Holding hands in New York, New York...

We like going out for walks. And we like holding hands when we walk. And now our winter walks are finally much more comfortable.

Pattern: Valentine mittens + Owls In a Tree Mittens
Yarn: Austermann Alpaca Silk (green) and A.P.D.O.O. Alpaka (raspberry red)
Needles: 3 mm

I also happened to finish all these mittens just before we went on a family vacation to the U.S., starting in New York. How convenient! Finally some new backgrounds in my pictures! :) These (not the snowy ones) were taken just outside Rockefeller Center.

The funny thing is that I didn't think I'd find a colorchart that would have both an owl and a tree in it. You know, to match our individual mittens. But then I just decided to type it in the search field of Ravelry - just for fun! - and there it was! Amazing! But I had to re-draw and  modify it a bit to make it fit the Valentine mittens. But still. It's crazy how you can find almost everything on the internet!

Pattern: Cruiser by Caylin Meyer
Yarn:  Austermann Alpaca Silk
Needles: 3 mm

These mittens were a piece of cake. I just followed the pattern for that largest size, and that was it. The yarn is so incredibly soft with its alpaca and silk, but at the same time, they're not the warmest of mittens. Guess I'll have to make a pair of warmer ones soon.

Pattern: my own (see notes below)
Yarn: A.P.D.O.O. Alpaka
Needles: 3 mm 

My own mittens were more tricky. Yes, there's a lot of patterns for owl mittens, but none of them were made for yarn this thin. Plus, I didn't want to work purled sticthes over the whole front of the mitten. So eventuelly I ended up just winging it. I tried to write down some notes, though, in case I ever want to make these again. So here you are:

Mossy Owl Mittens:

CO 40 st and work a k2p2 rib for 5 cm. Increase 4 st after the rib.
The rest of the mitten: work moss stitch on the front side and stockinette stitch on the back side.
Knit 3 cm in moss/stockinette stitch. Then start working the owl in the middle of the right side like this: 5 st moss stitch, 12 stitches for the owl, 5 st moss stitch.

Remember to leave a gap for the thumb on the back side!!

The owl:
rows 1-5: knit
row 6: C6B C6F
rows 7-17: knit (11 rows)
row 18: C6B C6F 
row 19: knit
rows 20-23: k2, p3, k2, p3, k2 
rows 24-27: k knit
row 28: C6B C6F
rows 29-30: knit

When the owl is done, continue working the mitten in moss/stockinette stitch until it’s about 5 cm shorter than you want it to be when it’s finished. Then start decreasing on the sides of the mitten on every second row like this:

Needle 1 and 3: k1, ssk, work till the end of the needle
Needle 2 and 4: work until 3 st remain, k2tog, k1

Continue the moss stitch on the front side for as long as possible.

Sew on eyes :)

Last but not least, here's a few pictures from our trip. We started out in New York,

then headed out to Washington D.C.,

and finally ended our vacation in Florida (including Disney World Orlando on New Years Eve, yay!!)