Looking back at some more patterns I knitted during the 2014 Gift-Along. I took the opportunity to treat myself to some patterns for items for myself, as well as for gifts for others, and one of them was this pattern for Dancing Dolphins mittens by Sonja Launspach (sllauns on Ravelry). There's also a matching hat pattern available but I decided to go for the mittens.
I love dolphins; I swam with them once and it was a very special experience. When I saw the photos of these beautiful mittens I had to try them, even though I had never made colourwork mittens before.
The pattern is written for three hand sizes, Small, Medium and Large, and there are different charts with slightly different designs for each one. (Obviously a bigger mitten has room for more picture than a smaller one!!) I went with Small, as my hands are on the titchy side.
I love dolphins; I swam with them once and it was a very special experience. When I saw the photos of these beautiful mittens I had to try them, even though I had never made colourwork mittens before.
The pattern is written for three hand sizes, Small, Medium and Large, and there are different charts with slightly different designs for each one. (Obviously a bigger mitten has room for more picture than a smaller one!!) I went with Small, as my hands are on the titchy side.
The pattern takes some concentration with different charts for front, back and thumb, and different pictures on the left and right hands, but it does avoid getting second-mitten-syndrome because you really aren't just knitting the same piece twice. If you like stranded colourwork, the designer has a number of other patterns for socks, hats and mittens all using that technique.
Photo courtesy of and copyright Sonja Launspach, showing all three sizes of mittens
The last pattern to be featured from my projects from last year is Poplar- the Dishcloth by Julia Stanfield (j-j on Ravelry). This pattern is part of a collection all using the same stitch pattern to create either a dishcloth, a blanket, a scarf or a cowl. I plumped for the dishcloth, and ended up making two of them during the 2014 GAL. The first was a green one, using KnitPicks Dishie.
The last pattern to be featured from my projects from last year is Poplar- the Dishcloth by Julia Stanfield (j-j on Ravelry). This pattern is part of a collection all using the same stitch pattern to create either a dishcloth, a blanket, a scarf or a cowl. I plumped for the dishcloth, and ended up making two of them during the 2014 GAL. The first was a green one, using KnitPicks Dishie.
It makes a nice big dishcloth, excellent for washing up as well as for mopping up spills in the kitchen. I have two small boys - a fair amount of stuff gets spilled in my kitchen!
I also made a second one, taking out one column of the lace pattern to make a more square-shaped cloth and this was given along with some pretty scented soaps as a Secret Santa gift at work. Unfortunately, the recipient didn't get the clue from the soaps that it was meant to be a face cloth, but she did say she found it very useful indeed to put hot dishes down on at the table for Christmas dinner, so I guess it found an extra use I hadn't anticipated!
I also made a second one, taking out one column of the lace pattern to make a more square-shaped cloth and this was given along with some pretty scented soaps as a Secret Santa gift at work. Unfortunately, the recipient didn't get the clue from the soaps that it was meant to be a face cloth, but she did say she found it very useful indeed to put hot dishes down on at the table for Christmas dinner, so I guess it found an extra use I hadn't anticipated!
The white cloth was made using Lion Brand Cotton Ease, using slightly larger needles to allow for the thicker yarn. In fact both cloths knit up very quickly using cotton yarn held double. You could use multicoloured yarn for really snazzy cloths, or plain white for a classic clean look.
And now I have finished reviewing last year's patterns, now it's on into the 2015 Gift-Along! Find out which patterns I'm going to make first tomorrow on the first day (for the UK, at least!)
And now I have finished reviewing last year's patterns, now it's on into the 2015 Gift-Along! Find out which patterns I'm going to make first tomorrow on the first day (for the UK, at least!)
RSS Feed
