The easiest fingerless mittens - ever!

I have to admit it: I have a large stash! I decided to start making something out of every small skein. I came up with these fingerless mittens. They took only a couple of hours to knit and I used just 60 meters of DK weight yarn. They are knitted in the round and NO seeming is required!

Here's how I made them:

CO 32 stitches on 5 mm needles and join in the round. Either use double pins or, as I always do, use the magic loop-method (you can find great tutorials on youtube).
Knit 3 rounds.
Purl 1 round.
Knit 3 rounds.
Purl 1 round.
Knit until piece measures 9 cm.
BO 2 stitches in the beginning of next round.
Knit back and forth (knit one row, turn the work and purl back) for 3.5 cm.
At the end of last row CO 2 stitches and start knitting in the round again.
Knit 3 cm.
Purl 1 round.
Knit 3 rounds.
Purl 1 round.
Knit 3 rounds.
BO loosely.

Make another one and you've got yourself a pair of nice and cosy mittens.

The Art of Dyeing

I spend many of my free hours knitting. I think it´s so much fun and I really enjoy the creative side of it. Which yarn goes with which pattern... Which colors looks nice together...How can I make changes to make the garment look better....

Lately I´ve been trying the art of dyeing yarn, another creative aspect of the knitting experience. I have read a lot about it and looked at other peoples beautiful (and less beautiful) results.

Since I have a rather small kitchen I don´t have room for big pans and pots, so I decided to try dyeing with Kool Aid. You can´t bye Kool Aid in Sweden so first I had to order some from a website.

It´s very easy to dye with Kool Aid. First you have to make a hank out of the yarn, then you put it in a bowl of rather hot water to soak for half an hour (I am an impatient kind of person so I only waited for 15 minutes...). Meanwhile you go creative and mix different flavors of Kool Aid in another (microwave-safe) bowl of hot water (you can also add food coloring). I used one made of glass. Then you put the soaked hank all the way into the colored water, cover the bowl with plastic film and heat it in the microwave on highest temperature for two minutes. Take out the bowl, stir (be careful not to let the water boil) and repeat the procedure until the water is completely clear. Take out the yarn, let it cool on the bench and then rinse in water the same temperature as the yarn. Hang up to dry and take some time admiring your masterpiece!! If you don´t like the result you can always repeat the procedure with some new color.

So far I have mostly dyed self-striped sock yarn (your yarn has to be from an animal for it to work).
But my first attempt was with two skeins of light-blue Debbie Bliss' Baby Cashmerino. Here is before and after pictures and also a picture of the hat I knitted from the yarn:

My second attempt was with two skeins of Zwerger Garn Opal Hundertwasser in pink, yellow and blue (I don't really know why I bought them in first place, they were probably on sale...).
I overdyed with some different reds and the result was amazing, as is the finished shawl:

Here are some more results (original yarn to the left, over dyed to the right):

Sweet Baby Sweater

I friend of mine had a grandson, I wanted to knit something for him and came up with this little sweater. Unfortunately it took me a while to knit it, write up the pattern and testknit it, so now the boy is too big for it...

Well, well, hopefully I get som grandchildren of my own some day!

The sweater can be made in endless different ways and it's easy to make it smaller or bigger since it's knitted from the top down without any seams. The pattern is a free download here.

More mysteries

I have participated in a couple of more Mystery KAL's. Great fun!

First it was another one by Threebagsfull: Mystery KAL Shawl. I used Kauni Wool Effekt and the result is lovely. I have used the shawl a lot this cold and endless winter, it´s really warm and cosy! Here's my project page: November Mystery.

Then the turn came to She-Knits' beaded Cynthia Shawl. My project page is here: Cynthia Mystery KAL. For this beautiful shawl I used Regia Silk and I'm very happy with this result too! I love the jeans look. It's a perfect shawl for spring.

New pattern

I have released a new pattern. Nothing special, but it is fun designing things that actually can be worn. It´s a supercozy cowl you can wear in several different ways. It comes in two sizes, has a simple but effective lace pattern and is closed with three big buttons.

You can download the pattern for free here: Midwinter Cowl

The longer one you can wear both as a cowl and a scarf and you can pull it over your head on those cold winter days.

The short version is perfect to wear under a jacket or over a sweater.

Mystery Kerchief

KAL´s are fun! I have participated in another one: Criminal Minds Mystery Kerchief by Threebagsfulled. Every week you get a piece of the pattern and it´s exciting to see the project grow. The thing is, you don´t know how it will look when it´s finished.

This one started OK, but after a while I thought the shawl just looked like a sample of different stitches. I decided to frog and put it aside. Then I hadn´t much time to think about knitting since I moved to a new flat. Wow, that´s heavy work...

But after a couple of weeks I looked at the projects the other participants had made, and to my surprise the shawl was quite beautiful! So - I picked mine up and finished it yesterday. I´m really pleased with it and have signed up for another KAL!

The yarn is Marks & Kattens Fame Trend.

Mystery unveiled

The finished shawl looks like a work of art. The pattern is beautiful!