Good morning, knitters! I have another new design to share with you today, the Ibex Valley Mittens. This new design has been published by Interweave Knits and can be found within the pages of the Winter 2018 issue. This issue is just loaded with beautiful, rustic designs and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.
Northern Canadian prairie culture inspires these classic stranded mittens. Out in Alberta, they sow wheat in the autumn. The little plants live, vegetative, under the snow all winter long, waiting for a little warmth and moisture to coax them into mighty crops come spring. In a Cowichan-inspired, pictorial manner, stranded color work shows the tiny plants, light on dark, under the snow, then growing up above the ground toward the sun. Worked in sturdy, wooly yarn, these toasty woolen mittens are as practical as they are charming. Time-honored two-color stranded color work produces a simple, naively appealing pattern. Look inside! They’re lined in good rich red, calling to mind cozy red flannel, cold, crisp apples, falling maple leaves and glowing hearth fires.
Once again, editor Meghan Babin hit the nail on the head with her yarn selection. She wanted to continue the rustic theme throughout the issue with traditional, authentic yarns. For the Ibex Valley Mittens, she chose Jamieson SpinDrift, a yarn I remember my Grandmother knitting with when I was a child. It has a beautiful British hairiness that translates to a rough textured halo. It has a glorious toothsome quality that is just perfect for color work. The colors are honest and true. I chose a bright red, Red Currant # 572, for the lining to create the “red flannel” effect. The mittens are worked from the cuff upward. The linings are worked separately and joined with Latvian braid.
I’d like to thank Harper Point Photography for the gorgeous photography especially this one…it reminds me so much of the little church. Many thanks also to the spectacular team of people that brings us each edition of Interweave Knits. They are generous, talented, creative and clever people, each and every one and I’m grateful and honored to work with them!
