Submitting Knitting Patterns for Testing on Ravelry

I've never really worked from a knitting pattern. My grandmother Marion taught me how to make her mittens using demonstrated instructions that I later wrote down in a way that made sense to me. 

When I first released a pattern for thumbless mini mittens, I wrote the pattern in "my" language. But most knitters are accustomed to reading patterns in a certain format. I knew I needed to do some research into that language, as well as have someone check my work. Otherwise, my patterns would just lead to frustration for other people. 

Getting Started with Pattern Writing

The Craft Yarn Council provides a lot of information about pattern terms, abbreviations, and style. It was valuable to me as I learned the language of knitting. 

Ravelry, a community for knitters and crocheters, offers several options for pattern testers. There are lots of experienced crafters who are willing to help. 

The Ravelry Pattern Testing Process

I opted for the free pattern testers group. The process is quite rigid and there are many rules to follow, both for submitting patterns for testing and for being a test knitter. The system that's in place protects both pattern creators and knitters from wasting their time. 

There are several steps in the process including submitting a request for testing and having it approved, selecting testers, reviewing their feedback, and updating the pattern. 

Each test pattern has its own forum discussion. Here are the ones I submitted:

Double Moss Cowl pattern test on Ravelry

Thumbless Mini Mittens pattern test on Ravelry

Working with Pattern Testers

All of my testers were great and provided excellent feedback to help improve the patterns for future knitters. It was fun to see their creativity - one used stripes, one altered the scarf to be longer, another added contrasting cuffs. 

The pattern testers helped me learn about gauge and further refine the way I wrote my patterns so they are easily interpreted by any maker. 

What's Next

I'm thinking about trying a crochet pattern next. I've had a lot of fun designing striped baby afghans and would love to share my ideas. 

Shop Marion's Mittens patterns on Etsy

Being an Organized Knitter with Ravelry

Although I'm relatively new to knitting (I started about a year after our Etsy shop launched in 2012) I have already developed many of the habits of a longtime knitter:

• A closet and dresser in my home are devoted to storing yarn
• There are more finished projects in the house than I could ever use myself (hence the Etsy shop)
• I made a specific furniture purchase (a Martha Washington sewing cabinet) for storing needles and supplies
• Many attempts have been made to organize my stash

Ravelry seems like a good way to stay on top of what I've got and be less tempted by craft store sales. Ravelry is a community for fiber artists. It's got forums, project trackers, inventory tools, and more.

I inventoried my needles last year and thought that was a good place to start. I took the scrap of paper I'd listed the counts on and transferred the information to Ravelry. Now I can see, at a glance, at home or on-the-go, which sizes I've got. And wonder why I have 10+ of certain sizes I've never used! (In my defense, I inherited almost all of my needles from both my grandmothers and a friend.)

Next up was yarn. Again, this wasn't too bad, because I'd started tracking colors in my iPhone as a way to stop shopping. Caron Simply Soft is our staple and even the list hadn't been much of a shopping deterrent. I have more than 50 colors in this brand alone. My excuse? I need them on hand so I don't have to drive 30+ minutes each way to buy yarn for custom orders. 

What took longer was going through the brands I don't usually use. Once the yarn inventory was done, it was easy to see that I had 100+ skeins of yarn in more than 80 colors! Yikes.

I've also started using the project tracker in Ravelry. At this point I don't think I'll use it to track every pair I knit. It seems a little tedious and duplicates my efforts of listing in my Etsy shop and in my inventory spreadsheet. I will probably create projects for new colors, sizes, or pattern variations just so I have a record for future use. 

Check out my profile on Ravelry to see my stash and projects!

Whether I keep up with this system is to be seen, but there is an app (Stash2Go) that makes accessing Ravelry from my iPhone a little easier than navigating the website on Safari. And the forums look like a great resource of information! 

Prizes at the Fair Again This Year!

I've entered mittens in the county fair for the past few years. This was the first year I entered some of Marion's items, too. Read on to see how we did!

First up is a pair of children's mittens. I added a white stripe to the string that connects them, hoping that the detail would be appreciated by the judges. It worked out; this pair won first place!

Next up is an entry in the four needle mittens class. I'll admit this was a smaller class; my mittens took first place but the judges commented that the cuffs were a bit short. I agree! I was working with some pretty alpaca fiber and wasn't sure if I'd have enough to make two complete mittens, so I did go a little short on the cuffs.

Up next was the popular hat and mittens set class. There were lots of entries in this class and I was happy to receive third place! This year was my first attempt at making hats. This superfine wool knits beautifully.

Here's the first item I entered for my grandma, Marion. It's a pair of baby booties in yellow. She actually makes these as a set with a matching bonnet and sweater, but the only baby set class was for crocheted items, so I entered these separately.  First place!

I saved the best for last. Marion's baby sweater won first place and I just love the comment: beautifully finished. It speaks to the detail that all of our items have!

Shop these and more: www.marionsmittens.com

Accessorizing 2015 Halloween Costumes

Frozen, Minions, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, LEGOs... trends in kids' Halloween costumes are often dictated by recent movie releases.

LEGO characters were certainly popular last year. Check out this blog post with some customer costumes. Based on what people are searching for in my Etsy shop, I'm pretty sure they'll be popular once again!

