Oslo

The next pattern in Travel Knits for the Family is named after the beautiful city of Oslo, Norway.

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The pattern is for some very versatile mittens. They feature the same cable and rib pattern as the Bergen hat, but in mitten form. And for those who are more adventurous and need some extra warmth, the pattern has optional thrums worked into the centre of the cables. If this is your first time working thrums, there is a handy photo tutorial at the back of the book to walk you through it.

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The magic of the pattern is that it comes with lots of variations. Make them fingerless, full mittens, or flip-top. And you also have the choice to make them with thrums or not. For my family we ended up with two pairs of thrummed mittens – one flip-top and one full mitten – and two pairs without thrums – one fingerless and one full mitten.

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We visited Oslo in the Fall of 2017. We spent a day and a half in the city, exploring the abundant museums, the opera house, and the harbour area. The highlight of the trip though was the train ride from Oslo to Bergen. It’s actually billed as one of the top train journeys in the world, with good reason. It leaves from Oslo and winds its way through forests, lakes, and fields up to snow-capped mountains and rushing streams, and then back down through beautiful fjords on the way to Bergen. I tried to take lots of photos through the train windows, but in the end I decided to just enjoy the view.

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For more information about Travel Knits for the Family, get all the details here.

Introducing the Mount Rundle Mittens

Hello! Long time, no see! And boy, has life been happening since I last posted. Most of the radio silence of late was a result of a move to a new continent. My husband’s office in Calgary was closed down, and he was lucky to get an offer to transfer to the office in London. Three months later, here we are.

In order to focus on the logistics of moving a whole family across an ocean, I put designing aside until we got here. I gotta tell ya, that was not easy! Ideas were festering in my brain and I so itched to get at my yarn and spreadsheets. But there was so much else going on, I knew it had to wait.

Luckily, I had a pattern that had been completed back in June that was waiting for the right season for publishing. As the days have started getting shorter and colder here, I’m feeling confident that now is the time. So, I present the Mount Rundle Mittens.

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These mittens were originally designed for an event at The Loop, my local yarn store in Calgary. They had a Craft Cruise coming through and wanted some patterns and yarns from local artists and I was fortunate that they asked me. These mittens are my homage to the tall mountains and sunny skies of Alberta.

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The original sample was knit in my own hand-dyed yarn. I loved how it looked in the navy blue and silver. But, when moving, I decided that the yarn-dyeing operation was best left on hold. Then I was left not wanting to have a pattern only suggesting a yarn that wasn’t commercially available. So, I picked up some incredible Mrs. Crosby Trunk Case from The Salty Sheep while on vacation in Swansboro, NC. The new sample is knit up in Hollywood Cerise and African Grey – both stunning colours with such depth and subtle variation.

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The pattern is now available for purchase on Ravelry and Love Knitting. I hope you like it, happy knitting!

Introducing: Kicking Horse Mittens

It’s time to release the Kicking Horse Mittens, the third pattern in the Powder Day collection.

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The slipped stitches, cables, and thick yarn of these mittens combine to give your hands great insulation on a cold day. The pattern is written from the top down to accommodate various row gauges and hand lengths. Since it can be worked with different row gauges, it is adaptable for many yarns, from worsted to aran weight.

Both Samples

The pattern is available on it’s own, or you can buy the whole collection in the Powder Day e-book.

Malibrigo Sample

Thanks go again to Eleanor Dixon for technical editing. And my great crop of test knitters was invaluable this time around, encouraging me to eventually flip this pattern around and write it from the top-down. Finally, thank you to my long-time friend, ski buddy, and former roommate, Gillian, for modelling for me.

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Introducing: They’re Paisley!

I know, I can’t believe it either, two patterns released in one week! I never thought I’d see that happen.

So let’s get to it. I’m pleased to introduce you to the latest Cowtownknits creation: They’re Paisley!

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Paisley is so hot right now. Really. I kept seeing all these beautiful paisley prints in shop windows and on fashionable bodies and I thought – “Why couldn’t I knit me some paisley somethings?” And then I thought – “Mittens, those somethings should be mittens!” And that’s that. I designed some paisley mittens.

Hero with me in the background

The pattern has four charts: one paisley chart for each hand (the chart is reversed on the other hand), one for the palm, and one for the thumb gusset.

Size: Medium – 8″ / 20.5 cm palm circumference

Front and back stacked


You can purchase the pattern by clicking the “buy now” button above. Until November 15 you can receive a 25% discount when you checkout using the coupon code giftalong. Then you should come and join the Gift-A-Long fun on Ravelry and have a chance at some of the hundreds of prizes. That’s right, I said hundreds.

This time both technical editing and test knitting were brought to you by the lovely Alana Marchetto.

Featured Indie Designer of the Day: Annie Watts

Okay, I have a confession to make: I have a designer crush on Annie Watts (aka Wattsolak). It’s not even a little crush, it’s pretty big.

And it’s understandable really. Check out some of her patterns:

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Medusa Mittens by Annie Watts, as seen on Ravelry
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Rock, Paper, Scissors… SHOOT! by Annie Watts, as seen on Ravelry
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Neck Kraken by Annie Watts, as seen on Ravelry

A scarf that’s a Kraken! Clearly she’s got a vivid imagination and can think outside the box. And then she turns those ideas into beautiful reality. She’s pretty awesome!

And just to solidify my not-so-secret love for Ms. Watts, I recently discovered that she also has a son named Atticus.  Enough said.

Anyway… you should totally go check her out. And join in the Indie Design Gift-A-Long!