Off and Running

Here's my progress so far on the first mitten. I like the picot edging, but not the fact that it's flipping up so badly. I should've knit it with smaller needles. And maybe I knit one too many rows before picking up the hem. Oh well, can't look back now. I already had to frog about 8 rows at lunch yesterday because I messed up the thumb gusset.

Dealing with all the floats is starting to get a bit tiresome, but I'm hopeful that the pattern will keep things interesting enough that I can push through to finish them on time. I'm not planning to knit at lunch today as my arms started hurting after knitting last night. Though I also did a lot of typing yesterday - stupid work - so hopefully the restful afternoon will help. I also need to remember to ice, and I might try some immersion icing tomorrow.

Finally, I'm a little concerned with stitch definition on these; I'm hoping blocking will help. However, I'm also worried that they will block larger than I need them to be. I forgot about that when making my size calculations. Hopefully I can block them longer instead of wider.

Making Adjustments

After casting on at lunch yesterday, I realized the original chart I made was going to be far too large. So, I pared it down by 4 stitches, went down a needle size and now I think they'll be spot on. Shrinking the chart forced me to move in the small snowflakes a bit, but that's ok. I also added a small snowflake at the bottom right and designed the palm chart. I originally had the small flakes on the palm a lot closer, but decided it looked too dense.

Given that my 'gauge' was off when estimating how wide to make these, I'm no longer sure of the length I have charted. I didn't want to delay starting any longer than I needed though, so I'll try to recalculate the length today and adjust on the fly. I figure I can take out the top snowflake and start the decreases at the top sooner if need be.

I cast on again last night and made some nice progress, about halfway up the deers' legs. If I can make that much progress each day, I'll definitely have these done in time. I'll try to get a WIP photo today and post tomorrow.

Finally, here's a Ravelry link to the original fornicating deer chart.

Naughty Reindeer

I decided to knit some mittens for a Christmas gift. Yeah, I know it's in like 3 1/2 weeks, and yeah, I know my last post was about laying off the knitting, I don't wanna hear it. I've been feeling better lately, these shouldn't take long and it would mean a lot to me if I could finish them on time.

What I do want to hear, is your opinion on the chart. The reindeer I didn't design, but I added all the snowflakes. At first, I had a lot larger version of the largest snowflake and it totally dominated the reindeer. (Get your mind out of the gutter.) I think it looks better the way I have it, but I'd love some second opinions. Are there too many small snowflakes? Not enough? Is it permissible to have four different types of snowflakes on one mitten? Any suggestions for a palm pattern? I'm thinking dead simple there to help speed things up. Voice your opinions, complaints or suggestions in the comments and I thank you in advance.

FO: Mom's Mitered Mittens

Pattern: Mitered Mittens (May)
Author: Elizabeth Zimmerman
Source: Knitter's Almanac
Yarn: Valley Yarns Sheffield
Needles: Knit Picks Options, size 7
Started: December 2, 2008
Finished: December 9, 2008
Modifications: Same as last time
Ravel It!

My Mom requested a pair of these after seeing my own pair knit with Noro Silk Garden, so I decided to make them part of her Christmas present. She wanted them in all black, but as you all know, Noro doesn't come in solid colors. In searching for a replacement, I took the opportunity to try something new. 

I wanted a yarn with a high silk content, but also some wool for warmth. I settled on Sheffield by Vallen Yarns from WEBS. It was the worsted weight yarn with the highest silk content they offered, although it wasn't until I placed the order that I realized that NSG is mostly silk with some wool and mohair. Sheffield is essentially a merino yarn with some silk and angora. Dissimilarity to NSG aside, it's a really nice yarn. I don't know that I'd make a sweater out of it because of the angora (too fuzzy for me) but it would definitely be luxurious.

The finished mittens turned out really well. They'll be nice and warm and they look sophisticated enough to be work with a dressier coat. Mom liked them and put them on immediately after opening the box. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos other than the blocking photos. With them being all black, I didn't want to move them around much so they would stay nice and clean.

FO: Matrix Mittens

Pattern: Matrix
Author: Kerry Palm
Source: Knitty, Winter '07
Yarn: Cascade 220 in Burnt Orange (7824) and Charcoal (8400)
Needles: ChiaoGoo bamboo DPNs size 5 & 6
Started: February 11, 2008
Finished: November 28, 2008
Photographed: November 30, 2008
Modifications: Added a pattern repeat to both sides to fit my man hands, used a tubular cast on, changed cuff to 2x2 ribbing instead of corrugated ribbing, changed thumb gusset pattern to vertical stripes.
Ravel It!

