I know some of you are perplexed why I knit so many warm items when, after all, I live in sunny Southern California. But it does get cold here! Freezing cold (not literally of course) but pretty darn cold. And this Fall it has been particularly cool..... which is why I am so delighted to have my Twilight mittens!
Has anyone else had an unusually cool Fall? Now don't laugh at this. As I get ready for bed, I sometimes listen to Coast to Coast, a radio program that airs during the late hours. It discusses UFO sightings, conspiracy theories, ghost stories, and new scientific discoveries. It is all utter twaddle, of course. And yet. Around about midnight, when I'm very sleepy, it all starts to make sense. For example, could the diminishing solar flares be having a cooling impact on earth's temperature? Maybe. It is cooler this Fall, at least here in Southern California. Not that I don't find pollution plenty worrisome too, because I do. I'm just wondering if maybe there aren't additional and perhaps stronger factors having an impact on earth's temperature.
Whatever the reason, it is a cooler this Fall and I'm happy to have these cozy mittens! The pattern is Bella's Mittens and this pattern was inspired by the mittens worn by Bella in the movie Twilight. I have to confess, I have not read the book or seen the movie. But I am a huge fan of Subliminal Rabbit, the clever knitter who designed these mittens, so I had to have a pair. Plus, some of my favorite on-line knitters have knit these and it's fun when everyone is wearing the same hand knits! Check out Bella's Mittens knit by: The Yarniad; At Home Mommy Knits; SweetP Knits; and a whole collection at Bella's Mittens Flickr Group. For those of you who haven't the time to knit yourself a pair you can buy Bella's Mittens directly from Ruth Cross who sells the original Bella's Mittens (as seen in the movie) as well as a variety of other hand knits.
Particulars: Bella's Mittens ~ free pattern ~ courtesy of Subliminal Rabbit! This is a very easy to follow pattern and I can't say enough good things about it. It's fun to knit, well constructed, and in a snap you will have mittens sure to delight your Twilight fans! My only modification was to reduce the needle size from US 8 to US7 as I prefer mittens knit at a tight gauge. I also knit these on doubled pointed needles rather than magic loop as I tend to achieve a tighter knit on double pointed needles. This pattern is currently featured in a UK craft magazine and has spawned many accessory knits (hats and scarfs) which you can read more about here.
The yarn I used was a gift from DizzyDragonflies.etsy who is better known as Vicky at Knitting Dragonflies. I stranded the yarn with GGH's Soft-Kid to achieve gauge (soft-kid is a yarn similar to Rowan's Kidsilk Haze). Vicky's yarn is lovely and soft as well as beautiful, as she has a talent for color work. She calls this colorway Fall Foliage and she gave it to Mr Puffy and me to remind us of Fall in Indiana (which was our home for ten years). It is a very special gift and I'll treasure these mittens always. Thank you Vicki, and watch your mailbox as a little thank you is heading your way.
Mr Puffy Update:
Last week Mr Puffy and I had a nice restorative visit with my parents in Santa Barbara. We took long walks, relaxed in front of the fire, and drank endless cups of tea! Mr Puffy loves it when we visit because he is spoiled and he gets to wander freely in my mother's garden which is enclosed and safe to do so, unlike at home where he is always supervised and on a leash when outside. At times I don't think he wants to leave! I can't blame him, I'm never ready to leave either.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone and, until next time, be well, love well, and happy knitting! P.S. Next time I'm going to share a recipe for a traditional English Christmas Fruitcake to kick off the Christmas season and I'm really looking forward to seeing all of the holiday preparations taking place in blog land!
35 comments:
Happy Thanksgiving to you too! I was making the guess that you were modeling those (adorable, beautiful, fascinating!) mittens overlooking the Pacific Ocean from the Santa Monica Mountains, but now I know that you were visting Santa Barbara, I recognize where you were standing. I'm glad that Mr. Puffy enjoyed his little holiday in Santa Barbara.
Your mitts are gorgeous! Mitts like that are a necessity here, but look like a luxury to wear. Now I need to knit these and watch the movies.
Good to hear you and MrP had a restorative visit at your parents.
Happy Turkey day to you guys and as always Happy Knitting! :)
excellent series of images Claudia for these fab gloves ;))
and happy Thanksgiving to you as well...and spoil that boy some more ;))
Hi Willow! Actually, you were right the first time. The pictures are taken in the Santa Monica mountains overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We DID have a lovely visit in Santa Barbara, thank you. But, we returned home a few days ago.
i am trying to knit these on doble points as well...but how many stitches did u put on each needle???thx angel..my email is angelwings229@myfairpoint.net
Gorgeous mitts. :-) I'm glad Mr. Puffy enjoyed his visit with your parents. Give him some pets for me.
Those mittens are lovely - I wish I could knit, I need them here in Michigan! We had a VERY cool summer so no, I'm not convinced about the whole global warming thing. Matter of fact, I could've used those mittens this summer.
Love the pics, especially Mr. Puffy looking so well. What a darling.
Your mittens look gorgeous and the color is quite nice. We had the coldest winter we have had for quite a few years this year and now are enduring a spring that feels like the middle of summer. Sadly all the lovely green grass is now a horrible brown! Mr. Puffy looks very well indeed and must be like most grandchildren - spoilt and well loved when visiting the grandparents!
Your mitts are gorgeous! Love them. Thanks for the shoutout. I ended up giving my mitts away to my best friend because she LOVES Twilight. I hope you have a wonderful holiday and I look forward to reading that recipe!!
Wow, your new mittens sure look toasty warm! I'm breaking out in a sweat just looking at them.
We've had a VERY unusual warm November so far. No knit items needed so far, and we run around the backyard in T-shirts! I'm glad Mr. Puffy and you had a wonderful time at your parents. :o)
Yet again, a breath-taking photo at the end of your post has wiped my mind clean. Mr Puffy, you are one handsome fellow! I'm so glad the two of you were able to take a break and recharge.
