Fili Top Down Convertible Mitts from Unraveled Sheep -- Day 1

Dig my mad new skills…

Two-at-a-time mittens with cables?? Clearly, I have a high opinion of my own knitting skills.

Well, humility’s never been my strong point, anyway.

Truly, I believe it’s good to stretch your abilities, and knitting is one of my favorite places to do that.  When I come across a pattern that is seven pages long, however, I admit to a gulp or two.

I shouldn’t really worry.  Sheila Toy Stromberg’s directions are clear and confidence-inspiring.  I confess, her mind-bending double staghorn cable makes me nervous—cables and I aren’t the best of friends.  But I yearn to improve that relationship, and the ingenious construction of these mitts has peaked my interest.

First step was to weigh the yarn so as to accurately divide into two balls.  Easy peasy.

Next, casting on for two ribbed bands at once took a YouTube video or two since it has been a long time since I’ve done a magic look two-on-one circ project.  I got it done, however, and set those aside per Sheila’s instructions.  How do they make it onto the mitts?  I’m not sure yet, but so far so good.

Now I set to learning Judy’s Magic Cast On.  A long-time fan of Jenni’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off, I was delighted to learn this skill often associated with toe-up socks.  I am off and running!

Double staghorn cable, I’m up to your challenge….

Yellow Rose Mitts from Yarnivore - Done!

Exquisite mitts!

Often I shy away from "dainty" or frilly looking accessories, opting for bold drama.  And I can't say I wouldn't adore these just as much in a bright, bold hue. There's just something I love, however, about how these turned out.  They have a certain vintage elegance to them.  A classy mitt, wouldn't you say?

Sure, the size 0 needles took patience and commitment, but don't lots of worthwhile things?  They were excellent traveling partners, and I look forward to wearing them.

And, it must be said:  I have BOTH of them!  No "second sock syndrome" here--hooray magic loop!

And hooray to Yarnivore for a knitting adventure in a new place, color, and style for this grateful knitter.

Yellow Rose Mitts from Yarnivore - Day 3

Magic markers...

Magic loop can be confusing.  With socks, you’re just doing the same thing for both pieces—there isn’t a “left” or “right”—and when you get to a “front” or “back” being important, you’ve got the gusset and heel there right in front of you.

Things are a bit different here.  Without a clear front or back, I might misconstrue whether or not I’ve made it clear around a round because every side looks the same.  I have learned this lesson through painful, lopsided experience.  To save myself from myself, I use different color stitch markers for the front and for the back. Since the working yarn always must come from the back to begin at the right side of each mitt, it only takes a few seconds of scanning to know exactly where I am when I return to my work.

My mitts and I traveled to North Carolina this weekend to visit my daughter, and I was once again reminded of the pleasures of travel knitting.  Airports these days are all about the wait—from security lines to boarding to “the fasten your seatbelt sign is still illuminated” to yesterday's 27-minute taxi upon landing (otherwise known as the complete tour of every inch of tarmac in O’Hare).  Did I stress?  Well, maybe a little bit, but mostly I happily knit.  Glad for the guilt-free time where opening my laptop is not permitted, but knitting most certainly is allowed.

Hooray for adventures accompanied by yarn!

Yellow Rose Mitts from Yarnivore - Day 2

Double-Pointless?

The results of my experiment were clear and useful:  I’m not a fan of bamboo double-pointed needles (dpn's) for this project.  For tiny stitches like these, I prefer the slide of metal needles and the simplicity of magic loop.

I have a line in one of my books, Homefront Hero, where a war hero is learning to knit socks on dpn’s, and he says, “I feel like I’m wrangling a porcupine!”  That’s exactly how I felt working this.  It’s not that I don’t like double-points—I don't mind them in larger sizes.  These itty bitty ones, however, gave me fits.  I found it poignant—and amusing—that they came with the following warning on the package:

“These should be used with all due care as these may cause injury if used improperly by an untrained/unfamiliar person.”

Maybe not injury, and I’m certainly trained, but they caused frustration and annoyance in this particular knitter on this particular project.

And so, it is with great delight that I share the news that the next section—the Rosebud Wrists—settled itself perfectly on a two-at-a-time magic loop circ. Hooray!  I’ll fly through the four repeats in happiness.

