Olivenhain Fingerless Mitts
Summer is a fantastic time to knit small projects with stunning stitch work. The new Olivenhain Fingerless Mitts, in Valley Yarns Huntington by Irina Anikeeva are just that! A gorgeous combination of yarn, color and a spectacular, leafy cable and lace panel.
These mitts are knit from the bottom up, with stockinette stitch at the palm for a bit of break on your hands and brain as you knit. The flowing leaf and lace cables twine their way up the backs of these mitts to your fingertips, and seamlessly blend with the ribbing bands at top and bottom. Whether you knit these to stay cozy and warm at the office, for a peek of stunning pattern work and color peeking out of your coat this Autumn, or as a gift for someone who will treasure your work, you’ll enjoy the whole process of knitting the Olivenhain Fingerless Mitts.
We asked Irina to tell us a bit about herself and her work.
When did you learn to knit?
I was probably 6 or 7 at that time. I grew up in Russia with my Mom who knit and sewed for a living. Knowing my Mom didn’t have much time to make anything else, I asked her to teach me.
Well, it was quite natural for me. As many other Russian crafters, driven by necessity, I have never used patterns as a rule, more like an inspiration. When I had a knitted garment in mind, I have immediately started to sketch, looking for stitch patterns, yarn, etc. and I was never thinking about it as a designing process per se. But when I have discovered Ravelry (awfully late, just 3 years ago!), I was so impressed with the work of independent designers so I have decided to come and see if my work would be interesting for knitters and I was pleasantly surprised by their reaction.
Oh, everything around me is an inspiration! Nature, architecture, literature, movies. Once you tune your mind to be open this way, you are just fascinated to see how the ideas are triggered by everyday world that surrounds us.
Once I challenged myself to knit a whole sweater on size 1 mm needles. I just desperately wanted one. It took some time and effort but I did like it so much!
The Olivenhain Fingerless Mitts I have designed are made with beautiful Valley Yarns Huntington. It is a fingering-weight yarn, softest and nicest to work with merino/nylon blend, which makes it great yarn not only for socks, but for mittens, shawls, even lightweight summer tops. It has an incredible color range and it’s machine washable which makes it a excellent yarn for baby projects, too.
Irina is right, Huntington is a great choice for baby and easy care knit and crochet projects! With it’s superwash and nylon blend it is not only completely washable, but durable as well, for handknits that will last for years. With an array of 24 rich, solid colors to choose from this yarn is the ideal choice for finer gauge knits, both for textured stitch details and colorwork. This is a wonderful chance to try this yarn! With just 2 skeins and the pattern you’ve got a project that costs less than $15.00!
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Tags: Huntington, Irina Anikeeva, NEW valley Yarns Patterns, Olivenhain Fingerless Mitts, Valley Yarns, Valley Yarns Huntington, Valley Yarns Patterns
