Pa-thrum-thrum-thrum-THRUM!

Ha!Ha! I don't know why it's already time to be thinking Christmas thoughts and cringing at cheesey Christmas songs, but my brain is in full Christmas mode. I finally got around to doing something I've been planning. I knit 2 pairs of thrummed mittens for 4 of my favourite hands on earth.

They are knit from Patons Classic Wool. Instead of wool roving for the thrums, I used some left-over Briggs and Little Country Roving which is 5 strands of un-spun wool. I separated 2 strands at a time to make each thrum. It works extremely well. These mittens will be very warm, and the wool Country Roving will felt down into a soft insulated layer over time. Right now, they just seem kind of bloated. :) They're the kind of mittens that should last a very long time.

In the name of science, I made one pair with a thumb gusset (the black ones on the right) and one pair with an after-thought thumb. Neither was any easier than the other, so I'll be curious to hear back from the recipients which style works best.

Now, on to the rest of my Christmas to-do list.

Loops and fringes

Mittens made by Elza Deklavs

My friend Amanda has a pair of mittens that her grandmother made for her. Her grandmother was born in Riga, Latvia. Unfortunately, she died in 2011. When Amanda showed me the mittens, I was intrigued by the loops at the cast-on edge. I took photos, and I hoped one day I'd figure out how she did it. I didn't have any luck at all trying on my own.  I'm a pretty good Googler, but I came up empty. No references to that technique at all. :(

And then, quite by accident (since most good things happen by accident), I contributed to a Kickstarter campaign for a new knitting book by Donna Druchunas called Lithuanian Mittens. The technique is explained in that book.

It was a little clumsy to do, and took me several tries, but I think I'm close. Mind you, I didn't push my luck with a double row of loops as Amanda's grandmother did. Maybe next time.

Owl mittens

I was asked to make another pair of owl mittens for someone whose first pair of mittens came to an untimely end (of the laundry disaster kind). So sad. This time, she asked for dark purple and any shade of blue.

Happy First Day of Spring!

Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote, "In the Spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.” And, while he might not have been thinking of them, it's true of cats, too. Unfortunately.

Kitten season is soon to begin.

While I was messing around in my workroom this morning, I found a few pairs of orphan mittens. I'm thinking in honour of this, the first day of spring and kitten season, we might have a pop up sale with the money going to the Lyndhurst Feral Cat Project. There will be vet bills ahead, as they work towards stabilizing the colony.

All mittens are 100% wool. Hand knit. From the top left, clockwise, we have the Embroidered Felt Flower Mittens, Things Are Looking Up Mittens, Pistachio Mittens (all for an adult hand) and the child-sized Pink Flower Mittens (to fit a child 4 - 6 years old). Posted prices include shipping.

Rock bottom prices! The sale will end on Monday, March 23 at midnight.

Please leave a comment if you'd like one of these pairs of mittens, and I'll give you the Paypal info.

I did a little tallying this morning, and was surprised to find that I had knit about 28 pairs of mittens in the past year. One idea leads to the next, and before you know it, you're up to your nose in mittens. Sort of. Many of these mittens have gone to The Warm Hands Network. Some have been sold to fundraise for the Lyndhurst Feral Cat Project. Some have gone to friends and family. As I said recently, I feel I'm done with mittens for a while ... at least until next fall. :)

And, for those who might be interested, here's a photo of one of the colony cats:

Photo courtesy of
The Lyndhurst Feral Cat Project Website

His name is Andy, and from what I understand, he's been around for a while. He has what looks like, one crumpled ear. Word is that he's the father of many of the village cats. We met him in the village recently, and he let Mr. Coco pet him. Very sweet, and a handsome guy. (Andy, not Mr. Coco.....well, Mr. Coco is, too. You know what I mean.)

The Lyndhurst Feral Cat Project made Andy a priority, and he was neutered late last year.

What a face!








