Friday, November 30, 2007

Look what I got in the mail!

This is the Resource Guide from Harrisville Designs. It may be the best bet for yarn for the Latvian Mittens. (Jamieson's seems to be having problems- Rosie's has a very small supply, and the Satakieli comes in rather large expensive skeins.) I will bring it to the next S&B and we can put in a group order for yarn. The picture doesn't do justice to the colors. They are really nice. The interesting thing is that they dye the wool in only a few colors and then they blend those colors to create new colors. Then they spin it. So the colors are interesting and complex. Kind of heathery.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Latvian Mitten Splinter Group

There is a splinter group forming and will begin knitting Latvian mittens in January. So far we have Jennifer, Wendy, Angela, John, Val (in Providence), and Kristin (in Baton Rouge). Anyone else interested? Let me know.

Below is a link to a book:
http://www.amazon.com/Latvian-Mittens-Traditional-Designs-Techniques/dp/0942018141
I have an earlier edition of this book and I will gladly copy some of it for you.

Here is a fantastic link to gallery of mittens knitted for the NATO Summit:
http://www.rigasummit.lv/en/id/cats/nid/698/
scroll down the page to the links then click on the men's or women's mittens and then click on the individual mittens. They are really great! There are so many of them! You can really get some ideas.
As far as yarn goes, we have been looking at a few things. Keep in mind that if you are thinking of following this project with the Fair Isle Vest, you may want to use the same yarn. The mitten could be your gauge swatch :-) The yarn suggested for the vest is Harrisville Designs New England Shetland
http://www.harrisville.com/index.html
I have also seen the following yarns used for Fair Isle knitting:
http://www.schoolhousepress.com/Satakieli.htm
but the skeins are kind of big. I have samples of them.
Also, Jamieson's is used. Rosie's has a limited stock. I have the sample card and there are many colors.
http://jamiesonsshetland.co.uk/jamiesons/

So start your planning! Finish all your holiday knitting and we will have something fun to look forward to in the cold dreary month of January....