What’s that you say? It's too hot to knit with wool at this time of year? Nonsense! Summer lasted only 2 days this year, and it was only 50 degrees Fahrenheit when I biked in this morning—practically mitten weather already! And if you don't live in frigid Seattle, remember that it's never too early to start making Crystalhue gifts... such as Mammoth Mitts!
These mittens feature a mammoth motif1, spiraled ribbing and decreases, and colors that echo the Realm of the Mammoth Lords art from the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting. (Players who knit their mittens from qiviut earn 1 PA. Players who gather their own qiviut gain a bonus PA, but must make a DC 25 Reflex save to avoid being trampled.)
Mammoth Mitts
Materials: worsted weight yarn: 1 skein MC (moorit/red-brown), 1 skein CC1 (cream), 1 skein CC2 (purple); 1 yard of thinner black yarn
1 set US 4/3.5mm double-point needles, embroidery needle
Gauge: 24 sts/29 rows = 4 inches/10 cm
Directions for larger size are in brackets.
Directions:
Using MC, cast on 36 [44] sts.
Right cuff (ribbing spirals to the left):
Rows 1–2: (k2, p2)*
Rows 3–4: (p1, k2, p1)*
Rows 5–6: (p2, k2)*
Rows 7–8: (k1, p2, k1)*
Repeat these rows until cuff is desired length.
Left cuff (ribbing spirals to the right):
Rows 1–2: (k2, p2)*
Rows 3–4: (k1, p2, k1)* (p1, k2, p1)*
Rows 5–6: (p2, k2)*
Rows 7–8: (p1, k2, p1)*
Repeat these rows until the left cuff is the same length as the right cuff.
Mitten body2:
Rows 1–4: Knit (36 stitches).
Row 5: Place marker, make 1, knit 1, make 1, place marker, knit to end (38 [46] stitches).
Even rows 6–18: Knit.
Odd rows 7–19: Slip marker, make 1, knit to marker, make 1, slip marker.
Continue until mitten has 52 [64] stitches.
Rows 20–26: Knit. (Knitting should reach just above the join of your thumb and index finger when you put your hand inside.)
Slip the 16 [20] thumb stitches onto a piece of waste yarn.
M2 stitches, join the live stitches (38 [46] stitches).
Rows 27–29: Knit 3 rows.
Work Chart A [B] (2 repeats per row).
Rows 40–53: Resume MC; knit. (When you put your hand inside, knitting should just cover your pinkie, about 5.5 [6] inches from base of palm.)
Thumb:
Pick up the 16 [20] stitches, plus 2 more from around top of thumb.
Rows 1–16: Knit. (Until just past the end of your thumb, about 2 [2.5] inches.)
Row 17: K2tog*.
Bind off.
Finishing:
Weave in all ends.
Using thin black yarn, embroider the eye and tusk details (feel free to go crazy making your mammoth look shaggy!).
Chart A (19 stitches × 11 rows):
Chart B (13 stitches × 11 rows):
1. The motif used in this pattern is based on a motif used in Kathleen Tayor's "Elephant Hats".
2. Row numbers will be a bit higher on the mitten body for the larger size, since it has more increase rows. I've included notes about fit, so you can gauge more precisely how to adjust the pattern to your own (or your recipient's) hands.
Belive it or not there are at least two players in the New York PFS games where this will come very handy.
Also, when I saw the blog title I remembered a certain old lady from Riddleport's St. Caspian's (Pathfinder 13) that had rather large meat hooks for hands. (courtesy of Tim Hitchcock that rube)
Sorry, no. What you have there is clearly an African elephant, not a mammoth of any sort.
Mammoths have a distictive shoulder hump and ears smaller in proportion to their heads than even an Indian elephant, let alone an African.
Even within the limitations of a low resolution knitting pattern, it should be possible to alter the image to more closely resemble the animal you want.
That's irrelephant, honestly - I'm sure that if Paizo readers would get around to knitting one, those who would survive the ordeal would come up with something more akin to an otyugh or aboleth as result.
That's irrelephant, honestly - I'm sure that if Paizo readers would get around to knitting one, those who would survive the ordeal would come up with something more akin to an otyugh or aboleth as result.
Ha! You may be right. I'm pretty sure anything I attempted would not even be easily recognizable as a mitten. :)
Even within the limitations of a low resolution knitting pattern, it should be possible to alter the image to more closely resemble the animal you want.
Heh, I admit that when I wrote this up yesterday morning I was a bit more concerned about shaping and coherent stitch counts than species differentiation. I can maybe try tweaking it more tonight; if anyone else wants to give it a shot and turns out a good result, I'll totally credit you when I post the pattern on Ravelry (and maybe use your motif when I'm knitting mine up to bring to Gen Con)!
Requirements: Chart A: mammoth itself can be at most 18 x 9 pixels, (MAYBE 18 x 10), to give space for borders and between repeats; Chart B: mammoth can be at most 22 x 9 (or 10) pixels.
I've got no clue how to post an image here, but I've edited one of the JPEG grids above to bulk out the neck and shoulders (just filling in four squares), resize the ear and make the tusks more...well, mammoth.
The result is still 9 x 13 squares, same size as the original.
just be careful taking them to Alabama, parts might fall off.
Why?
** spoiler omitted **
My soul hurts now. Ow. Ow. Ow.
Do you know how often I get to use that Marx Brothers line?
Spoiler:
Was on the helpskill once and got a call asking if a malaria shot for a trip to Africa was covered. I got to do most all of the Captain Spaulding routine while researching it.
Me: I was on a safari in Africa once.
CSR: Really?
Me: Yes, woke up one morning and shot an elephant in my Pajamas. How he got in my pajamas I'll never know.
CSR: Huh?
But now a days, fart jokes and profanity are considered high comedy.
Jason Nelson(RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Contributor)
Matthew Morris wrote:
Jason Nelson wrote:
Matthew Morris wrote:
just be careful taking them to Alabama, parts might fall off.
Why?
** spoiler omitted **
My soul hurts now. Ow. Ow. Ow.
Do you know how often I get to use that Marx Brothers line?
** spoiler omitted **
But now a days, fart jokes and profanity are considered high comedy.
After being derailed by a number of other projects, I've finally finished my Mammoth Mitts!
The brown sections are merino worsted worked in two-stranded knitting both for extra warmth and to keep the thickness consistent with the patterned band.
In the patterned band, the cream yarn is handspun cormo and the brown handspun merino (some of which inexplicably got purple... something carded in with it before spinning).
I'm not great at embroidery, so some of the tusks turned out better than others. But overall, I'm pleased!
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