Edited to add: The 2 pairs on the bottom have been sold. Thank you.
(The child's mittens and the Pishatchio Mittens) .....ugh, make that Pistachio Mittens. :)

Last mittens of the season

So, here we are mid-March, and it's feeling pretty spring-like here in the Kingdom. For the last year, as you know if you've been following along, I've been obsessed with mittens. Colourwork mittens, double-knitted mittens, appliquéd and embroidered mittens. Owl mittens, for heaven's sake. I don't think I've completely finished with mittens, but I feel a change coming on. Some new direction is calling. So, today, I offer these:

Cardinal mittens. Based on a photo taken by Michael Simmons, and used with permission.

Usually, if you follow this blog, you know that I'm all about the whimsy. Fun and silly. Childlike. But these are serious mittens. 100% wool. Lovely and warm. Soft. Sized for an adult hand. $40. includes shipping, and the money goes to the Lyndhurst Feral Cat Project. Leave a comment if you're interested. LFCP can accept payment by Paypal. Delivery by Canada Post anywhere in the world.

SOLD! So happy to report that the mittens are going to their new home, The feral cats of Lyndhurst will not go hungry tonight! :)

Things are lookin' up

I'm pretty sure I'm no longer contagious. It was a pretty bad bug, and I'm very glad to have survived it. My world stopped spinning for a few days, but the dust bunnies kept multiplying. I keep thinking I'll feel up to getting everything ship-shape once again (Ha! As if things are ever ship-shape in the Kingdom!), but so far that hasn't happened. I DID manage to complete my current mittens, titled (hopefully....as in, with hope) Things Are Lookin' Up. The kitty in my sketch really did look hopeful and sweet.

In wool, she looks kinda surly. As if she's looking up at something that doesn't please her. Or maybe something that smells bad. That's kitties fer ya. They're a law onto themselves.

The stripes (for those who are technically curious) are mock Latvian braids. They're actually applied as a surface technique after the knitting is done, by crocheting a line of stitches through the knitted fabric. Very fun.

These mittens are currently homeless. They would fit a small lady's hand. Available for a minimum donation of $30. to the Lyndhurst Feral Cat Project. (We're coming up to Kitten Season, after all.) Shipping included via Canada Post anywhere in the world.

Little Flower Mittens (cont'd)

Sometimes it's hard to know when to stop, but I think this is it. They're done. They're so adorable. Tiny mittens for little, tiny hands.

Little flower mittens

I've been working on a couple of different ideas for mittens. I've never made any this small before. This pair will fit a child 4 to 6 years of age. They are so cute!! I thought I'd do these in tandem, so they'd be identical when finished. When I finish one, the other will be pretty much done as well. So, here they are in progress:

Max Mittens

Max is an all-black miniature schnauzer. To say he's loved would be an understatement. He is adored. And he's adorable. I hope his mistress will like these.

Mittens in progress

I'm not sure how exciting mittens in progress can be, but here's what I'm working on.

I decided I had the perfect colour of yarn for these mittens in my stash, and when I weighed it, I was certain I had enough. Of course, 'enough' is not the same as 'more than enough', so as I got closer to finishing the thumb on the 2nd mitten, it was kinda touch and go. I had a couple of Plan B's in mind.....including raveling the thumbs on a different pair of mittens from last year.....but fortunately, that wasn't necessary. I had all this left:

At least several yards of wool left over. Lots.

The funny thing is that as stupid as I know it sounds, I found myself knitting faster and faster toward the end, as if I could finish before I ran out. I know this is not a personal quirk, nor is it a new knitting phenomenon, because my friend Kate reports doing it, too.

Anybody guess what the theme is for these mittens?

Cassie Mittens

Is there anything cuter than a sleeping cat?

My muse is back

My muse is a fickle spirit who runs off at the first sign of trouble. Any sadness, any loss, and she heads for the hills. A fair weather friend, at best. When she's gone, the days are very long indeed. Endless days of scarf-knitting. Don't get me wrong. Any kind of knitting is good knitting, but the best knitting happens when she's with us.

