Magazine of The Week: People's Friend

Hi Everyone and Happy Friday!! Hope you are all well. Now I know, Its Friday, and surely that should be book of the week. Well to take a break from that I am also including magazine of the week on Fridays, because I have a lot of magazines as well as books, and this way I can include a few of the lesser known magazines that include knitting patterns.

Today I am going to focus on People's Friend. Now this magazine has got a bit of an old person's stigma about it. If I say People's Friend, most people look at me like I am a bit crazy, and should get a few cats and start talking weird. But actually, they have some brilliant knitting patterns and for only 90p, you can't go wrong. The stories aren't too bad either if you get a bit bored!!!!

Normally, every week in each issue of People's Friend is a pattern or two. The first magazine I bought was for the glove pattern that I have shown below. I really enjoyed this pattern and therefore now, every week I check out the pattern. I have seen vintage cardigans, tea cosies, blankets, scarves and all sorts in the magazine and I always go to it to see what is coming up. There are also many crochet patterns if they take your fancy, and other crafts to pick up too.

I do have a pair of these gloves but the other one has gone into hiding- or maybe its more camera shy than this one!!! Look out for People's Friend and get yourself new, cheap patterns and the odd competition too.

Have a great day all!!

Cold Fingers, Warm Heart

All I am hearing about this year is Fingerless gloves. Whispers are all over Ravelry about fingerless mitts, whether they are useful or not, and whether we will wear them or they will be well recieved in stockings this christmas. Now I was a fingerless sceptic originally, my fingers are always cold, and surely they can't keep your hands warm right?
Well actually they are some of the cosiest things going, I can still type and use a till at work, I can still work the touchscreen on my phone and Ipod and of course, I can still knit. So I am a convert.
There are plenty of patterns out there for fingerless mitts. Ravelry of course is a perfect start, and here are a few of my favourite patterns.

Firstly, I have just finished my pair of Fable Fingerless Mitts. They were originally knit in soft cotton, but I have been gifted some lovely single skeins of Pure Silk, which is the softest thing that has ever existed!! For this pattern, I used a lovely Olivey green/grey colour for this season, as the colour will hopefully go with all my wintery outfits

They are plain at the moment as I have yet to add the wrist section and buttons. I have a lot of vintage mother of pearl buttons in my stash so they will hopefully be perfect for this pair of gloves.

Another pair of fingerless mitts I love is the Argentate Gloves, which have a lovely eyelet pattern. Please dont be put off if you havent done eyelets before. This type of project is perfect for trying out your lace on a small one skein project.

For a beautiful, delicate pair of fingerless gloves, I can wholly recommend Whisper. These are made with 4ply and are just beautiful. Perfect for dressing up a bit in the evening, but you still want a bit of warmth.

I also cannot resist Ysolda Teague patterns and her opera gloves are no exception. I have knit these in Black with Pink Ribbon and they are brilliant for dress up. I love them!! This picture comes from Ysolda's site because I dont have picturs of mine, but I love Teal anyway so they look brilliant!

And what is the point in blogging about fingerless gloves if you can't shamelessly plug your own fingerless mitt pattern. These Monty Mitts were designed for my little sister, and coloured for their Cat, Monty. This year she might have to have Fletcher Fingerless' for their little Pug Dog Fletcher.

Keep your hands warm this winter, and sleigh safe!