Primrose scarf and fingerless mittens set w/ flowers (sagebrush merino cashmere yarn from knitpicks)

[difang]

After about half a month of aggravation (on and off), I've finally finished this scarf/mittens set for my bf's mom. It's a late Chanukkah gift, but better late than never!

 

 

And here's how it looks when worn (by me):

 

 

I've been knitting for years but didn't truly learn to crochet til 2 months ago, when I stumbled onto the craft of amigurumi, little crocheted critters. This is my first big crochet project.

 

The hardest, most time-consuming part was figuring out where to put the flowers. Every time I got it wrong I had to unravel each flower cause I was attaching the motifs by connecting the tips and ends of each petal to the work.

 

I started off thinking maybe I'd do a fringe on either end (6 flowers each, 3 on the right side and 3 on the wrong side):

 

 

But that looked a bit strange when worn and was quite bulky since I had to double up the flowers to not have a blatant wrong side to the scarf.

 

 

So I decided in the end to spread the flowers out, two on either end, and one on each mitten:

 

 

That looked fun without being cluttered. I'm quite satisfied!

 

Well, before this post gets too long, here's the yarn/hook info and the patterns/stitches/motifs I used (I combined a couple):

 

I used the Sagebrush Capra DK Yarn from KnitPicks for this project. It's an absolutely beautiful, super soft, merino cashmere yarn, and I was lucky enough to get it during their holiday sale! This has become by far one of my favorite yarns! I love how the merino keeps projects sturdy while the cashmere makes them ridiculously soft and a joy to wear. Highly recommended!

 

 

My hook size varied from item to item and stitch to stitch. The primrose-stitch scarf body was crocheted with a 3.5 mm hook, the flowers with a 3.75 mm hook for rows 1-2 and a 3.25 mm hook for row 3 (cause that helped them lay flatter), and both the ribbing and fan-stitch on the mittens with a 3.5 mm.

 

Here is a close-up of the primrose stitch on the scarf (tutorial found here):

 

 

Here is a close-up of the fan-stitch and ribbing on the mittens (pattern for the mittens found here):

 

 

I didn't follow the pattern for the mittens exactly cause I found it made mittens that were abnormally long and tight. I made adjustments accordingly. Also, be warned, the thumb-hole instructions are poorly written. I couldn't quite follow along and had to make up my own thumb holes.

 

Finally, the flowers. These are a motif pattern found in Beyond the Square: 144 circles, hexagons, triangles, squares, and other unexpected shapes by Edie Eckman. It's a fantastic book if you're just starting out with motifs. Lots of patterns to try and once you get a couple down, you know the general gist of things and can start making your own.

 

Anyways, thanks for checking out this project and reading/skimming through my ramblings!

 

 

Happy Holidays!

 

- Di

[bgs]

WOW! You just learned 2 months ago.  That's a really beautiful set you made.   

[difang]

WOW! You just learned 2 months ago.  That's a really beautiful set you made.   

 

Thanks!  I think all the years of knitting really helped. Crochet is so much easier (and more fun, haha).

[silverbelle29]

What a beautiful set.

[magiccrochetfan]

Very pretty, the flower placement is great!

And welcome to the ville!

[cshort]

Very pretty!

[Sapphire]

I agree.  A beautiful set anyone would be proud to wear.

[randib82]

That is a beautiful set. That totally makes up for it being late. 

[katyallen815]

wow. what a gorgeous set, she will adore it!! Love the color!

[ReniC]

Beautiful! You did a fine job and your friend's mother will cherish it.

The set will come in handy when those cold temps arrive in NYC. My SIL lives there also and last night she told me there's a heat wave going on with mid-40's temps. LOL

[rainbowridergrma]

Really lovely set.  With the name, I expected them to be pink, but I prefer the mint color you used.

[howieann]

Very pretty!

[difang]

Aww thanks everyone for the sweet compliments and warm welcomes to Crochetville!

 

 

Beautiful! You did a fine job and your friend's mother will cherish it.

The set will come in handy when those cold temps arrive in NYC. My SIL lives there also and last night she told me there's a heat wave going on with mid-40's temps. LOL

 

Haha yup, the temps have been all out of whack here in NYC this winter. Hopefully we'll get more snow come January. So far, it's just been cold, dreary rain.

 

 

Really lovely set.  With the name, I expected them to be pink, but I prefer the mint color you used.

 

Thanks! And haha yeah, I didn't know what to name the set so I just went with the primary stitch I used. I chose the sagebrush color cause it was the closest to my bf's mom's favorite color, robin egg blue.