Remember how Jamie said that I wouldn't get the mittens done before winter was over? Well, he added a few more stipulations to that statement. He said that in order for me to prove him wrong, I had to either finish the Fiddleheads before March 21, or before the last day of sub-zero temperatures, which ever came first.
Annoyed with his increasing number of stipulations, I decided to silence all doubt by finishing the mitts.
The alpaca lining is lovely, and the next time I see Denny at Lettuce Knit I will have to thank her for her suggestion. It really is like a little bit of luxury next to my skin. I wore them today to work, and my hands were the warmest they'd been in a while.
Now I just need to figure out how to shove the bottoms of the mittens into my coat sleeves while wearing said mittens. If I could do that, I'd be all set. Either that, or learn to do up zippers while wearing mitts.
I've been working on my new Fiddlehead Mittens in the hopes of finishing them before the winter is over. It's been going faster than I thought. However, I'm getting the feeling that I'm not really very good at picking colours. Here's why.
While I love the look of the dark purple against the grey-ish brown, I'm not so sure about that lavender. Granted, the photo makes it look lighter than it reality. Looking at it sitting next to my laptop, I am able to see the swirly motif quite nicely, so I guess it's not too bad.
I was considering frogging the lavender part and just stick with just the dark purple and grey-brown, but as I write this post and keep looking at the mitten itself, I think I'm going to keep plugging away at it. For the second mitten, I'm considering using magic loop; not totally sure yet though.
Well, after wearing my Bird in Hand mittens for a couple of weeks, I am announcing that I am now officially a Mitten Convert. These are the warmest things ever! We've had several days of absolutely frigid weather (when even my apartment gets cold, that means it's REALLY cold outside), and while my toes felt like they were about to fall off my fingers were pretty much always toasty warm (of course they were in my pockets most of the time, but still). Stranded worsted weight alpaca knit on itty-bitty needles = knitted fabric that is impervious to cold. It's like magic!
So now I need to plan for the next pair of mittens! I think I'm pretty much done with the winter accessories for this winter, but there is always next year and beyond. These Fiddlehead Mittens look very yummy (Ravelry link). The kit itself will probably be impossible to obtain, but this version knit using Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light (sport weight version of the Ultra Alpaca used to knit the Bird in Hand mitts) and Kidsilk Haze for the lining looks particularly cozy (Ravelry). Time to put it in the queue!
The Bird in Hand Mittens are done!
Pattern: Bird in Hand mittens, by Kate Gilbert
Size: I knit the smallest size (8 inches), on US1 needles
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca, colours 6294 (teal) and 6205 (brown)
Modifications: Cuff modifications by Alice at Kathryn Ivy
As you can see, I tried my very best to block out the left mitten (on the right in the photo) to the size of the right mitten (on the left). It's still a wee bit smaller, but much better than before.
Here is the birdie on the right thumb:
And the left thumb:
Do you think they actually look like birds? I redid the embroidery over and over again, but it never looked quite right, especially the little birdie legs. I really need to get better with the sewing somehow.
I wore the mittens today, and they feel sort of big (I think the hands are ok, but my wrists are much smaller than the mittens are). As though they'd fall off if it weren't for the thumbs holding them on my hands. Maybe I just need to get used to them? I'll wear them for the rest of the week and see how I feel about them. The alpaca seems pretty warm, though. And fuzzy. =)
I'm not sure that I'm a huge fan of Fair Isle knitting. I've done quite a bit of it lately (my mom's Christmas sweater, the too-large Cheesylove hat, now these Bird in Hand mittens), and I must admit that I'm getting a little tired of it. It's not hard with two colours, but all the stopping to pick up strands (I suppose I could learn to do it with one colour in each hand but that would require work and practice) and all the staring at the pattern and counting stitches is starting to drive me a bit mad.
I've finished both hands and am now starting to work on the thumbs. This should be the climax, where I finally get to make the little birdies, but I just want them to be finished already! It is also even harder to knit fair isle in the round on 22 stitches.
Notice that the right hand (on the right) is noticeably longer than the left hand. I knit the latter first, and got worried that I was knitting too tightly, so loosened up a bit for the second hand. I like the looser tension better, but now I have uneven mittens. Do you think that my right hand could be bigger than my left? I mean, the fingers on the right hand are slightly thicker....maybe I can block them out to be the same size, but I sort of doubt it will work.
On another note, here are my two favourite vices sitting next to me. Chocolate (peanut M&Ms, which I have been craving all day long) and yarn (Patternworks catalog). I've decided to abstain from the yarn shopping this year, which means I can't order any of the Koigu that they've got on sale (but you can! Koigu for $11.99 a skein!). But I'm still free to get fat eating chocolate. Hmm, maybe I picked the wrong thing to give up. =)
I haven't really been blogging, but I HAVE been knitting. Random things here and there. I knit a bit on my mom's Ab Fab throw (no photo, too lazy). I knit a single sock (photos when I finish both socks. Am I a horrible blogger or what?). I knit some mitred squares (STILL to be blogged, see delinquent blogger, above). I started some mittens.
These are the Bird in Hand mittens by Kate Gilbert (did you know that there is a town called Bird in Hand in Pennsylvania? Thanks Google!). I don't know what's gotten into me, I don't even WEAR mittens. And yet here I am knitting fiddly fair isle mittens in worsted weight yarn (Berroco Ultra Alpaca) on US1 dpns. I'm clearly going mad (but I learned how to knit a picot cuff! It's so adorable! Also, fiddly!).
I'm incorporating the modifications to the pattern made by Alice of Kathryn Ivy, because I like her version of the cuffs better than the original. Hopefully I will be able to finish the pair without falling prey to Second Mitten Syndrome. Or something like that. =)
Edited to add: Oh wait, I DO have a photo of the Ab Fab throw in its very very early stages. Here it is. Fun with pink mohair!
