Sweet Spring

It's still officially winter in Australia but Nature is definitely saying it's spring.
The mornings are warmer, the days are longer, the birds have begun to gather nesting material, freesias and jasmine are sweetly scenting the air...I love this time of the year. I spent the weekend in my garden,
sweeping and weeding and repotting,
clearing up the damage from the March flood,
kept company by industrious bees



and small, squabbling honeyeaters.




Amongst the debris from the storm, lots of flowers were blooming,
including a delicate native flame pea




and the coral gum I planted when I first moved here.




It was a lovely way to spend Saturday and Sunday.

I spent time crocheting a new blanket too. I'm making one with Lucy's Granny Stripe pattern. I haven't taken any progress shots yet but I have managed to take a picture of the yarn I'm using. I've chosen colours to go with my living room. It's going to be bright!



In other crafty news,

• I've crocheted a One Row Lace Cowl:

which I have given to my good friend Robbo,

• I've worked on a stirling silver and copper ring:

which I've since oxidised and polished

• and, lastly, I have had the pleasure of seeing my What the Dickens Fingerless Mittens being made by somebody else! A lovely and busy blogger from Holland has crocheted four pairs, which you can see here. I really like the yarn she's chosen.

And you?
I'd love to hear about what's happening in your corner of the Earth.

Blessings..
x

Tah Dah!

I haven't meant to be away from here for so long
but I've been busy busy busy getting my mittens pattern ready.
It's actually a very simple pattern, but it's my first and writing it has been time consuming. Since I last posted I've worked out the thumb holes and successfully crocheted the pattern in different yarn weights. I've managed to put it into a PDF format (hooray!) but have been completely stumped by computerised crochet charts (boo!);
I think I could go on tweaking it forever...
But mitten wearing weather is almost over in Oz
so,

drum roll,

click here for the What the Dickens Fingerless Mittens PDF pattern.

Please note: the PDF pattern has charts that should make the instructions (especially for the thumb holes) really clear.


Re~edited to say: You should all be able to access the PDF pattern through the link above. If you can't please let me know. The What the Dickens Fingerless Mittens pattern is now listed in Ravelry. And, if you scroll down a little bit, you'll see that the text only, no diagram version of the pattern is still in this post.







As I said in my last post, the mittens can be made out of 8 ply or 10 ply yarn (the pink mitt has been crocheted out of 10 ply wool and the black mitt has been crocheted out of 8 ply), they're hooked in the round so that you can fit them as you go, and they're super quick to make.

What the Dickens Fingerless Mittens

Yarn: 8ply (light worsted weight) or 10 ply (worsted weight) yarn.
Approximately 70 grams of yarn.

Hook Sizes: Small/Medium use 3.5mm (E) and 4.00mm (G) hook.
Large/Extra Large use 4.5mm (7) and 5.00mm (H) hook.

Skill Level: Advanced Beginner

US Terms:
sc = single crochet
sl st = slip stitch
ch = chain
dc = double crochet

Note: What the Dickens Fingerless Mittens are crocheted using US terminology. Mittens are worked in the round. Do not turn at the end of rounds.


Special Stitches:
Shell = 2dc 1ch 2dc in one stitch.
Crab Stitch = Reverse single crochet, sc from back to front of stitch.


Beginning:
Chain 28, join with sl st through back bump of first stitch to make ring, being careful not to twist chain.

Round One: (Small/Medium ~ use 3.5mm hook.) (Large/Extra Large ~ use 4mm hook.)
Ch 3 in first ch, 2dc 1ch 2dc in same chain (shell made) * skip 3 chains, 2 dc 1ch 2dc in next chain* repeat around. Skip last 3 chains and join with sl st to 3rd chain of beginning ch 3. Do not turn. Stitch count for all rounds (except rounds 10 and 14) 6 shells.

Rounds 2 - 6
Ch 3 in first stitch (on top of chain 3 below.) Skip 2 dc of shell below * 2dc 1ch 2dc in middle chain of shell below (shell made) skip 4 dc * repeat around. Join with sl st to 3rd chain of beginning three chains. Do not turn. For longer gauntlet add one or more extra rows here.

Rounds 7 – 9
Switch to larger hook. Repeat as for rounds 2 – 6.

Round 10 ~ Left Hand
Ch 3 in first stitch (on top of chain 3 below). Skip 2dc of shell below. 2dc 1ch 2dc into middle chain of shell below (shell made). Loosely chain 7, skip one shell below, 2dc 1ch 2dc into next shell (thumb hole made.) Continue in pattern for remainder of round. Do not turn. Stitch count for Round 10 Left Hand: 3ch 1 shell
7 ch 4 shells.

Round 10 ~ Right Hand
Ch 3 in first stitch (on top of chain 3 below). * Skip 2dc of shell below, 2dc 1ch 2dc into middle chain of shell below (shell made) * repeat for 3 more shells. Loosely crochet 7 chains, skip one shell below, 2dc 1ch 2dc into next shell, sl st to top of beginning 3 ch (thumb hole made and round completed.) Do not turn. Stitch count for Round 10 Right Hand: 3ch 4 shells 7ch 1 shell.

Round 11 ~ Left Hand
Ch 3 in first stitch (on top of chain 3 below) 2dc 1ch 2dc into middle chain of shell below. Skip 3 chain 2dc 1 ch 2dc into 4th chain, skip three chain, 2dc 1ch 2dc into next shell below. Continue pattern for remainder of round. Do not turn.

Round 11 ~ Right Hand
Ch 3 in first stitch (on top of chain 3 below) 2dc 1ch 2dc into middle chain of shell below, continue pattern for another 3 shells. Skip 3 chain 2dc 1 ch 2dc into 4th chain, skip three chain, 2dc 1ch 2dc into last shell below. Sl st to top of beginning 3 chain. Do not turn.

Rounds 12 ~ 13
Repeat rounds 7 – 9.

Round 14
Finishing Round. Ch 1 and crab stitch (reverse single crochet) around top. Fasten off.




© inkberryblue
You are welcome to use this pattern for personal use or charity work.




Thank you to everyone who gave me feedback on the name. Your suggestions were really helpful. I do hope you like the pattern, I would love to know if you make some mittens and I'd really appreciate any feedback if you do.

I have lots more to share.
I've made more jewellery in silver smithing classes,
crocheted a cowl,
taken photos out in the bush whilst I've been away on a beautiful retreat,
found some yummy recipes
but there's only so long that a girl can stay sitting in front of the computer in her pyjamas (don't tell anyone, but I was here almost all of yesterday) so it will have to keep for another post.

Have a wonderful week.
Blessings
x