Just in time for the snow ....

Woohoo!! Just in time for the snow, I've finished the mittens from "Magnificent Mittens" by Anna Zilboorg. They are still a bit damp, but I'm hoping they will be completely dry by tomorrow morning so I can wear them to work.

If you recall the photo I posted earlier of the first finished mitten, you'll notice that the cuff is different in this photo. Following the pattern in its entirety, using the alpaca, resulted in a cuff that was just too big and floopy (for lack of a better word). The alpaca is too drapey for what I wanted so I modified the pattern a bit. I went down a needle size to give a firmer fabric, and completed 2 less rounds of each color band. The length of the cuff is now just right to cover the cuff of my coat and keep out drafts. Also, originally I had done a fringed border on the first one, but ran out of yarn and couldn't complete that border for the second. I chose to use a knit-on i-cord border instead.

I really like the technique used to knit these. They are knit from the tip down to the cuff. A bit like toe up socks. The cast on and first several rows are a bit fiddly if you don't have very short dpns, but with some practice it becomes comfortable. I see myself making more of the mittens from this book, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys colorwork and fanciful mittens.



Pattern: Large-Patterned Mitten #15, "Magnificent Mittens" by Anna Zilboorg
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Worsted
Started: Novemberish 2006
Finished: 1/19/2007

I've also done some work on Fembot and Sheldon over the past few days. The project I've shied away from is the U-neck Fair Isle sweater. Sure I've woven in a few ends, but there is no real progress on the thing. This has to stop! I've vowed not to touch anything else today until every one of those gazillion and one ends is woven in and the sweater is blocking. If I put my mind to it and give it my all (instead of finding other things to occupy my time so I don't have to look at it), I should be able to finish up Fembot today too.