Countess Mitts XL

Christmas 2012 I wanted to knit a gift for the woman who always hosts our family for dinner and makes amazing delicious food and really just goes all out. Don't believe me? This is how she sets the table:

Unfortunately, and I say this with love, she has giant hands for a woman. The mitts I made were way too small. They were knit in fingering weight yarn on size 1.5 needles and they were lovely (see them here) but way too small.  

Christmas 2013 I was determined to get it right. I used the same pattern and the same stitch counts, but used a worsted weight yarn and size 6 needles. They came out just right. 

The pattern is Countess Mitts by Colleen Powley and I got it in a kit with the yarn to make the original pair of mitts, though it looks like you can also download it separately on Ravelry. These are very big on me, but they fit the recipient perfectly. They look a bit less delicate than the original, but I think it's more fitting to her style anyway.

The yarn is Knit Picks Sugarbunny in colorway Peacock. It's 80% merino and 20% angora so it has a lovely little halo and the mitts are incredibly soft. They advertise it as a worsted weight but I would say it's a bit lighter than traditional. I'm guessing they suggest knitting it at a worsted gauge to give the angora halo room between the stitches to bloom. 

I didn't get much knit this month because 1) it's been hot, and 2) I moved again and my yarn was all packed. I'm all unpacked now (except I can't find my Kindle and it's making me crazy!) and I've really been feeling the knitting bug lately. I've got a lot of projects that went on hold when I went through my knitting funk, and I've been pulling them all out and remembering why I cast them on and all the good things about them and wondering why I ever put them down. Time for a good knit I think. 

Calystegia

I spend a lot of time on Ravelry.  Less than I use to, but I still keep it up in the background on my laptop at home and usually check in on the new "hot" patterns several times a week. I frequently find myself wondering about why some patterns become runaway hits and other seemingly equally-wonderful patterns don't really get off the ground. Calystegia Cowl by Lankakomero is a pattern that doesn't have a lot of love on Ravelry, despite being pretty wonderful.

This pattern is well written and an extremely fun knit. At $4.50 it's reasonably priced. I don't know why thousands haven't been made. It's a pattern I would seriously consider knitting again and I almost never re-knit patterns unless I'm making a gift that has been specifically requested. 

My mom asked me to knit her a cowl for Christmas 2012. I ran out of time, so she got a box with a lovely skein of Handmaiden Casbah Sock in colorway Saltspray and a promise that a cowl would soon follow. Soon was not exactly accurate, as I boxed up the finished cowl just in time for Christmas 2013.

It's tall enough to fully cover your neck and just loose enough not to make your feel like you're being choked. The Casbah is 80% merino, 10% cashmere, and 10% nylon so it's amazingly soft and perfect for having right up next to your face. 

On of my favorite aspects of this cowl are the wrapped stitches that form the bottom of each shell. I'd never done anything like these wraps before and I really like the effect it gave this pattern.

I used about 60% of my skein of yarn, so unfortunately I won't be able to get a second cowl from one skein, but I may have enough left over for some coordinating fingerless mitts. Maybe I can get a jump on Mom's Christmas 2014 present...

Don't let the fact that this hasn't been made many times (according to Ravelry) fool you. This pattern is really wonderful! I don't know this designer or anything about her and I didn't get anything for this post, I just really like the pattern.