Until the thumb gusset, which may (or may not) require the reintroduction of dpns.  Ah, the adventure of knitting…

Yellow Rose Mitts from Yarnivore - Day 1

I love it, and it will require devotion...

Knitting can be a humbling adventure—especially when you consider yourself “experienced.”  K2tog on size 0 needles, for example.  This is enough to set my 50+ eyes to squinting, twitching, and my middle-aged fingers to cramping.  Were I to shoot a video of my face while doing all the “pass stitch over”s required on the cast on, I’m sure the faces I made would be mighty entertaining.  

And we’re not discussing how I had to call Caryn at Yarnivore to figure out where I went wrong and start over.  It happens to the best of us, right?

While the color of this super wash merino from The Sheepwalk Fiber Arts Studio—called “Love & Devotion”—is delicious, it’s somewhat splitty.  That nature can be frustrating when working on such a small scale.  I know—without a doubt—that I’ll have to do both of these mitts at once because I’ll never be able to convince myself I have enough patience to do the second once I finish the first.

And so…an experiment of sorts.

I much prefer magic loop—most especially two-at-a-time magic loop—to one-at-a-time-on-double-points when knitting such pieces. However, sometimes lacy patterns don’t always lend themselves to the immovable divisions of magic loop.  Some patterns you can tell it will divide up nicely.  Others, you can’t.

What to do?  Do both!  Do one magic loop and one on DPNs—at the same time.  After the first round of the Rose pattern (the part I think will give me trouble), I should know whether or not I can slide both of these onto a single circular needle ala magic loop.  Sure, I may have to split them up again when I get to the thumb, but I’m okay with that.

Onward—for science and craft!

Denver, CO - Day Three

DAY THREE (Saturday for our purposes)

Custard, dogs, and socks...

Before we get started today, let me bring up a very important travel tip I’ve not yet mentioned: DRINK WATER IN DENVER. Altitude can really, really get to some people, and the best defense is a wet offense. Get those eight glasses in and you should be fine. My trick? Buy a package of inexpensive bangle bracelets and stick eight on your left hand at the beginning of the day. As you drink each of the glasses of water, slip a bracelet onto your right hand. Easy, effective, and accessorizing!

First Stop:

The Brown Palace Hotel

321 17th Street

Denver, CO 80202

www.brownpalace.com

(303) 297-3111

You simply can’t visit Denver without seeing the Brown Palace Hotel. Ellyngton’s is the breakfast venue within this historical landmark (you can actually book a historic tour of the hotel if you’re into that sort of thing!). I like to do breakfast at spiffy spots like these because you get all the glitz of a posh hotel without having to mortgage the house (one must prioritize one’s travel cash for yarn, of course). And it’s such an elegant start to the day. By going on Saturday, you skip the power broker crowd as well as sidestepping the Sunday Brunch crush. As with Beatrice and Woodsley, there is a spectacular high tea that might warrant you adapting your schedule.

Once breakfast has been accomplished, scoot on over to the eastern side of town where, nestled in the Lowry Town Center shopping center, you find our third yarn store of the tour:

The Modern Ewe

200 Quebec St. Bldg. 500 Unit 101

Denver, CO 80230

(303) 366-6601

http://www.modernewe.com (although at presstime the website was still under construction)

If IKEA opened a yarn store, it might look like this contemporary, clean lined establishment. The young owner Dana Juncker has a graphic design degree (with a business minor, mind you), and it shows. I admire a woman who wrote a business plan for a yarn shop her freshman year in college and followed through upon graduation. The spot is modern to be sure, with bright colors, clean lines, and a wide range of customers skewing slightly young for obvious reasons. Adding to the friendly atmosphere are Chloe and Cuzco, the frisky pair of dogs who serve as the store’s lovable mascots.
Beginner projects are a store specialty, to which I can attest because Dana spent an hour with me to show me a very particular cast on to my knit-along socks. How can you not love someone willing to spend so much time with a complete stranger just to show off a cool cast on? The Modern Ewe has just launched its own Couture Collection line of eco-friendly yarn, and oh yes, there is much coolness to be had there.

Projects to keep an eye out for:

Ewetopian Washcloth

In addition to being a sucker for a good pun, I was fascinated by the cozylon fiber featured in “Ewetopian”, which is a technologically advanced fiber incorporating natural charcoal for deodorization, humidity and temperature control, and several other amazing functions. Ideal for socks, washcloths, and other things that regularly get wet. Who knew yarn could multi-task? I don’t see how anyone can pass up trying this. The washcloth is an outstanding choice for young’uns or first-timers, too.

