Traveling the Roman Roads...New Pattern Release!
It’s been a long time coming…but here it is! Roman Road Mitts is now released and available for purchase on Ravelry. And to sweeten the deal, it’s 50% off until April 25, 2021. Use the code Sweet Deal when checking out, and you’ll get the discount. The link to the pattern is here.
The mitts are a visual representation of the ancient Roman Empire, with the lozenges in the band representing the hills upon which Rome was built, with all the cable roads moving away from and leading back to it. The seed stitch calls to mind the cobblestones still visible in the roads.
The band with lozenge cable is worked flat and seamed underneath wrist. Stitches are picked up along the edge to work the rest of the mitt.
The seed stitch represents the cobblestones in the Roman Roads, while the three cable columns—one along the edge of the palm and thumb, one curving and one straight, represent the roads moving across the Roman Empire. The lozenges in the cable band represent the hills on which Rome was built, with all cable roads leading to and from Rome.
The lozenge cabled band is work flat, and seamed underneath the wrist so that the seam is hidden. Stitches are picked up along the edge of the seamed band to work the rest of the mitt in the round. Unlike the common gusset which adds stitches to achieve the widening of the gusset, the number of gusset stitches are reserved all at once at the beginning, and thus the cable along the outside of the palm and thumb is maintained with “cobblestone” count constant in the gusset. The increases are done inside the inner hand cable, making the beautiful curve of that cable “road.”
There are seven…yes seven!…sizes based on palm circumference. This is the smallest size at 6” .
This angle shows the inside of the mitt, with the side cable running along the thumb edge.
A huge thank you to my test knitters—Nigel Pottle, Lynn Stearney, and Monique Belanger— who braved the first draft of the pattern, and made several helpful suggestions for clarity in the final text. You helped us all to walk the Roman Roads…at least in our knitting.
Dilemma: how to hold a dachshund and Knit…while standing…?
We all know how to knit with a small dog in your lap. Doggy rests sleepily in your lap, with head laying across your left or right arm as you hold your knitting needles in front of you and knit away. But what do you do when you are standing at your virtual teaching station, either designing on the computer or knitting, and said doggy (i.e. Loki the Dachshund) deparately wants Dad to hold him. Some of you are saying, “Train that dog! Firmly say you are not available.” …… Really…..COULD YOU REFUSE THIS FACE???
“DAD, PLEASE HOLD ME…..”
So I broke down and bought a doggy sling. Yep. I really did. My dog isn’t spoiled…no, really. We just love to be together. Okay…he is spoiled. But we do love to be together.
SNUG AS A BUG IN A RUG!
The sling pictured is on my side…to knit, it will be in front…just like a baby sling. But I have to order the medium so it’s smaller and raised up on my chest. I followed the directions on measuring and weight, and it still was too big. Hummmm….sounds like a gauge problem! 8^)