It must be winter approaching and the impending cold, because for the last 6 months or maybe even a bit longer I have been totally unmotivated to do any knitting. Now all of a sudden I am knitting all the time. It all began with the pixie hat for a baby. Since completing that I have finished Mick's jumper that had both been hanging around since last winter as well as knitted these mitts.
And in the UK its bonfire night tonight so I will probably pop out for some fireworks and maybe a bonfire party later which these will be perfect to wear to.
Its from a 2006 Knitty online magazine. I read recently that Knitty is the longest running free online knitting magazine on the internet so if you have never been there its well worth a visit and is full of interesting designs.
Back in 2006 I did not feel I was up to knitting these so I am very happy I have actually completed them - and in time to keep my hands warm for winter. Also happy I actually bothered to download this because I seem not to get Knitty anymore unless I visit the website. Maybe I blocked it by accident? Something I should check out because I used to love getting their letters into my inbox.
Anyway something relevent here is I downloaded something that was at that time beyond my ability and just a dream, and yes its years later, but even then I am so glad I did that dreaming. So storing that paper from that download has after all been worth it - something to let my partner know when he moans about the clutter I collect!
And I am so happy how these have worked out. I doubt very much I would have found this pattern had I gone looking for it on the internet. Though I am intending to spend some time this winter trawling through the Knitty backfiles and see what else I fancy making.
The picot edging on the cast off got me a bit stressed but its actually really easy and I will use it again because it makes for a very stretchy, attractive finish. I did have to actually knit it before I understood what the pattern wanted me to do. Usually I read and understand but this is different and I found it confusing until I actually started to do what it said, and its well worth trying.
Of course you could always do a normal cast off which I nearly submitted to. In the end I decided to not cop out and just give it a go and I am so glad I tried this.
I did not block these so they are as they were knitted and possibly might look more professional if I had bothered with the blocking, but I am very happy with the final results here. And they were considerably faster to knit than expected even considering I changed needle size and yarn type from what I started with so effectively knitted the majority of the first mitt twice.
Here I did have an issue, because the original pattern is for Debbie Bliss aran yarn which is a bit expensive and at the start I really was not convinced I would actually manage to knit these so did not want to spend loads on a posh yarn. I am a loose knitter though which could explain my problems. I knitted the first mitt in cheap aran on the recommended 4mm needles and they came out too big even for my partner. Next to me his hands are BIG. It could be the different yarn but I suspect not. They were in a nice khaki colour but I had to rip them back. Just huge on me.
So I swapped to some DK that was in my stash and went down to a 3.5mm needle and otherwise just followed the pattern and they worked out the right size which is great. This new yarn was from a Pound Shop a few years ago so is in need of using since I bought it and so far its just in my yarn stash taking up space. Its also bargain basement yarn and I used less than 100g of it for these.
And its glittery!
Another thing about these, when I downloaded this a 4mm needle seemed so small so even considering using a 3.5mm was just unthinkable. How times change!
Well thats it for this week. I need a new knitting project now, though I have actually also started some sewing at last this week so hopefully soon I will have something to show that is not just knitting. After all this originally started out as a sewing blog. Still we all progress and maybe thats my latest crafting direction?
I also have some blog hopping to catch up on since I have been really busy this week or so, so I intend to pop along and see what other people have been up to the last couple of weeks.
Have a lovely week
Bracken
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