Valencia Mittens

I've been itching to make a pair of springtime acceptable fingerless gloves, for when I decide to take my knitting outside to the patio in the wee hours of the morning. I decided that I was over cables, for the time being, after completing a lengthy Celtic knot hat for my brother-in-law. (Oh, how the cabling drove me batty.) So, this is how the Valencia Mitts came to be.

I tend to name my patterns after literature, and particularly, literature I love. Valencia is the name of Billy Pilgrim's late wife in Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, a tragic, satirical and witty short novel about Billy's life, his becoming unstuck in time, and coping with wartime memories. Valencia is a sweet-natured, loving wife, and I can't go into more detail without ruining the book. :) So read it! While you knit these!

Legend: 


CO: Cast on
K: Knit
P2TOG: Purl 2 stitches together at once 
YF: Yarn front, yarn over
2x2 Rib: K2 P2 across, creating a rib


Cast on 44 sts with a fingering yarn, I used KnitPicks Palette, in Forest Heather onto size 4/3.50 mm needles.

Work in 2x2 rib for 4 rows

Right Hand: 

Place the stitches onto 3 dpns 14 on 1st needle, 18 on 2nd needle, 12 on 3rd needle

Knit 1 round (5 rows)

The lace pattern is set on 18 stitches, over 12 rows.

Pattern start:

Row 1: (knit across 1st needle) K4 P2TOG K2 YF K5 YF K2 P2TOG K1 (knit across 3rd needle)
Row 2 & all even rows: K across
Row 3: (knit across 1st needle) K3 P2TOG K2 YF K1 YF K2 P2TOG K6 (knit across 3rd needle)
Row 5: (knit across 1st needle) K2 P2TOG K2 YF K3 YF K2 P2TOG K5 (knit across 3rd needle)
Row 7: (knit across 1st needle) K1 P2TOG K2 YF K5 YF K2 P2TOG K4 (knit across 3rd needle)
Row 9: (knit across 1st needle) K6 P2TOG K2 YF K1 YF K2 P2TOG K3 (knit across 3rd needle)
Row 11: (knit across 1st needle) K5 P2TOG K2 YF K3 YF K2 P2TOG K2 (knit across 3rd needle)

Repeat pattern above until you reach row 6 of the 5th pattern repeat.

Knit across the first two needles, on third needle, knit three, with scrap yarn knit 6, return 6 st to the left needle, and knit them again with working yarn, knit across. (Afterthought thumb placed) Finish the rest of repeat 5. (60 completed rows)

Row 61: (knit across 1st needle) K4 P2TOG K2 YF K5 YF K2 P2TOG K1 (knit across 3rd needle)
Row 62: Knit across
Row 63:  (knit across 1st needle) K3 P2TOG K2 YF K1 YF K2 P2TOG K6 (knit across 3rd needle)
Row 64: Knit across
Row 65: (knit across 1st needle) K2 P2TOG K2 YF K3 YF K2 P2TOG K5 (knit across 3rd needle)

Row 66 - 75: work in 2x2 rib.

Row 76: Stretchy bind-off

Thumb: Slowly remove waste yarn, and pick up the 12 live stitches you created earlier. Pick up two stitches at one end of the hole, knit live stitches on next needle, and pick up two stitches at the other end. (16 stitches) Arrange on three needles, and knit 9 rounds, bind off on the 10th round.


Left Hand: 

CO 44 sts

Work 2x2 rib for 4 rows

Again, place on dpns, except this time place 12 sts on 1st needle, 18 st on 2nd needle, and 14 on the 3rd needle.

Follow above pattern, until you reach again the row 6 of 5th pattern repeat.

(On first needle) On first needle, using scrap, knit 6 stitches, return to left needle and knit with working yarn, knit across.


Row 61: (knit across 1st needle) K4 P2TOG K2 YF K5 YF K2 P2TOG K1 (knit across 3rd needle)
Row 62: Knit across
Row 63:  (knit across 1st needle) K3 P2TOG K2 YF K1 YF K2 P2TOG K6 (knit across 3rd needle)
Row 64: Knit across
Row 65: (knit across 1st needle) K2 P2TOG K2 YF K3 YF K2 P2TOG K5 (knit across 3rd needle)

Row 66 - 75: work in 2x2 rib.

Row 76: Stretchy bind-off

Thumb: Slowly remove waste yarn, and pick up the 12 live stitches you created earlier. Pick up two stitches at one end of the hole, knit live stitches on next needle, and pick up two stitches at the other end. (16 stitches) Arrange on three needles, and knit 9 rounds, bind off on the 10th round.

P.S. Forgive my photography. My skill is knitting, not photography.

I'm Miss Organized Coupon Keeper

Dear Readers,

I'm sorry to have abandoned you during the past couple of months. It wasn't intentional, I swear. If it makes you feel any better, I neglected my personal blog for quite sometime, too.

To make up for it, I thought I would share my coupon binder. (Yes, I coupon.)

Now, if you're thinking,"Why a coupon binder? That's not crafty."

You're right, however - my part of crafting is the organization behind it.

Today, I was at Target and a lady came up to me & was wondering what I kept flipping through. (Either, 1.) I was that loud flipping, 2.) I wasn't really talking in my head, but aloud, or 3.) she had been following nearly every aisle.). I explained to her it was my coupon binder and it's how I keep it organized. She said she had NEVER seen a coupon binder like mine.

Here it goes:
I have nearly 20 sports card sleeves in my binder. My brother & I grew up collecting football cards, so these aren't in short supply here! On Amazon.com - they have a pack of 25 for around $5.

I separate my coupons by "department" & by category. My departments are health & beauty, food, household/kitchen items, store specific coupons, restaurants, receipts, and miscellaneous. For every department, I split up the categories. Example would be in health & beauty, I have a sleeve for bandages, body wash - female, body wash - male, deodorant - female, deodorant - male, etc. It's alphabetical and if I ever need to update or change out a category I rip off the labels and reorganize the sheets. However, it's always easier to write down a list of categories first.

This is my completed binder. I added some polka dot Duck Tape on the side, to make sure it stands out as mine!

Here are some pictures of what it looks like inside!

The labels are in the upper right-hand corner of each pocket.

This is my Target coupon section.
For those who may not know, you canuse Target coupons & manufacturer coupons - at one time.

I would like ANY & ALL feedback about this! Any questions? Please feel free to ask them!

Instant Knit-ification

Instant gratification as a knitter, or any crafter, is pretty sweet. Thus, why I have a million dishcloths in my house, of all kinds, Daleks, a few in the shape of the TARDIS, leaves, too many to go through and name, and when in the midst of a huge project (like the lace infinity scarf I'm working on) I need that instant gratification. So I picked up a pattern I did awhile ago that I really enjoyed and has been one of my favorite cloths.

Aunt May Dishcloth

The pattern is a wonderful challenge, but totally doable, for a brand new knitter, and a nice space-out pattern for people who've had a little more time in the field.

So now begins my little trek to make at least 4 of these suckers.

Happy Knitting!