With so many people tired of winter and ready for spring I just thought I'd be contrary and celebrate the continuing cold. It helps that I just finished my mittens and look forward to wearing them a few times before the seasons change. It also helps that I keep meaning to knit a spring coat but I haven't gotten started yet. Anyway, mitten details:
Pattern: 'Mittens with bird pattern' from Knitting in the Nordic Tradition by Vibeke Lind. I found this book at the local library and there is a ton of stuff in it that I want to knit. Maybe I should start looking around for my own copy.
Yarn: Gauja (100% wool) from Headwater Wool. I used about half a skein of the black and a bit more than that of the white.
Needles: 2.25 mm DPNs for the ribbing and 2.75 mm DPNs for the rest. The pattern suggests using 3 mm needles but from past experience with this particular wool I knew that would be too loose for my liking.
Modifications: I made the ribbing longer because I wanted it to tuck well into my coat. Other than that I made the birds' tails longer and added some white to the bird on the thumb to make them look more like magpies. I also changed the pattern that runs along the edges of the mittens to accommodate my changes to the birds.
Since the black yarn made my hands look like they had been rubbing up against newspaper, I was worried that a lot of colour would come out when I washed them. The water did turn a bit dark but not nearly as much as I was expecting. I was pleasantly surprised, though I do think I will wash the remaining black yarn so that I can knit with it without changing the colour of my skin.
2 comments:
Those look fantastic Jenny! Really classy looking mittens. Just in time for our big snow storm too! I'm a big fan of winter, myself. Glad to hear there's another fan out there too. :D Enjoy your gorgeous mittens!!
What can I say Jenny; they are absolutely gorgeous! Fantastic job...and you get to wear them for a little while longer!
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