FO: Ultra Popular Mittens

 Pattern: Bella's Mittens

Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, "dove heather"

Needles: 5 mm dpns

Mods: I eliminated two sets of decreases from the cuff, after reading that others found them a bit too snug.

Notes:There is something a little strange about blogging on a project that has been done many, many times before. I studied these mittens for months before knitting them, checked out other people's FOs, the many takes on the textured palm that is more in keeping with the original mitts in the Twilight film, etc. 

Cabled mittens are without a doubt (along with colourwork and thrummed mitts), part of the holy triage of knitted mitten goodness. Subsequently, these mittens are awesome.

  But I'm going to take a moment to talk about the practicality of long mitts- they are not for someone who takes their mittens off multiple times on their commute to work. I probably take off and put on my mittens about 3 times on my way to work, and I do the same thing on the way home. I know that's a lot of mitten manipulation, but I need to get my metro pass out, show it twice, read my book or knit on the subway, etc. And then repeat all that on the way home. The long mitten needs to be tucked into the coat sleeve, which I can't do unless I put them on BEFORE I put my coat on. If I take the mitten off once I'm outside, I can't quite stuff the long cuff back into my sleeve, it bunches, I get cranky, etc. So, my advice is this- either a shorter cuff to make them more 'normal' length, or make the cuff wider and more gauntlet style to pull over your coat sleeve. Or maybe you're totally fine, and I'm the only mitten retard out there.

Never in my life have I thought about mittens in this much detail before. You've got to love the knits that teach you something, right? They would be perfect for putting on once and frolicking about, though!

Shoulda Been an FO......

Thermal is complete. So complete, I'm wearing it right now, and have had compliments heaped on me all day by my co-workers, and a woman that I did not know who is also a knitter (we had a great discussion about arm cap shaping). I feel great. Maybe a little too warm in my newly completed sweater, but great nonetheless.

Except... I don't have any photos yet. I am truly envious of my partner-in-yarn, Jen. Not only does she have a boyfriend who loves taking ultra-flattering photos of his beloved, but he's a professional photgrapher. I'll see what I can rustle up later. If I can't find anyone to play photographer (and I'm feeling a little anti-social at the moment- so I think it would be rude to call up someone to come over, take pictures of me, and then tell them to get the hell out), I'll explore the timer function on my camera! Stay tuned.

In the endless joy that is Ravelry, a new knit has just come to light: Gallery Jacket. Modelled and designed by Cirilia.

Now, this project came along at the perfect time for me. I've been wondering why I don't have any green yarn, despite the fact that green is my favourite colour. Why have I no green knits?! I was so enamoured with the pattern, that I immediately went to knitpicks.com to buy yarn for it. I decided to go for a full-blown merino, since I'm not one for angora.That isn't the yarn exactly, (knitpicks doesn't allow you to enlarge it's colour swatches online) but it gives a good idea of the colour. Now, I'm playing the waiting game, and as soon as that yarn arrives, I'll be swatching!

*Note to self: consider green when considering a future project. It is, after all, your favourite colour. It avoids that pesky problem of looking at your purple heather yarn that you got for Forecast and wondering what the hell you were thinking that day....*