Today is a grey day in the Kingdom, but there is much under way. Here's what it looks like (since my friend Kate says people like to see what's happening, and not just what's finished):

And here's proof how little respect I get:

Meet Doug

My friend Kate recently got a new puppy, and what a pup he is!! Here's the picture she took of him.

At first, I thought he might like to be knitted into a sock in an intarsia design. Never mind that I've never done intarsia. I figured it'd be a chance to learn. Here's the chart I made for that.

When I had about a dozen tiny skeins of yarn all flipping around my knitting, I decided (as usual) I'd started too big. Simplify! Simplify! (When will I learn?)

Back to the drawing board. With the new direction that felt appliqué took me, I thought maybe what Doug really wanted to be was a mitten.

Yes. I really think Doug wanted to be a mitten after all.

Cats at the window

Inspired by a photo taken by my friend Stephanie Etherington.  See the original here: http://villagecats.com/

She gave me permission to interpret her photo in wool embroidery. Needless to say, I love the photo. I think the mittens turned out well, too.

Monkey Mitts

I like to think that even monkeys like to keep warm. And I'm sure they think about fashion, too.

These mittens fit me snugly, but my hands are small. My hand is 6 1/4 inches from tip of longest finger to the base where my wrist starts, and about 7 inches around. The ribbed cuff is 3 1/4 inches to keep the snow and cold out. They are 100% wool.

Since these mittens currently have no home, if anyone would like to adopt a pair of monkey mitts, they can be had for a minimum donation of, say, $25. (postage included) to The Lyndhurst Feral Cat Project. Cheque or Paypal, just leave a comment, or email me directly at covillewood (at) gmail (dot) com , and we'll work out the details.

Edited Sunday, December 14, 2014...... The monkey mitts are SOLD. Glad to know they've found a new home, and the Lyndhurst Feral Cat Project benefits, too.

Monkey business

Fun with felt

Wool felt appliqué with wool embroidery. 

So. Much. Fun.

Gingerbread People for Arviat

Every day's a new adventure. Today, I'm embroidering a pair of gingerbread people on wool mittens. This is wool that my friend Karen sent to me. And I, in turn, will send these mittens on to have their own adventure. They're going up, up to Arviat, Nunavut, with the Warm Hands Network.

Sweet nothings

Sometimes it's fun to just dash off a project. Something sweet. Not too time-consuming. Something bright and shiny. With BEADS!!

Photographed on a stump! How attractive. How arty. :)

Here's a pair of fingerless texting mittens. Perfect to keep in your pocket for cool days.


100% Alpaca. They're only $20 in the fundraising shop for the Lyndhurst Feral Cat Project. If you're not local, I'm sure you can work something out to have them slipped in an envelope and mailed to you.

There's no place like home

Remember that line? from The Wizard of Oz? Well, it's true. Grandma Coco's been on The Grand World Tour for a few months now, but she's thrilled to be back home in the Kingdom where life is good again. (And they know how to make a decent cup of tea.)

So, let's get started with a bang, shall we? We've been busy working on mittens. Stranded mittens. Fair Isle mittens. And especially, EMBROIDERED mittens. We've been working up to something. We had that feeling you get sometimes when you let yourself just follow your nose and you're sure something good's going to come of it but you don't know exactly what.....just that it's going to be GOOD.

Well, we finally got to the good part. (Pardon our modesty, or lack thereof.....you all know Grandma Coco's not above tooting her own horn.)

MEOW  MITTENS

We LOVE, love, LOVE these mittens with their green-eyed cat. We love, LOVE, love the sculptural face. We've put these mittens up for sale on Gift-it with all the proceeds going to the Gananoque and District Humane Society. Here's the link, if you're in need of a pair of mittens, or you just want to help out. The Gananoque and District Humane Society is a no-kill shelter run entirely by volunteers.

The mittens and the embroidery motif are original designs, handmade by us. Sized to fit a child. 5 1/4 in. from wrist to tip plus 3 inches of snug ribbing to keep the snow out. 7 in. around the palm.

Let's do some good in the world.