New Pattern: Leaf in the Wind

Announcing a new design to keep your hands warm this snowy February: Leaf in the Wind. 

These modern mittens feature a geometric design inspired by the art of Agnes Martin (they're named after her 1963 abstract painting Leaf in the Wind.) Now through Sunday, February 19, take 25% off Leaf in the Wind and all mitts designs in my Ravelry pattern store, with the coupon code HAND25.

You'll need three colors of fingering or light fingering weight yarn to make these mitts—one light in tone, one medium, and one dark. I used Cascade 220 Fingering in buff, ginseng, and soft sage. There are two sizes, women's small/medium (about 8.5 inches/22 cm circumference) and large (about 9.5 inches/24 cm).

If you've never done colorwork before, Leaf in the Wind would be an ideal pattern to start with. There are only three colors, and the stitch patterns are simple and compact—there's no need to catch your floats as you knit, because you're never carrying a color over more than three stitches.

If you're an experienced mitten knitter, you'll probably find these to be a quick and enjoyable knit. You can easily finish a pair while there's still snow on the ground this winter!

As with most of my patterns, Leaf in the Wind was a Sennott Sisters production. Thanks go to my talented sisters Jenny (for tech editing the pattern) and Betsey (for modeling). For more about how the design developed, see this post.

Thank you very much for reading!

Mittens Sneak Peek

The mittens I've been working on in recent weeks are almost ready to publish. Since we got over a foot of snow yesterday and more is on the way, please keep your fingers crossed the weather doesn't wreck this weekend's photo shoot plans!

I designed these mittens for an Instagram knitalong run by my friend Leigh (@leighsideknits). The challenge? Make a pair of mittens inspired by a favorite artist or an art movement. (See all the mittens from the KAL here.)

I chose the painter Agnes Martin, whose quiet, minimal abstractions and thoughtful writings about art have long inspired me. As soon as Leigh announced the KAL, I checked my fingering weight stash to see what might work and discovered a bag of three colors of Cascade 220 fingering that were perfect.  In fact, it was a little uncanny how perfect they were.

Then I got out my various books by and about Martin and immersed myself in images (and in my memories of experiencing her subtle work, which really can't be fully appreciated in reproductions).

As I work out a new design, I usually have to swatch with several yarns, play with different stitch patterns, sketch, etc. This time was different. I pretty quickly saw the whole mitten in its entirety in my mind. Of course, there were some rip backs and revisions as I worked out details like the length of the cuff or the shape of the top. But, in the end the finished mittens are exactly what I first pictured in my mind's eye.

I plan to release the pattern soon—watch for it next week.

Have a great weekend!