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.

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!

Big Birthdays

Well the birthday I have been dreading has come and gone and I have to say that I actually enjoyed it. Somehow it turned into a week long celebration with lots of lovely moments.  One of the highlights was a gift that my friends surprised me with.  They wound 50 balls of yarn and strung the balls together to make a lovely garland.  That's right folks, I admit it, I turned 50.  With the exception of one of these friends, none of these ladies are knitters, so the thought of them sitting there winding up 50 balls of yarn for me really touched my heart!  Over the years these friends have patiently listened to me go on about my latest knitted projects, when I am sure they were wondering when I was going to talk about something else.  Here's a photo:

My lovely garland

Isn't it wonderful?  I will have to find a special place for it that's for sure.

Even my non-knitting sisters got into the knitting mania that is my life and got me the cutest little knitting bag called the Rosemary Bag from Della Q.  Honestly it's the perfect size to carry around a skein or two of yarn and a knitting project.  And they even picked the one that matched my circular needle case that I showed you in an earlier blog.

Rosemary Bag from Della Q

My husband sent 50 tulips to my work which were just gorgeous

50 tulips!

and gave me a gift certificate to Tanis Fiber Arts (as did my sister-in-law).  I guess I am known for my knitting obsession!

Speaking of Tanis she held a Boxing Day sale on Etsy and I was happy to be able to purchase a few things. Her yarn is so hard to resist as she has such a lovely way with colours.  The Red Label (75%merino, 15%cashmere, 10%silk) is incredibly beautiful to work with.

Red Label in Slade and Fjord

I also got two Snowlfing Mitten kits which I intend to knit up for the 2014 Ravellinic Games which is held during the Olympics from February 7-23rd. Will you be joining the fun?

Snowfling Mittens kit

I feel so fortunate to have such lovely friends and family in my life and I am very grateful.

My lovely children and the birthday girl.  Cheers!