Off the Needles: Ravellinic Mittens

Here are my finished Snowfling Mittens, pattern and yarn by Tanis Fiber Arts, that I knit during the Olympics.  I really love the red cashmere lining, and how it makes the mittens extra warm hiding any yarn that might get caught on rings.  I have small hands and these mittens fit me perfectly.  I would definitely go up a needle size if I was knitting this again for someone with hands bigger than mine.

Tanis Fiber Arts Purple Label Cashmere yarn lining in Poppy

TFA Yellow Label in Natural and Charcoal

If you'd like to knit a pair you can buy pre-made kits on the Tanis Fiber Arts website. However, this particular colour combination was bought from Tanis during an Etsy sale.  It looks like I still have time to wear these mittens this winter as the temperatures remain cold in my part of the world.   Will it ever warm up?

Come back and join me next time as I review the yarn stores I visited during a recent visit to New York.

Sweetheart Charms and Ravellinics

Purl Bee is always one website that you can count on for free, beautiful project ideas.  Recently I saw one such project that I couldn't pass up.  It was a perfect Valentine's Day craft for my grade sixes. After teaching them how to sew at Christmas this craft was a great follow-up to make sure they hadn't forgotten what they had learned.  So here are a few pictures of what they did.  It was much easier this time...not so many students needed help.  And they were so excited to try sewing again.  Many students wanted to put a secret note in the pocket, others were going to put in a little candy.

Sweetheart Charms

The Olympic Opening Ceremonies started on Friday and so did my participation in the Tanis Fiber Arts Ravellenic team.  I am knitting the Snowfling Mittens.  So far one outer mitten is done, the liner still needs to be done.  I can't believe how warm these mittens are even without the liner.  I am working on knitting with each coloured strand of yarn in each hand.  I am typically an English style knitter but envy the speed in which Continental knitters complete projects, so this has been a challenge for me.

Snowfling Mitten

I decided to block this mitten as I was worried that it was a bit tight on my hand.  However, it blocked beautifully, stretching out enough so I have lots of room for my hand and the cashmere Tanis Fiber Arts Purple Label liner.  Check out the other great projects on the Tanis Fiber Arts Ravellenic team.

Tanis Fiber Arts Ravellinic Team

I have been in a bit of a knitting rut lately.  I really want to knit a cardigan using yarn I have on hand. Unfortunately I cannot get the correct gauge.  Or if I do, when I start knitting, I am not happy with the yarn and pattern pairing.  It is very discouraging.

However, I am looking forward to the beginning of the Olympics and I have joined Tanis Fiber Arts Ravellinic team.  For those  of you wondering what I am talking about let me explain.  The Ravellenics run alongside the Olympics.  You can join any of the many teams popping up on Ravelry and state what project you will be working on during the Olympics.  As soon as the Opening Ceremonies begin (February 7), so do you, and the object is to finish whatever project you pledged to do by the end of the Olympics (February 23).  My project of choice is Tanis Fiber Arts Snowfling Mittens.

Snowfling Mittens

I have two of these kits and, ideally, I would like to get both done.  It is hard for me to judge how long each mitten will take as they have a cozy cashmere lining which does dual duty of making the mittens extra warm, but, also hiding all the stranded work so it doesn't get caught on rings/fingers etc.  I am really looking forward to watching the Olypmics and cheering Canada on.  By the time the Olympics is over, spring will be around the corner, leaving this dreadful winter behind.

Another KAL that interests me is the Journey Knit-a-long (February 5-26) hosted by Shannon Cook and Jane Richmond, authors of the Journey book.  There are so many lovely projects in this book and I have been wanting to try Spate, a lovely mitt pattern.  Jane Richmond and Shannon Cook have such simple, beautiful, classic patterns.  The book, set on Vancouver Island, is just gorgeous to look at and if you haven't had a chance to look through it I highly recommend it.

There are so many beautiful patterns cropping up on Ravelry that I find I am very distracted from my knitting.  So my goal for the next few weeks is to really focus on getting the above projects done and stay away from my computer!  

Go Canada go!