Kristin's Suzani Mittens in Fall 2008 Vogue Knitting

Last winter I got a call from the editors at Vogue Knitting asking me if I would do a pair of "Over the Top" Kristin Mittens for the Fall 2008 issue. I agreed and then let my mind wander. The only requirement was for them to have a long cuff. I drew up about ten different mitten ideas and then Trisha picked which she like best.


Going from a sketch to a finished mitten takes a leap of faith. Sometimes when I am drawing, I'm not really thinking about how I will carry out a design. Turning the sketch into the finished object is different than making visual art with pen, paper and paint. It's actually a lot harder for me and way more time consuming than painting. I have to take in the constraints of the yarn, the gauge, the pattern stitches and repeats, and the fabric I create. It really makes me think hard and I often sit on the daybed in my kitchen wondering how I am going to turn the chosen sketch into a physical knitted object. I also have to keep in mind how normal knitters are going to like making a project and how I am going to write the instructions and size the project. It is a great big juggling act. Designing a pair of mittens takes almost as long as designing an entire sweater.

I gave my Vogue Knit mitts the codename "Suzani Mittens." I've had a thing for Suzani embroidery for a very long time. I discovered this type of embroidery shearly by accident 15 years ago when I purchased an embroidered cloth at a flea market. I fell in love with the colors of the cloth and the crazy embroidery stitches. The cloth was well worn - there were small patches done with handstitching all over it. I like to think I ended up with someone's discarded family heirloom. I know it is going to be one of our family heirlooms! Here's a close-up of the piece:

(It seems the the rest of the design world caught up with me a few years ago. You can find Suzani derived designs throughout the interior decorating world...... Look here for some suzani styled knock-offs.)

I wanted to make the actual knitting of the project rather easy - and that it is. The mittens have a pointed border and are mostly worked in stockinette stitch. At the wrist, I added a chartreuse garter and eyelet stripe for the pom poms to thread through. Here's a photo I took of them before I shipped them off to NYC.

I wanted to combine some colors that I usually don't work with together. I chose my beautiful Geranium Color from the Julia line of yarn as the base. I started playing around with ideas for the floral colors and actually decided on colors that aren't typical flower colors at all - Blue Thyme and Lady's Mantle. For my dark contrast, I chose Espresso.

After knitting the mittens is when the fun really begins. I decorated the mittens with three embroidery stitches - chain stitch, lazy daisy, and french knots. These are three stitches that I love to use on handknits and you can find many other ideas for embroidering on knits in my book Kristin Knits.

I stopped knitting at the top of the mitten before the top shaping, slipping the open stitches on a scrap of thread. This makes it easy to slip your hand into both the top and the bottom openings of the mittens, therefore making embroidering easier.

Here's a detail shot of the cuff swirl pattern. To stitch this, I used a double strand of yarn - one strand each of the Lady's Mantle and Espresso and worked the swirls in chain stitch.

Here's the detail of the flowers and vines. First I stitched the swirly vine up the center of the mitten using the Espresso color double stranded. Using a double strand of Blue Thyme, I worked the outer open circular shape of the flower in chain stitch. Using a double strand of Lady's Mantle, I filled the center of the flowers with french knots. To finish it all off, I stitched lazy daisy leaves up the vine using a double strand of Lady's Mantle/Espresso to match the cuff swirl pattern.

Working the embroidery is always a leap of faith, even for me. It's similar to drawing a picture -- starting with a blank canvas and then building the design with the yarn. I always doubt myself the beginning of each embroidery project. As I keep adding to it, the design starts to become something. An excitement builds and I can't wait to finish. Of course, it's always a struggle to finish the second in the pair but with a deadline looming, it happens!

I've had to hold back on talking about this knitting project until now. It was all I could do because I was very happy with the way the mittens came out. I knew the girls at VK loved them too. When they love them, it guarantees a good picture. I love the fun, fashion shot they took and the coat they found to accessorize the mittens with.

All in all, I couldn't be happier. I hope lots of you will knit them this coming Fall season. Don't be timid - the embroidery isn't that hard! The hardest part for you non-embroiderers may be just deciding to do it.