Mittenry.

There's something like 39 knitting days left until Christmas now, so until then, I'm spoken for. Nevermind that I'm trying to sneak in the odd three or four pairs of mittens for myself or that the skein of STR Mediumweight is calling my name. I'm supposed to be making presents!

Even so, sometimes that doesn't work out. Take this mitten for example:



This is a Komi mitten from Marvelous Mittens by Charlene Schurch knit using Knit Picks Palette in Rainforest Heather and Tidepool Heather. It was originally intended to be half of a pair that would be given to some lucky recipient (who still remains a mystery, even to me.) Should the mitten and I hit it off, though, well...there's always room in my wardrobe for another pair of mittens. Especially fancy teal ones with gorgeous diagonal patterning.

I polished this baby off in four short days and...I don't know if it was the colour or the pattern but...I found myself getting attached. I wasn't that surprised, really.

Here's the funny thing, though -- part of the reason why this mitt went up so quickly was because it was knit on US 2's -- 2.75mm needles. The pattern called for a gauge of 8 sts to the inch and I got (wait for it) TEN. Ten freakin' stiches to the inch on US 2's! This is the gauge i get in the same yarn on US 0's! Needless to say, while the mitten fit me without a ridiculous amount of stretching I couldn't help but think that it might be happier keeping someone else's hands warm.

Luckily, I struck a deal with Heather (whose hands are just the right size for these mittens,) mittens for her and two skeins of lovely Koigu for me, which suits me just fine.

As for that Christmas knitting, it remains (mostly) on track. These are the Gingerbread Latvian Mittens I'm making for my Nana:



That's my progress after two days of mittening. I hope to hit the finger decreases this evening.

7 comments:

Heather G. said...

When you said that this post would have a rooster, you weren't kidding!! I think this swap is a pretty awesome one, especially since the Koigu will suit you better (not that I don't love all my Koigu skeins equally ;) )

Adriana said...

Super pretty mittens!

Glad to have you back in blogland.

crafty_kat said...

I love your mittens ^_^. I admire your DPN work ^_~

robiewankenobie said...

does this mean that you'll have a pattern for the piggies soon? or a rough outline? i'm trying to recreate the pattern on my own, but am failing miserable. so cute!!!

Unraveling Sophia said...

Very beautiful!

(I've been watching daily for a post since Sept. Hooray!!)

Tenna Draper said...

Where did you get the pattern for the Gingerbread Latvian Mittens?

I love the colors you used, and would like to make a pair. I'm even thinking of going to the yarn store to buy a book on latvian mitts, just to learn the technique and maybe some yarn in some really wild colors!

Unknown said...

Tenna -- Thanks so much! The pattern is Chart 120 from Lisbeth Upitis' book Latvian Mittens. If you'd like to try your hand at them, this is definitely the definitive work to pick up.

A warning, though -- it isn't the most intuitive book to use, but it's not too bad. They say it's not the best for newcomers to the mittens, but I came to it as a Latvian mitten newbie and I turned out ok. Happy Mittening! :)