The Kitten Catch Mittens are the Cat’s Meow

If you’ve been around Craft Gossip for a while, you probably know that I have a personal preference for cats. It’s not that dogs aren’t nice, I just didn’t grow up with them and have no interest in having one. The largely aloof but sometimes snuggly nature of cats is much more my speed than most of the dogs I’ve known.

I also just think cats as a craft motif are cuter than dogs. I know there are lots of cute dogs out there, but maybe there’s just too much variety in dogs for them to be that useful as a crafty subject. As soon as you make something that looks like one particular breed, all the people with other kinds of dogs want a version that looks like their dog.

On the other hand, cats just look like cats.

Especially when they’re worked in a single color like the kitties on the Kitten Catch Mittens from Florence Miller. I love these mittens because they looks super traditional at first glance. They’re worked in two colors of a classic fingering weight wool for lots of warmth. They have traditional colorwork designs on the palms and the thumb gusset.

And then there are cats and flowers on the backs of the hands. And a little fish on the thumb. How cute is that?

This project is available in one size (women’s medium) and they’re worked from the cuff down. They also feature corrugated ribbing, which is fun.

And because I’m a little slow in sharing these (the pattern came out in September) the project page on Raverly shows literally hundreds of variations, so if brown and white isn’t your thing you can see how the mittens look in different shades of blue, red, black or even white with hot pink.

You can get your copy of this pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Florence Miller]

Make Your Mittens with Colorwork

Sock Yarn Mittens and Mitts Knitting Patterns

Last year I shared a roundup of shorts knitting patterns over at Our Daily Craft, and it’s consistently one of my most popular posts this time of year.

What that post lacked, though, was any projects of mine, because I have never written a shorts knitting pattern before.

And I guess technically I still haven’t, but I have written a detailed tutorial of how to knit shorts that fit you. Use whatever yarn you have, at whatever gauge you like, and knit using whatever stitch pattern you want to make the size you need.

The “pattern” walks you through knitting a swatch and the measurements and math you’ll need to do to make sure your shorts fit. Yes there is math. It’s not terrible, I promise. And because gauge is sometimes a liar, I talk you through all the points along the way where I tried the shorts on as I went to adjust the fit as needed.

This was actually a really fun project. I used yarn I’d salvaged from ripping up one of my husband’s old sweaters (with permission, of course!) and made a really simple pair of lounge shorts that’s all stockinette stitch with knit hems.

But it’s really easy to change it to make ribbed edges, or throw in an allover stitch pattern, or stripes, or whatever else you want to do. I love writing tutorials like this instead of patterns because I don’t know what your body is like or what kind of fit you want, or how long you’d like the legs on your shorts to be. And it’s really satisfying to be able to figure it out for yourself.

And once you know how to knit shorts that fit you, there’s nothing stopping you from keeping on with the legs and knitting a pair of pants in just the same way.

I’m actually really tempted to do just that. Good thing I’ve got another sweater to unravel.

Have you read?