Patty's Reading Mitts

 

At the beginning of the month, I wanted to whip up a nice little thank you gift for a teacher I had been working with. I decided on a pair of fingerless mitts in an intense blue shade. I kind of underestimated the time I would need to make these, and waited until the last minute (meaning: I started Thursday and Friday was my last day working with her). Despite the last minute, these are a pretty quick project, maybe an estimated time of around 6 hours or so. 

 

Now, don't think I've started timing myself or anything. I gauge time by how many movies I have to sit through! I knit these during The Pianist and The Godfather (both lengthy movies but two of my favorites). 

I went with the smaller size of these (42 stitch cast on) because I wanted them to be snug. I also used a worsted weight yarn instead of DK. This is Ohio, after all. You want warm hands, not just kind of warm hands. I thought that the seaming of the cuff and top would be time consuming and kind of fiddly, but they went together quickly and easily. 

Overall, a fun and quick project. Perfect for last minute gifting. I was aiming to gift them on Friday but didn't make my cut off. They were a bit late.

Now I keep asking myself why I still haven't knit a pair of fingerless mitts for myself!

Pattern: Susie's Reading Mitts by Janelle Masters

Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Azul Bolita

Needles: #5 double points

Began: March 3

Completed: March 6

Ravelry Link

Totoro Mittens

Last night was the Akron Stitch 'n Bitch birthday swap. It was great fun having all the ladies together again! I finally finished one of my handmade items (I'll post on the other later this week) for my partner, Mary, in the wee hours of the afternoon. May I present, the first piece of stranded knitting produced at Life on Laffer, the ever wonderful

Totoro Mittens!

I know how much Mary loves Totoro but didn't find this pattern in her queue until a few weeks ago. Keep in mind, we've known who our partner is for about two months or so. Could I do it? Well I had to at least give it a try. I had never done any sort of stranded knitting before, not even stripes. My first mitten came out too tight on my small hands so I new they would be too tight on average sized hands. I didn't want to go up another needle size because I was afraid of having the stitches too loose and the finished mitten looking shoddy. So I consulted a knitting teacher and blogging friend, Mary. She was so wonderfully helpful! She looked up the pattern, gave me some ideas on how to increase the size and where to add extra stitches. She definitely went out of her way. Thank you so much! I couldn't have done it without you.

Eventually I got things (mostly) figured out and they came out better than I had expected. They are not quite the same size and one Totoro has a bit of a different expression than the other but Mary was very happy to receive them. I also gave her the rest of the yarn I had used to make them. Perhaps we'll see another pair of mittens form her.

Overall, for my first (and hurried) attempt at stranded knitting, I don't think it turned out so bad. I'd like to give it another try with a different pattern. I didn't really love the long floats of color since I didn't really know what to do with that yarn. I know my gauge was kind of wonky. Again, they aren't quite the same size (a sure sign of wonky gauge). I also need to practice holding my yarn for colorwork, which I'm sure will take some getting used to.

Pattern: Norwegian Totoro Mittens by Brella

Yarn: Cascade 220, colors #9325 (light blue heather) and #8505 (white)

Needles: #3 dpns for cuff, #6 circular for hand (magic loop)

Began: August 27

Finished: September 8

Ravelry Link