if you purchase yarn to make the mittens at Gosh Yarn It! in Kingston, PA. 

Once you get your yarn and pattern, please join me in the Multi-Pane Mitten KAL at Gosh Yarn It! This KAL will run through the month of May. It will take place in the shop (where I hope to be on most Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoons) and will also take place online, in this thread, at the GYI! Ravelry group discussion board.

Knitters everywhere... we welcome you... please consider joining us virtually for the KAL! It will be a lot of fun!   

 

DETAILS
Finished Measurements
8½” [21.5 cm] circumference and 9¾” [25 cm] overall length (sized to fit most women)

Yarn Required
Worsted weight yarn
90 yd 82 m Color A
85 yd 78 m Color B
 
Sample Yarn
Blue Sky Fibers Woolstok (100% Fine Highland Wool; 123 yd 112 m, 50 g)
Color A: No. 1310 Cranberry Compote, 1 skein
Color B: No. 1319 Quartz Crystal, 1 skein
Needles
- Size US 5 3.75 mm needles (two circular or set of double-pointed)
Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge. Many knitters find they need to size up when working stranded colorwork.

You may find my popular Two-Handed Stranded Colorwork Tutorial helpful if you are new to colorwork.

Thanks for reading and happy knitting!

♥♥♥

Open the Window

This was my desk a month ago as I worked on my next new knitting pattern.

"Mitten Work Zone" I captioned it on Instagram... my laptop, my desk... the second mitten in a photographable state of "how to start the afterthought thumb"... a chart, a pad, a pencil... etc.

There is also the window. More of that window on Instagram here.

All of my workspaces have windows or I would not work in them.

I love spring and daylight and windows. In this wonderful season of window opening, I am almost ready to release a mitten pattern that I have named MULTI-PANE MITTENS. 

Follow me here, or on Instagram, to learn of an introductory discount (beginning April 26) on the pattern. Then, during the month of May, join me and my good friends (in person or virtually) at Gosh Yarn It! for a MULTI-PANE MITTEN KAL.

Open your windows and take a very deep and fresh breath of spring. Then join us in knitting a fun small project during our transition to longer, warmer days. (I am planning some tutorials on that thumb.) (There will likely be KAL prizes.)

May is my favorite month of the year! Did you open that window yet?
 

(All manner of) Removable Pompom

My latest Just Chillin' was made for Hannah, and it has the same removable pompom as the original Just Chillin' hat pattern sample made for Mallory.

Within my Just Chillin' pattern there are instructions on how I made a removable pompom on both of these hats... 

Each of these (real) fur pompoms* came attached to a key ring with a small elastic loop. If yours has one as well, you could make your fur pompom removable for a different look, and to wash your hat. First, I sewed a large flat button inside each hat.

Then, I used a crochet hook to pull the pompom’s elastic loop (detached from key ring) inside the hat near the button. Back on the inside, I pulled the loop over the button to attach the pompom.

To remove the pompom, pull elastic loop out and over button. A crochet hook would be required to reattach it.
 

I have since given some thought as to how I would make my own removable yarn pompom. Typically, a yarn pompom can be sewn on a hat, and the hat can be washed with the pompom attached. Even so, I can imagine a hat with interchangeable pompoms, or a case when you might want to wear a hat with or without a (yarn) pompom.
 

My recommendation is to use a piece 1/8" wide elastic, or maybe a piece of elastic cord, about 8" long. Normally when I make a yarn pompom, I leave the tying yarn quite long and use it to attach the pompom to the hat.

To convert such a pompom to a removable one, thread an 8" length of narrow elastic or heavy elastic cord on a tapestry needle and draw the needle in and out of the pompom below the tying yarn.

     

Trim the tying yarn ends to become part of the pompom.

Similar to the removable elastic loop pompom, a button would be sewn inside the hat. A crochet hook would be used to pull the two elastic ends into the hat near the button. Then the elastic ends could be tied (in a bow, or with a simple square knot... in a way that could be untied) securing them to the button.

With all of this in mind, lets look at a couple of faux fur pompoms that I bought when I first caught a bit-of-a-bug over pompom hats.

