Mosaic collar or neckband?

I have been knitting, just not writing about it, for the last couple of weeks. Now I'm back and working out a Mosaic Top Down Vest workshop to present to my knitting guild in 2 weeks.

I started out being too ambitious as usual. I thought of working a Mosaic collar on a Top Down V-neck baby vest. It's all doable but not for the time allowed for the class. The Mosaic pattern is 18 rows deep and then there are rows to knit so the collar can flip over nicely. Way too much time would be spent on the collar and not enough time on the rest of the Top Down garment. I really like how it looks though. Might be worth writing up as a pattern?

Back to the drawing board. 

I've decided a Neckband for a V-neck vest would be much more practical for the Mosaic portion of the class. Only 10 rows are involved in this mosaic pattern. That's manageable. Everyone will still learn how to read a mosaic chart which does take some practice.

I'm calling this pattern "little boxes". One box is solid and the box beside it has a centre dot. At one point you have to slip 3 sts which is good training for mosaic knitting. It's all about the slips.

Now onto the V-neck portion of the garment.
-Deb

First Gauge-Free workshop

Even though it's looking like spring here, I did a workshop yesterday on mittens. But not just any mitten. We worked on mittens from a different perspective.

Have you inherited yarn? Did all of it have labels to tell you what it was and the suggested gauge? No? What do you make with mystery yarn?

You can make mittens without knowing the gauge at all. Not once during the knitting of these mittens does gauge come into play. This was my first run through of this idea and look at the lovely little sample mittens the knitters at the Beacock Library made.

They learned that you can make a mitten in any size with any yarn. Do they look happy with their mittens?

Had a whole lot of fun. Thanks knitters in London, ON.
-Deb