SockWizard Socks

This will be our Knit-Along, and my introduction to the mythical “Magic Loop” sock knitting method. It was a very cool process. Dana let me pick my sock yarn (I chose Schoppel Wolle Zauberbal for amazing socks that start out black at the toes and end up white by the tops) and she chose the corresponding needles. Then I made a small swatch and she plugged my shoe size, yarn, needles, and guage into SockWizard software, which spit out my own personalized sock pattern. Talk about VIP treatment! More on how that all turned out as the Knit-Along goes live, which may take a while as these are size 0 needles! Should you choose this as your project, make sure you give yourself enough time to be walked through “Suzie’s Cast On.” Ingenious!

“Cocktail Scarves”

The Modern Ewe has a bit of a specialty in personalized knitting, so let Dana help you choose a selection of several yarns from the Modern Ewe Couture line to create a one of a kind scarf perfectly suited to your taste. I think this would make a good novice knitter project, too--especially if you want to get a little snazzy yarn in there to make yourself a holiday adornment.

Gadget of choice:

Clover’s Coil Knitting Needle Holders

Excellent for circs as well as straights, these won’t pop off your needles inviting disaster.

Indulge in a little retail therapy by visiting the many shops located around you in Lowry Town Center. I found this to be a nice collection of unique botiques and familiar names.

By the time you’re done here...and my visit lasted almost three hours...it’s time for a little refreshment. The Lowry Town Center shopping center has several places to grab a bite, but you know me, I’ve got to do desert first. In that case, I recommend:

Fergie’s Frozen Custard

200 Quebec St,

Denver, CO

(303)366-4900

I had a taste of several yummy flavors, settling on something with bananas and chocolate I believe, but the super-friendly staff was as much fun as the frozen custard. You can get actual food here, but why would you? As a woman pushing fifty, I need to keep my calcium intake up here.

If you have a four-legged darling in your life, make sure you stop in Chewy’s Bonetique right next door. We can’t keep all the fun to ourselves now can we?

Now that we’ve accomplished sugar and yarn, it’s time for the next major food group: coffee. For that, follow Dana’s recommendation and drive west down Colfax Avenue to:

Hooked on Colfax

3215 E Colfax Ave

Denver, CO

(303) 398-2665

for today’s daily caffeine intake. If Fergie’s didn’t meet your recommended daily sugar requirement, go just a couple of doors down to

The Shoppe

3103 E. Colfax (at St. Paul)

Denver, CO 80206

www.theshoppedenver.com

(303) 322-3969

Here’s another recommended cupcake joint. And it has a cereal bar! Readers of my book MY SO-CALLED LOVE LIFE may be especially fond of this establishment for that reason alone! The Shoppe is open until 2:00am on weekends, and while I admit to a fair amount of curiosity as to the nature of the wee-hour crowd, I didn’t personally investigate. If you do, by all means report back!

If you need a good way to burn off those calories, I’ve got the perfect inspiration on tap. We’re in the mountains, after all, so this is the ideal city to indulge our outdoorish tendencies (if I had any--which doubt I do) with our next stop:

REI Flagship Store

1416 Platte Street,

Denver, CO 80202

www.rei.com

(303) 756-3100

Even if Motel 6 is your idea of roughing it, how can you not like an establishment that lists itself as “a complete outdoor resource, a historic landmark and an award-winning architectural accomplishment”? The website gives the store’s GPS coordinates! And, if you’re so inclined, you can conquer “The Pinnacle,” one of the tallest freestanding climbing walls in the area. (PS, you will see no photos of me doing this, ever).

Duly exercised--even if it was only your credit card that got a workout, travel a little farther northwest to our dinner destination for tonight:

Root Down

1600 W 33rd Ave

Denver, CO 80211

www.rootdowndenver.com

(303) 993-4200

A funky, artsy place that’s the perfect compliment to the tone of our day. The carrot red curry soup is a local fave, and although the place is known for its brunch, it also has a happy hour/sandwhich/burger vibe that has enough sophistication to lure any taste. As a big fan of sweet potato fries, this place it tops on my list. The decor is as clever as they come, and if its warm enough for the big doors to be open, all the better to watch the sun set over another fiber-fab day in the Mile High City.