The smaller one is by Lion Brand. It came with an elastic cord -- but a rather long one. This makes it like my yarn pompom with added elastic. The loop could be pulled into a hat and tied to a button.

The larger one is by Bernat. This pompom has a heavy thread that could be used for attaching. If I desired to make it removable, I would replace the thread with a length of elastic using a large needle... 'Voila' another removable pompom.
  

*Last I checked the fur pompom with, the easy to use, small elastic loop was still available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0120RL2VQ/ref=twister_B0120R5U1E?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1  
  

Snow Day -- takin' photos & bein' chill

February 9, 2017 was a Snow Day in Philadelphia, PA.

Sources* tell me, "Everyone was predicting a 'Snowpocalypse' and what we got was just a little bit of snow, in February, which is when snow is supposed to fall. But still, it has been the only real snow we’ve gotten this year, and everyone kinda wanted this to be a bigger deal than it was, so I get it..."

My son, his girlfriend, and my daughter all live within a couple blocks of each other in the Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia.

A snow day meant working from home for the day. The sun was shining by the lunch hour, and they all went outdoors -- not to play -- but, to get me some Just Chillin' hat photos.

My favorites:

Manayunk, PA, on a sunny, windy, and cold Snow Day... when they got "just a little bit of snow".

Much thanks to my most beloved young people... striding around the streets of Manyunk in their Just Chillin's... takin' photos & bein' chill...   
 
Love you so much!!!

*Read more at http://www.phillymag.com/foobooz/2017/02/09/snow-day-deals-philly-restaurants-bars/#TMqUlbrP81QG9UHv.99

Chill Happenin'

I love my friend Ann's photo of the Just Chillin' Hat that she made for her granddaughter. After Ann posted this photo, I commented that it was "the most beautiful Chillin' ever".

I made my son a Just Chill-in-Black, during the Gosh Yarn It "Summer Camp" KAL. I showed it to him, in July (when it was very hot), and I told him that I wanted a photo before I gave it to him to keep. He got his hat for Christmas, but still, no photo...

My latest (belated) gift knitting was a black cherry Just Chillin' for his girlfriend. Here is a photo that she messaged me (after I sent her belated gift).

(Aren't they a cute couple?) I finally got the photo I wanted of him wearing his hat, but hers is not totally in the frame. Would you believe that I (boldly) asked her for another? She did not seem too bothered by my request... There was mention that my daughter, who I have recruited often enough to give the title of "experienced knitwear photographer", will take one. I will share any new photos that come my way.

Speaking of my lovely daughter, she is also an "experienced knitwear model". She posed for the photos of my design sample hat that she now owns.

JUST CHILLIN’ is a worsted weight cable hat pattern with an optional pompom. You can make a pompom with your knitting yarn, or you might try a purchased (faux or real) fur pompom.The hat pattern has three sizes to fit heads of 19 (22, 24)” circumference, or to fit an average sized child (woman, man).

Look for an upcoming post all about "Removable Pompoms" -- like the fur ones on three of the Just Chillin's above.

Revisiting: Love & Prayers Scarf

To this day, I still have a side note on my blog about winning a design contest that lead to the creation of this blog... "In May of 2011, I won a scarf design contest held by Knitcircus Magazine and one of my prizes was a small ad in the online magazine. I began this blog on June 12, 2011, so that I would have something to advertise!"

The WomenHeart scarf design contest was held to promote women's heart health awareness and encourage charity knitting. My scarf design, Love & Prayers, won first place.

I am posting this shortly before the 15th annual National Wear Red Day, Friday, February 3, 2017. It is an especially good time to learn about women's heart health.

The American Heart Association states, "Heart disease and stroke cause 1 in 3 deaths among women each year, killing approximately one woman every 80 seconds. Fortunately, we have the power to change that because 80 percent of cardiac and stroke events may be prevented with education and action."

From WomenHeart, "[This year] heart attacks alone, will claim the lives of more than 200,000 women -- nearly five times more than will die of breast cancer." 

Knitcircus published its last issue in 2012 and my Love and Prayers scarf pattern is no longer available from them. I currently offer it free on Ravelry.

Please learn if you are at risk for heart disease; take all preventative measures possible; and learn about heart attack warning signs. Take care of your heart like your life depends on it.
♥♥♥