A Sophie Hood and the World's Simplest Mittens

 And maybe also, "what I did with my Christmas yarn. . ."

Sam and Carley's Christmas gift to me this year was an Advent Box from Qing Fibre x Oshen Knits. Carley shops Oshen Knits and Fibres when she's at her mom's in Astoria. The Advent Calendar was Qing Fibre yarn (Dashing DK) in a color spectrum inspired by being at the ocean in the Pacific Northwest in the wintertime. The box (which really seemed to correspond with the 12 days of Christmas, not Advent) included some little surprises as well. 

Here's the whole haul. There are stitch markers in the little blue suede envelope -- they're whales! I really loved getting such a wonderful knitting surprise!

There was also a mystery (or not) knitalong of a pattern designed for the box by Vanessa Fleming of Oshen Knits. The pattern is a cozy balaclava with a face mask, probably perfect for beach walks in the winter. But not something I could really imagine wearing much. So I went in search of something to make that seemed in the spirit of this yarn, but something I'd wear in my mostly unbeachy life. (This may in fact go to the ocean with me next time I am there. The coast in the PNW is no respecter of seasons.) 

So I chose the Sophie Hood by Petite Knitter. This yarn is lighter than the pattern suggests, but the pattern is pretty simple, and adjustments (mostly increasing to more stitches before starting the hood) were not difficult, though I'd do things a bit differently if I were to make it again. The three sizes of the hood really just reflect different lengths of the scarf part of the hood. Because I wasn't sure of how far my yarn would stretch (pretty far, it turned out), I knit one side shorter than the other. I don't recommend this particularly. 

But I like my hood. It wears nicely as a scarf as well.

I even got to wear it during my birthday celebration weekend in Seattle.

And I had enough yarn leftover to knit mittens. 

I knit The World's Simplest Mittens by Tin Can Knits. I used their Tin Can Knits App. All these things, the mitten pattern AND the app, are free. I highly recommend them -- they would be worth paying for.

There are more details on Ravelry here and here.