Knitting mittens

[snusmumriken]

I got all excited to see a new post in Yarn, and then it was spam. So I'll just make a (real) new post myself! I have become a bit obsessed with making mittens. I'm on my third pair of Lovikka mittens (a traditional Swedish style that is felted slightly and brushed after knitting, and embroidered around the cuffs--I made myself a pair last winter and they are SO warm and cozy) and I'm also working on a fancy fall-weight colorwork pair from a pattern I found on Ravelry. Any other mitten-knitting enthusiasts on FJ? Favorite patterns?

[bookiewookie]

I'm a mitten-knitting enthusiast too! I'm currently working on a pair from Mostly Mittens which looks gorgeous but is taking forever due to the insane pattern :-) Those Lovikka mittens sound cool - I might try some of those next!

[snusmumriken]

I just looked up Mostly Mittens since I hadn't heard of it...those look like a lot of fun to make! Which ones are you doing, bookiewookie? Last winter I also made some Selbu mittens, which I really enjoyed despite having to frog parts of them multiple times (it is always a good idea to remember to make the thumb hole...); that pattern came from Folk Mittens, which has a lot of great patterns.

I knitted one of the current pair of Lovikka mittens over the last 2 days and can't wait to crank out more in different colors. I've been using worsted weight Cascade held double and it works great--starts out stiff but gets very pliable after blocking and brushing.

[littlehouse]

Oh my, those are beautiful snusmumriken! My Swedish Grandpa would love a pair. If only I could get over my fear of trying to knit with double points. Double points are the devil. Circular needles all the way :)

[Jessica]

Jiggleromp - Have you tried the magic loop method? No DPNs needed!

[snusmumriken]

Can you magic loop mittens? I didn't know that...interesting!

[Nic]

Once you go magic loop, you don't want to go back... and now that it is more popular you don't have to... or convert patterns to magic loop

[Blueruin]

Once you go magic loop, you don't want to go back... and now that it is more popular you don't have to... or convert patterns to magic loop

I was hardcore about dpns for the longest time now if I can't magic loop or do two circs I will skip over them

[karen77]

I love ML too... (or two circs, same really). I'm making a fingerless set currently, and some socks... I also use it for sleeves on sweaters!

[Blueruin]

I love ML too... (or two circs, same really). I'm making a fingerless set currently, and some socks... I also use it for sleeves on sweaters!

I usually do fingerless (years of needing to use my fingers while still having warm hands) I'm really thinking about doing eunnys endpaper mitts, I need to start building up more fingerless mitts for th coming season.

[calimojo]

Ok, so what is dpns?

I am just trying mittens for the first time. I saw one that started at the top, with the magic loop, and then moved down. I liked the look of it alot, except I didn't think the cuff was snug enough, at least from what it looked like.

I like the snug fitting cuff that I get when I start with the rows of back loop single crochet. It is snug and feels like it would keep the mitten in place well.

But for some reason, when I get to teh body of the mitten, the hand part, it just looks odd to me. And it looks huge. My hands are average size, and I keep trying on the mitten as I go, but it still looks so much bigger than a store bought mitten.

Any tips?

[ghost]

Ok, so what is dpns?

I am just trying mittens for the first time. I saw one that started at the top, with the magic loop, and then moved down. I liked the look of it alot, except I didn't think the cuff was snug enough, at least from what it looked like.

I like the snug fitting cuff that I get when I start with the rows of back loop single crochet. It is snug and feels like it would keep the mitten in place well.

But for some reason, when I get to teh body of the mitten, the hand part, it just looks odd to me. And it looks huge. My hands are average size, and I keep trying on the mitten as I go, but it still looks so much bigger than a store bought mitten.

Any tips?

DPNS= Double Pointed Needles. I would go to Ravelry.com there are a lot of great crafters who gladly share tips and techniques.

[Blueruin]

Ok, so what is dpns?

I am just trying mittens for the first time. I saw one that started at the top, with the magic loop, and then moved down. I liked the look of it alot, except I didn't think the cuff was snug enough, at least from what it looked like.

I like the snug fitting cuff that I get when I start with the rows of back loop single crochet. It is snug and feels like it would keep the mitten in place well.

But for some reason, when I get to teh body of the mitten, the hand part, it just looks odd to me. And it looks huge. My hands are average size, and I keep trying on the mitten as I go, but it still looks so much bigger than a store bought mitten.

Any tips?

What goat said re: dpns and rav.

The problem with the pattern your looking at could be the cuff being in ribbing and the mitten portion being stockinette? You could go down a needle size or two, but the main issue may be the mitten was knit to be big (ie to go over a pair of thin gloves), in which case it may always be big. I'd check your hand measurement against the schematics measurement, what we percieve as an average size may not in fact be average (I have larger hands and usually knit average size to get them the as snug as I want them).

[calimojo]

ahh, I see most of your are knitters, and I was talking crochet. I apparently didn't read the thread title too closely :lol:

I was just so excited we had a section of FJ dedicated to yarn stuff, that I just jumped in.

[ghost]

ahh, I see most of your are knitters, and I was talking crochet. I apparently didn't read the thread title too closely :lol:

I was just so excited we had a section of FJ dedicated to yarn stuff, that I just jumped in.

Ravelry is still the place to go for advice there are many gifted crocheters there also.

[karen77]

Ravelry is still the place to go for advice there are many gifted crocheters there also.

I do both!!

and ML is different for each craft, but both are awesome :)