Quork
I’m up to something new. I know I’ve got half a dozen projects on the needles already, but I had to cast on some Estonianish mittens. In my defense, I mean them to be a Christmas present for my neighbor. She likes ravens, and so do I. I like their loquaciousness and intelligence. So I set out to design some mittens with raven cuffs. Here’s what I came up with:
The basic blueprint for these babies is Nancy Bush’s Folk Knitting in Estonia. I chose a design I thought worked with my ravens, the Cat’s Paw. I tried a few other motifs, but it was tough to find something that fit the stitch count without overwhelming the ravens. Cat’s Paw seems to balance pretty well. Then I threw in a little two-color vikkel braid to frame the ravens. I say it all nonchalantly, but if you want the truth, it cost me all of the running time and most of the plot comprehension of Spike Lee’s Inside Man to figure it out. There was ripping. And more ripping. It was slow going even when I was doing it right. But I got the hang of it in the end, once I realized that I was making errors in the slipping of stitches. This is the sort of technique I could have picked up very quickly if someone had demonstrated it for me, but learning it from a book was a challenge. Want to see the palm side? Of course you do:
If you think you spy a striped thumb gusset emerging from the side, you couldn’t be more right. I have a beef about the constrictive thumb positioning on traditional Scandinavian mittens, so I cast aside all the wisdom of the knitting ancestresses (a thing I don’t do lightly, but sometimes a girl just has to blaze her own path) and decided to put the thumb where it makes most sense to me and where it can wriggle in opposable freedom as God intended. I should have been spacing my increases every two rounds instead of every three, I suspect, but the beauty of knitting is that you really can make it up as you go along. I’ve done three sets of increases every third round; now I shall switch to every two and see how we go. The cuff will just be a little longer, and that’s rarely a bad thing in a mitten.
The yarn is Jamieson Shetland Spindrift and the needles are US #3. The Spindrift is about as fine as you’d want to go for a mitten, but it’s a power for the colorwork. I’m making the mittens a bit large so I can felt them a little to make them warmer. The colors are black, port wine, and mooskit. If you can tell me what a mooskit is, I shall mail you a chocolate bar. ETA: Carrie is smart, good at research, and fast on the draw. And she clearly likes chocolate. A woman after my own heart. Go check out her beautiful new Salina.
Off for dinner at Apizza Scholls, a restaurant with a name I do not understand. I perfectly comprehend their excellent pizza, though.
Posted: November 21st, 2006 at 5:36 pm
MOUSKIT, adj. Also moosket, musket; muisket, -y (Marw.). Of a greyish-brown colouring, mouse-coloured, dun (Sh. 1866 Edm. Gl.; Ork. 1929 Marw.; I.Sc. 1963); grey with reddish tips to the hair (Sh. 1908 Jak. (1928)). [ˈmuskət, ˈmøskət]
*Sh. 1956 New Shetlander No. 43. 22:
One of the lambs is mooskit-faced while the other is laavie-luggit.
[Norw. muskutt, discoloured, of a dark, dingy colour
Posted: November 21st, 2006 at 5:44 pm
damn carrie! beat me to it 🙂 anyway, lovin’ the ravens on this AND the side thumb. really, that’s where all thumbs for mittens SHOULD be.
Posted: November 21st, 2006 at 6:21 pm
The ravens eyes and stance really stand out. Beautiful design!
Posted: November 21st, 2006 at 6:53 pm
Oh, I LOVE the ravens. They’re my favorite bird – they’ve got such a wonderful social structure. Your thumb gusset is brilliant. It’s too uncomfortable in the usual position. Your neighbor is a lucky lady!
Posted: November 21st, 2006 at 7:50 pm
The Ravens are a great personal touch! Can’t wait to see how they look all felted up!
Posted: November 22nd, 2006 at 5:11 am
Those ravens are FABULOUS!!! I love the mittens! I want a pair! Since I have recently gone on a mitten book buying binge, I guess I need to knit a pair myself – inspiration abounds on the blogs and in those books.
As for the thumb placement, perhaps you are a knitting ancestress of the future. One of the wonderful things about knitting, is its organic evolution as each generation improves upon the innovations of the previous.
Posted: November 22nd, 2006 at 5:56 am
Very lovely. I hope to start some colorwork soon and these little mittens are very inspiring. I love that you just made up some ravens!
Posted: November 22nd, 2006 at 6:25 am
Those are seriously cool birds! They remind me of the ravens in Edward Gorey books. Fantastic!
Posted: November 22nd, 2006 at 6:29 am
Your colorwork is great! If I were doing those, I’m not so sure you’d know they were ravens.
Posted: November 22nd, 2006 at 6:30 pm
These are going to be fabulous! The ravens are brilliant!
Posted: November 22nd, 2006 at 7:43 pm
The ravens are great! What beautiful colorwork–your neighbor is going to love them.
Posted: November 26th, 2006 at 3:40 pm
oh, those are just so perfect and cute and neat. i’m so jealous! between these and all of the EZ mittens i’ve been seeing, i think colorwork is in my future.
Posted: November 22nd, 2007 at 5:47 am
If I bribe you with a bar of chocolate could you be convinced to share your raven pattern with me. I’m tring to knit this: http://www.genealogicaljourneys.com/coats/kirwanco.htm
But my choughs look more like guinea pigs then corvids… help, please…
Posted: August 30th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
[…] to think of it, I don’t believe we’ve rewarded good research on this blog since I wanted to know how the Shetland wool called mooskit came by its name. It’s time we did so again. And I feel knowledge of geography is frankly undervalued now that […]