A peek on a mitten project

I still find it hard to let go of the spinning wheel, but this weekend I got some knitting done! The reason was a trip to Lund to help my boyfriend pack up his old apartment (or more like being moral support -you know, throw this, keep that), and I even if Victoria IS very portable I had other luggage to care for, so I got lots of lovely knitting hours! The train ride (3hrs) went quick with a new project on the needles, a pattern I drew last week. All free moments during the weekend was spent knitting, and yesterday I finished the first mitten in a pair, the one you see below. They are going to be a part of a new project of mine.

Those of you who followed my old Swedish blog know that I love knitting, and that I'm very fond of colorwork, especially in the traditional style we use in Scandinavia (google it if you don't know). During my time at Capellagården, and particularly the last months, it has built up to something like an obsession. An obsession with mittens.

I really don't know why I'm so drawn to mittens in particular, but maybe because there seem to be a neverending need for them, because they are relatively easy to construct, or because they are in a manageable size. Maybe because it is a good way to use up leftover yarn. It doesn't matter. 

Since I came to Öland, I have designed seven different mitten patterns (and four patterns for tea and coffee cozies and some other things), but never really felt I could spend any time on it, just doing it for fun when I needed a break from other projects. Two of the mittern pattens were sold (in Swedish) in the Capellagården summer shop last summer, and they sold OK, but I was and still am not 100% satisified with the construction (too little time spent). Even so, I have got a lot of praise for my mittens, which I did not really expect..for me it's just been a way to get an idea out of my head, and an excuse to knit :).

I have also felt that there have been so many other tracks to follow during my time at school, weaving, printing, experimenting with dyes, spinning, stampmaking, felting, drawing, watercolour and much more, and I really didn't want to spend too much time on a craft I already knew.. so the knitting was put on hold for a while. Now however, I have started to think more on it, started being more confident about my ability as a pattern designer and maybe listened a bit to the nice people who admire my work. Why should I not make knitting patterns when I like it so much, and other people seem to like the outcome?! I can still have time for other craft if I plan it well, and knitting can also be brought on trains, which most other crafts can't :)

Then it came to me.. why not give the knitting what it wants- make a design of everything I can think of, and knit them all? And I decided to give it a go! The mittens from the train is the first of many to come, and if all goes well, I will exhibit them in the Capellagården summer exhibition this summer!