Happy Thanksgiving, and let the holiday season begin!
We had a cooler than usual summer, and there have been some very cool days this fall, which make the warmer ones seem like quite a gift.
Oh lovely mittens! Those would be great for a snowy day as they'd prevent snow from getting over the tops of the mittens.
My boys love it when we go to my in-laws because they have a huge fenced in yard to play in. And while Abner can actually run free in our yard when we are outside with him, he's oddly respectful of the yard boundries, Django can not.
It has been cooler here too! Except for the one week in the 90s :)
Your mittens are gorgeous. Glad you and Mr. P had a nice break away in SB. I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving!
I'm knitting a pair of Bella's mittens right now! Just using some undyed Eco Wool. Yours look great - I love the halo effect you got from carrying the second yarn along.
Saw some beagle puppies the other day and thought of Mr Puffy - glad you both had a nice little getaway.
lovely! i adore that yarn!
i am also so glad to hear that mr puffy is doing well. more gentle ear tugs to him - and after the holidays, perhaps a little knitting meet-up over tea?
oooh! I love the mittens. I might need to make a pair for myself. It's definitely cold here in Canada.
Going to see the movie this weekend too. :)
Those are beautiful mittens!! The addition of the soft kid makes them look soooooo warm and cozy. The photos are gorgeous, too!! Just perfect.
I feel like this fall has actually been warmer than usual in the Bay Area...but then, I'm still confused about the weather here even after 6 years. It is pretty darn cold today, though.
I hope you, Steve, and Mr. Puffy have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Oh, and thank you for the shout-out! :)
Your mittens are gorgeous! I like Twilight but I LOVE your mittens and have already bookmarked the pattern so I have something to do in my free time (heh).
Hope you, Mr. Puffy, and the rest of your family have a wonderful, and delightfully chilly for handknit wearing, Thanksgiving.
Angel Wings asked about knitting these mittens on double pointed needles. I'll email her directly but in case others want to know here's what I recall:
USING DOUBLE POINTED NEEDLES
I began by dividing the stitches evenly on 3 needles (14, 14, and 15 = 43 stitches). However, when the decreases began I shifted the stitches so that AT ALL TIMES I kept the 12 cable stitches together on the last needle.
Also, since this is a heavy gauge knit, you run the risk of ladders which is probably why the pattern calls for using the Magic Loop method. To avoid ladders I pulled the yarn tension much tighter on the first 2 stitches on each needle and then relaxed to a normal tension for the remaining stitches.
I'm sorry I can't be more specific - I didn't take notes when knitting but I do remember that I had to shift the distribution of stitches to keep my (12) cable stitches together.
I think you will find that it make sense as you go along. It's really no different to knit on double pointed than by using the magic loop.
Have fun and let us know how you get along!
The mittens are very cozy looking! I am glad Mr P is doing well. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!
Beautiful mittens Claudia! I'm hoping to make a pair for myself soon, though I have no interest in anything to do with Twilight ...
Glad to hear the Mr P had the chance to enjoy a nice break.
Happy Thanksgiving to you, Steve, and Mr P! Enjoy your holiday.
Happy American Thanksgiving Claudia. I love your mittens - they do look so warm and cozy. Considering I live in a cold climate you would think I would have made mittens. So far I only made these color work (fair isle) fingerless gloves and it was such a chore I have not been inspired to knit mittens. Really I should try because it is similar to knitting socks and I love knitting socks.
Your mitts are beautiful and so is the landscape of the pictures. Glad to hear Mr.Puffy and you both had a good visit and that he's doing well.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
I love your mittens! I wish I could say that it has been cooler here too, but no, it's been much warmer than usual. And I'm so ready for some cool weather! It will get in the 60's one day just to tease us then the next it's back up to near 80!
I'm so glad that you & Mr. Puffy had a nice visit with your parents. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Hi, Claudia! Those mittens are FABULOUS! Love the yarn and the pattern is wonderful...so are your photos! I could uses some good mittens like that--it does get really, really cold here...LOL! ;o) So happy to see Mr. Puffy looking so good and fit. Your break sounded so good...nothing like a little R & R to recharge the batteries. Hope you have the sweetest Thanksgiving...and look forward to your sweet treat of cake next time. Happy Days, my friend :o) ((HUGS))
Happy thanksgiving! I enjoyed seeing my yarn knit up into your mittens! Thanks, I hope it will make you think of Indiana.
I am going to make a pair of these mittens, they look warm and cozy.
Mr. Puffy looks great, glad to hear you and him had a nice visit with your family.
I can't wait for the fruit cake recipe, my husbands' family has a big fruit cake competition (unspoken) I'll be able to take one this year!
Vicki
Lovely mittens! I'll have to look that pattern up. And pretty nails, too!
Mr. Puffy looks very content in your mother's garden. May he have many more contented days.
Happy Thanksgiving! I'm sure you're cooking up something scrumptious.
I'll probably never read the books or see the Twilight movies, but the mittens are great! I've never knitted mittens or gloves. I'm tempted to try these because I will soon have a leftover skein of Malabrigo worsted, which would work nicely.
Happy turkey day to you too!
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Anonymous: Thank you for visiting the blog and I'm so glad you enjoyed the post!
I love how these are just so 'generous' in their proportions. Why haven't I knit any yet?
We used to have those fruitcakes every Christmas when I lived in Ireland.
We have had a much warmer fall and tonight our low temp will be equla to the normal high for this time of year! I can't say I don't love it tho'.
The gloves are beautiful along with the scenery and Mr Puffy is looking quite spry!
Happy Thanksgiving. Those mittens look so warm.
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