Finally finished these. I started them last winter because I couldn't take using the fingerless gloves I had at the time. I had one mitten finished, but bogged down when I realized the cuff needed to be re-worked. I followed the pattern as written, but the corrugated ribbing didn't pull in enough to suit me. Faced with the prospect of redoing the cuff, I gave up and they languished over the summer.

It took the onslaught of cold weather for me to pick them back up. I devised a plan to replace the cuff and powered through. Using a tubular cast on, I knit a replacement cuff, removed the offending piece and grafted the new part on. It was surprisingly easy and gave me the needed motivation to finish the pair. The first mitt took me 8 months to finish, the second only a week. Why do I wait so long?!

I was keenly aware of color dominance as I knit these up after discovering it on Grumperina's blog. The only problem was in the long layoff between mitts, I had forgotten which color went where. I knew I wanted the gray to be dominant, but I couldn't remember how to hold the yarns to accomplish that. Instead of looking it up, I stubbornly knit an inch or two into the pattern before realizing I was doing it wrong. You can really see it on the thumb pattern where the gray lines of stitches literally sit higher than the orange lines.

Speaking of the thumb, I made two modifications here. The pattern originally called for horizontal stripes on the thumb, which left either long floats while you knit with only one color or catching the yarn several times and you knit around. I wasn't a fan of either - and I like Elli's Herringbone Mittens - so it was an easy switch. I also made the gusset larger to suit my man hands. The only other modification I made was to add a pattern repeat to both side to better fit my hands.

Final verdict: Excellent. They keep the cold out and warm my hands up nicely. The only thing I don't like has more to do with my winter coat than the mittens. The cuffs don't play well with my coat because it has such tight cuffs. Putting them inside my coat sleeves makes for a good seal against the winter wind, but they're a bitch to get off. Outside my coat cuffs, they get stretched out and don't sit right on my hands. I need a new coat.

FO: Noro Mitered Mittens

Pattern: Mitered Mittens
Author: Elizabeth Zimmerman
Source: Knitter's Almanac
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden
Needles: Knit Picks Options, size 7
Started: September 8, 2008
Finished: September 17, 2008
Photographed: September 17, 2008
Modifications: Thumb Gusset by Grace Ivy, garter edge instead of ribbing
Ravel It!

Love these. My hands will definitely be warm this winter.

This is the second pattern I've knit from Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac and it's just as inspired as the February Baby Sweater. I swear, EZ never ceases to amaze me. I did add the thumb gusset rather than the afterthought thumb. I've knit mittens like that before and my hands just aren't built that way; The palm fabric ends up pulling like crazy.

I knit these both at the same time using magic loop - after the initial cast on. It saved me from having to count rows of the first mitten to make the second one match. I also knit the garter cuff in the round: knit to the end of the row, slip the next stitch, wrap it, return it to the left needle, turn and knit. Finally, for aesthetic reasons, I placed the thumb gusset opposite the 'seam' created by wrapping stitches in the garter cuff. That places the seam on the outside of my wrist, so even if it was a little wonky, I wouldn't have to see it.

This was my first experience with Noro Silk Garden (killer price at divaknitting.com by the way) and I came away impressed. It was soft and buttery as I was knitting with it and bloomed nicely after a good soak. I haven't worn the mittens yet, so I can't say how well the yarn will hold up. There was some vegetable matter - which I hear is the thing to expect with Noro - but I wasn't bothered a bit by it. To me, it added an extra bit of interest to the knitting process. I did find a knot in one of the skeins, but it happened to be in the portion I didn't use. I used almost a full skein per mitten and the cuff starts about three inches before my wrist.

The only thing that bothered me about the yarn was the colorway. Most of the mitered mittens knit with this yarn look different for sure, but still related since more than one of the colors usually show in both mittens. In mine, the connective colors are the black and gray, so it's not quite as obvious. But, that's more my fault than anything, I should have rewound the skeins first and chose the two that coordinated best.

The photo of the yarn also marks the first and last time I got to use my DIY light box. I used a rather large box that our patio chairs came in, figuring I could use it for larger items like sweaters. Unfortunately, that meant it was stored on the floor of the basement. After last week's heavy rains from hurricane Ike, our basement flooded and the cardboard was soaked. Oh well. It was kind of a pain to make since it was so big and this gives me the opportunity to make another.