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

It’s a common complaint among women and femme dressing folk that our clothes do not include enough (and enough useful) pockets. And even if your clothes do have good pockets, there’s always a chance that you’d rather have another pocket to put some essentials in rather than having to carry a whole bag.

But because we are knitters, we can take this problem into our own needles and knit ourselves some auxiliary pockets.

Beatrice Mase did just that, with a kind of fancy toolbelt pocket accessory that they call VELVET Pockets.

The stitch pattern has a plush, sort of velvet effect, thus the name, but it’s worked with regular fingering/sock weight yarn. (The sample uses wool, but you could experiment with other fibers, too.) It calls for 776 yards of 710 meters, which you might just have in your sock yarn stash.

The pattern includes several pockets of different sizes, with the main body of the pocket worked flat in one piece and the exterior pockets sewn on at the end. You also have the option of adding screw rivets and a coordinating clasp that make it look even more toolbelt chic.

The design is worked with a loop of knit fabric at the top so it can slide onto a belt. The pattern includes explanatory diagrams, photo and video tutorials and is adjustable to fit different sizes of belts.

It’s almost enough to make me want to start wearing belts again, even though I haven’t for years. Because who wouldn’t want a few extra little pockets to hold things when you don’t have enough to really justify carrying a bag around?

The pattern is available in English and French on Ravelry and you can also buy a kit complete with the yarn, rivets and clasp (the pattern is not included in the kit) direct on Etsy.

[Photo: Beatrice Mase]

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