FO: Entomology Mittens

My bug mitts are finished! According to my ravelry notes it took me a month, but it felt even faster. Super fast for me and colourwork, I guess.



Pattern: Entomology Mittens, by Adrian Bizilia

Yarn: Mystery yarn from my mom's stash, same as I used for her snail mittens last year. It's a rough, rustic, sticky single that isn't the same thickness throughout, but generally fingering/sport weight.

Notes:
I found this colourwork pattern to be very intuitive, which is one reason it went so quickly. For the palm, I didn't need to look at the chart once I'd done a few rows; for the back of the hands, I consulted the chart to make the beetles, but the little crosses on the sides happened almost automatically.



I had some wonky tension things going on, but they mostly blocked out. If you look closely, you can see that one side of the palm is neater than the other. This happened on both mittens, and I'm not sure why. My best guess is that the way the mitten hung off the needles while I was working on the second half of the palm changed my tension. Or something. Anyway, it doesn't bother me too much.

This was a really fun knit, except for the thumbs. Argh, the thumbs! I've done afterthought thumbs like these before, but I must have pushed the experience out of my mind. Unlike some, I don't really mind how the afterthought thumbs fit, but I found creating them to be incredibly fiddly. Removing the waste yarn knit into the palm and picking up the stitches at the base of the thumb was easy, but for some reason figuring out which miscellaneous loops were stitches for the top of the thumb was very difficult. I meant to scour the internet for hints after the first mitten, but then I couldn't be bothered, so blundered through the second thumb in the same manner. They turned out fine, but I didn't enjoy doing them. Does anyone out there have any tips for stress-free afterthought thumbs?

Anyway. Thumbs aside, I loved making these mittens and would totally make them again. Except I have about 10 more stranded colourwork mitten patterns in my queue/library to get started on. This winter I will have warm, cozy hands.

50% mittens: WIP

Just an update to my last WIP post:



Entomology Mittens by Adrian Bizilia



One mitten down, one to go. This one needs blocking, but I'm pretty happy with it. I adore the beetles. Since I've been plowing through these rather quickly, I think I can keep my gauge the same, but I guess I'll find out! I hope the second one turns out a similar size and shape...

Check out more WIPs at Tami's Ami's!

Making progress

The great thing about colourwork is being able to see progress with every row. Each row builds upon the previous, adding to a developing picture.



Right now, I find this progress very rewarding. I know with certainty that each line of the chart brings me closer to finishing a pair of mittens. When I finish them, I will have a tangible product representative of my efforts. (And warm hands next winter).



It's helpful to have a rewarding project on the go when other things seem like excercises in futility. I wish I could believe that each CV I distribute and each job application I submit brings me closer to getting a job, but I have yet to see the evidence. Haha. In the mean time, I have plenty of time to knit, I suppose.

Entomology Mittens by Adrian Bizilia

Check out more WIPs at Tami's Amis.

FO: Little green spring mitts

My green mitts are complete, in time to be seasonally inappropriate.



Pattern: Calculation by Natalie Selles

Yarn: Sweet Paprika Messa di Voce

Notes:
Those of you reading along may remember I only had 42 g of this yarn left, so I was worried about running out. I needn't have worried. Upon finishing, there were 11 g left. Plenty! (What did I do before I had a digital scale?) In fact, next time I would keep knitting for longer lace cuffs in order to use up even more of the yarn. This pattern is great for partial skeins and small amounts of yarn.

It's way too warm for mitts surprisingly, but I'll keep them on hand for the next coldness. Up until now the only mitts I had with me were my pink Endpaper Mitts. I'm fairly relaxed about being non-matchy, but nothing else I have is pink, whereas I have a lot of greens/blues/purples. These are in the same yarn as my Herbivore scarf, and I suspect they will be very useful if I decide I want to start being matchy.



I'm done apologizing for how inaccurate the colour is, but just another reminder - the mitts aren't actually teal. As much as I love teal and wouldn't mind if they were, of course.

Half an FO: A formerly secret knit is revealed.

I've finished the first of my Norwegian Snail Mittens by Adrian Bizilia. These were supposed to be a Christmas gift, but since I didn't finish them in time, they are no longer a secret.

This is my second stranded colourwork project ever, so I've been extra-paranoid about my tension. This first mitten is still unblocked, but I'm crossing my fingers that the crumply bits will even out.



It looked like the mitten would turn out too long, and I wanted to make it a bit less pointy, so I modified the chart a bit, and started the decreases more gradually. Not clear if this was a good decision, but it seems okay and I'm sticking with it. Plus, I did a different cuff because I just wasn't feeling those welts that are in the original. And I don't have a third colour for accent, but if I find one by the time I finish the second mitten I'll get on with the duplicate stitch. So far so good. I adore the snails.

The Entomology Mittens are next on my colourwork list. I have so much love for the quirky motifs in helloyarn mittens!

Even though I still have to knit the other mitten, I feel a sense of accomplishment seeing the first one finished. Now to avoid second-mitten-syndrome. Casting on momentarily.