Our sunshine yellow mittens are a perfect option for replicating LEGO character hands. And they're a functional piece that can be worn through the rest of the winter, too.

sunshine mittens in all sizes

Frozen continues to be popular. We offer mittens in several shades of blue that could pass for Anna's mittens. Ocean was one of the most popular colors sold last year.

ocean blue mittens

Shop Marion's Mittens

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Pompoms Galore | Happy September

Happy September! I hope that you had a great summer. I did a quite a bit of knitting to stock up the shop for the cooler months. This summer I also learned something new: how to make yarn pompoms!

Pompom making is a lot of fun. I'm starting with some basic one and two color pompoms and hope to create some interesting designs later on.

Here are a few of my creations so far. If you're not following Marion's Mittens on Instagram, you should, because I share lots of pompom photos over there!

pompom mittens (neon pink mittens, neon pink and iris pompoms)

pompom garland (blue ombre of navy blue, royal blue, light blue, and white)

pompom garland (neon pink)

Interested in pompom making? I learned how to do it with a book I found at Barnes and Noble. (It doesn't seem to be listed on their website or I'd link it... but check Amazon, there are several options.) I use various sizes of pompom templates to give my pompoms a dense thickness and a uniform shape. There several kinds of templates available!

Shop our pompoms on Etsy

Caring for Hand Knitted Mittens & Scarves

All of Marion's Mittens (and our scarves, too) are knitted from 100% acrylic yarn. I've already blogged about why we choose synthetic yarn over wool. In this blog post I will give a little information about caring for acrylic knits.

For best results, you should spot treat your mittens or scarves when they are dirty. This keeps them looking new.

One of the best things about acrylic yarn is that you can get it wet. So, if your mittens (or more likely, your kids' mittens) are dirty, you can throw them right into the washing machine! They will not shrink or lose their shape. You can also put them in the dryer. It's recommended to wash on cold/delicate and dry on low to be safe.

Still, to prolong the life of your accessories, it's best to hand wash and lay flat to dry. This helps prevent some of the fuzzing and pilling that will occur with normal use.

You can use a fabric shaver on fuzzy mittens to restore the "newness."

Shop Marion's Mittens on Etsy

3 Tips for Making it Through the Winter

Ah, winter. After experiencing a white Christmas, all of that snow begins to wear on us. The temperature drops in January and February and it seems like spring will never come. The good news is that it will warm up eventually! Here are some tips to make it through.

Take Care of Yourself:  Exercise + Vitamin D

Seasonal depression is real, but you can fight it! Take Vitamin D... your body needs it and it's harder to get when you're not spending much time in the sun.

Exercising can also help. Join a gym, do YouTube workout videos at home, or bundle up and get outside. I get my winter exercise by doing yoga inside and snowshoeing or ice skating outside. By making the most of the snow and ice, you might appreciate winter weather just a tiny bit!

Bundle Up

Stay warm! This is how I sign off most of the thank you notes to customers who order from the Marion's Mittens Etsy shop. It'll be easier to deal with winter weather if you're not shivering. Consider mittens or a scarf to help!

blue sparkle mittens for adults

Surround Yourself with Pretty Things

A bouquet of flowers (real or silk, as shown below), nice pens to write with, or a cozy throw... having pretty things to look at can help you cope with the cloudy days of winter.

pink & blue afghan

Make Your Own Halloween Inspired Pumpkin and Paw Mittens for Kids

It seems like there are critters all over everything these days... cat hats, fox sweaters, and owl everything. This inspired me to make some of the mini mittens for babies and toddlers appropriate for Halloween! In this tutorial I'll explain what I made and how I did it.

pumpkin / jack o'lantern mini mittens

paws mini mittens

Supplies

• Felt (black and yellow for pumpkins; pink for paws)
• Beacon Fabri-Tac Permanent Adhesive
• Sharp scissors
• Mittens or gloves

Jack O'Lantern Mittens

I started out by creating paper templates, but I discovered that after I'd cut one set out of felt, it was easier to use the felt templates! For each pair you'll need:

• A triangle shape - 6 of these make up both eyes and the nose
• A tiny dot - 4 of these make the pupils, if desired
• A mouth - 2 in whatever shape you like!

eyes and nose for jack o'lantern mittens

pupils for jack o'lantern mittens

mouth template

I glued the jack o'lantern faces onto the backs of the hands. Just a very thin layer of glue is needed. Press each piece on firmly for a few seconds. If you're worried about the glue bleeding through inside the mitten or glove, you can put a piece of cardboard inside.

Paw Mittens

The paws are a little less tedious to cut out because the shapes don't need to be so precise. I simply Googled "cat paw" and found an image I liked. I drew a template based on that freehand. For each pair you'll need:

• A large oval shape - 4 of these for the large toes
• A small oval shape - 4 of these for the small toes
• A big bean shape - 2 of these for the pads

Of course, you can also get creative and make claws or other shapes! I glued these pieces onto the palms of the mittens so it'll look like the kids have paws when they're wearing them.

Did you try this craft? Let me know by sharing your photos below! I'd love to see your creations.

And if you're not crafty, you can purchase your own pair of jack o'lanterns or paws in the Marion's Mittens mini mittens shop.