Book Review: “Texting Mitts” by Andee Graves

My good designing friend, Andee Graves, has had her first crochet booklet published by Leisure Arts. Way to go, Andee!!! Woohoo!!! It’s always very exciting to have your first crochet booklet published and Andee has done an excellent job with her designs in this one! If you’re not familiar with  Andee’s work yet, you can read about her and follow her blog here.

Texting Mitts front cover

Texting Mitts front cover

This booklet includes patterns for 8 pairs of fingerless gloves, which are ideal for texting! I suppose you could use them for doing just about anything that involves having your fingertips free while keeping your hands warm, like talking on your cell phone, crocheting, etc. Since I’m not a big texter (I have to put my reading glasses on to read the small letters, so I don’t text every day), I’d be more likely to use these gloves for keeping my hands warm while crocheting!

These 8 patterns are very nicely designed, mostly starting from the wrist and worked to the fingers. With different stitch patterns and skill levels, there is something for everyone! There is 1 beginner pattern, 3 easy patterns, 2 easy+ patterns (Whatever that means! Perhaps it’s somewhere between easy and intermediate!) and 2 intermediate patterns. Andee has used super fine weight yarn (#1 weight on the yarn label) and a size E (3.5mm) or F (3.75mm) crochet hook for each pattern. A list of the specific yarns used in each pattern is included at the back of the book.

What I find to be very exciting and innovative in this booklet is the online videos for different stitches and techniques that are available on the Leisure Arts website for some of their booklets. Whenever there is a different/challenging stitch in this booklet, a video camera icon is printed in the booklet, letting the reader know that she/he can watch the video online for that particular stitch/technique! I LOVE that!!! If you’ve never done a Front Post double crochet, a foundation single crochet or any of the other “special stitches” in this booklet, all you have to do is watch the video for that stitch/technique that is associated with the pattern in this booklet on the Leisure Arts website and you’ll be mastering that stitch/technique in no time!!! It’s almost as good as having a crochet teacher right next to you to show you how to do these stitches/techniques! Make sure you type in the website link on the first page of this booklet to go straight to the videos for these texting mitts patterns, though. I spent a while looking around their website one day trying to find the videos and finally found them after a lot of time spent looking!

Another nice thing in this booklet is how they used different colors of print in the patterns for the stitch counts and information in each of the 3 different sizes of mitts (some of the mitts patterns include 3 sizes and others have only 1 size). This makes it much easier to find the information you need associated with the size of mitts you’re making!

I made 2 pairs of these mitts last week. Here are photos of the texting mitts I made:

My Diamond Back Texting Mitts

My Diamond Back Texting Mitts

My Seashell Texting Mitts

My Seashell Texting Mitts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lighter-colored mitts are from Andee’s Diamond Back Mitts pattern (intermediate skill level) and are made with Patons Kroy Socks yarn. The darker-colored mitts are from Andee’s Seashell Mitts pattern (easy skill level) and are made with Red Heart Stardust yarn. I had both of these yarns already, so I was able to make a small dent in my stash crocheting these mitts!!! I really enjoyed making both of them, especially since I’ve never crocheted mitts/gloves before for some strange reason! I decided to make a few modifications to the lighter-colored mitts (I couldn’t help it! It’s the designer in me! Or maybe it was my “gauge issue” rearing its “ugly head” again!). Anyway, I can still crochet while wearing these, so they’re very handy for keeping hands warm and still being able to crochet (or text or type or whatever) with your fingertips!

To see and purchase this booklet online (and see photos of all 8 of the texting mitts), visit the Leisure Arts website. This booklet is available in print or digital format.

All in all, I like Andee’s first booklet very much. The patterns are well-written and easy to follow. Well done, Andee!!! I look forward to seeing your next booklet when it comes out!

Happy crocheting,

Susan

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One Response to Book Review: “Texting Mitts” by Andee Graves

  1. Sandy Kershner says:

    I’m trying to make Twisted Cable Columns Mitts but I can’t figure out how I’m suppose to make the front post cross st. I’ve ripped it out several times and it still doesn’t look right

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