Review: Stitch Style Mittens

In honor of day two of snow in Arkansas, I thought it would be fun to look at a collection of projects that’s perfect for when you need to keep warm.

Stitch Style Mittens is an old book (published in 2007, but still available on Amazon) that includes 20 projects in knit and crochet. There are fingerless mitts, mittens, gloves and muffs by a variety of designers and for a range of skill levels.

There are some really cute projects here. I like the Spot-on Mittens by Judy Furlong, which are white with stranded knit spots worked in different colors. Jennifer L. Appleby’s Slip-Stitch Wrist Warmers are pretty and practical, in a classic stitch pattern and a sweet pairing of purple and pink. The super-long and picot-edged Textured Gloves from Malgosia Dzik-Holden are sophisticated show-stoppers, while Katherine Hunt’s Striped Mittens in black and white are a staple for knitters everywhere.

The Fair Isle Warmers pictured on the cover and designed by Gabrielle Carter are nice, too, and great practice on lots of little motifs (good for stash-busting, too). Most of the patterns can be viewed on Ravelry.

Some of the projects are a little strange, or just not suited to my taste, but if you’re a big fan of keeping your hands warm, this one is worth looking up.

Have you been knitting any mittens, gloves or mitts lately? I’d love to hear about it!

Jorid Linvik’s Big Book of Knitted Mittens: 45 Distinctive Scandinavian Designs is sure to inspire you to want to knit some fun mittens, whether embellished with classic motifs like birds, hearts, moose and classic colorwork designs or those with a more modern feel liks guitars and skulls, a giraffe, penguins or a turquoise lizard.

The book includes a lot of instructions on how to make your mittens come out right, including a discussion of how different gauges can give you different sizes of mittens (and which mittens can be worked to different sizes for kids and adults). The charts are a little different from others you might have seen in that they show how to divide the stitches on the needles and where to place the thumb.

Looking for more knitting patterns for Mittens? Check these out on Etsy.

Next Pattern:

The other day I saw a post from Pinterest about trends for summer and it said one of them was “cultivating whimsy.”

Well, I don’t know where Pinterest has been all this time, but we’ve been cultivating whimsy here at Craft Gossip for a long time. I love sharing projects that are a little different, things that make you smile when you see them, and will make you smile when you knit them and wear them or use them.

Such it is with the Tutti Frutti tee knitting pattern from Bea Creative Knits.

This cute little baby tee is worked top down in the round with contiguous shoulder construction to shape the sleeve caps. There are short rows for the neckline and folded hems with picot edging at the hemline, neckline and edges of the sleeves.

All of this would be great on its own, but then there’s the addition of a super cute fruit icon, which is added with duplicate stitch. There are a lot of options, including strawberry, banana, orange, cherries, watermelon, lemon, blueberries, kiwi, peach, dragon fruit, apple and pear, so it’s likely you can add on your favorite fruit.

It is offered in eight sizes, to fit a bust measurement ranging from 28-30 inches (71-76 cm) to 56-58 inches (142-147 cm). The design is meant to be worn with around 6.3 inches/16 cm of negative ease, but you can choose the fit you prefer. There’s also optional bust and waist shaping included in the pattern if you want to make it even curvier.

This is considered an advanced beginner or intermediate project because of all the skills involved, but it’s sure to be a lot of fun even if some of these techniques are new to you.

Grab a copy of the pattern for yourself form Bea Creative Knits on Etsy.

[Photo: Bea Creative Knits]

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