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Fingerless mittens
Originally uploaded by thomasina.

I finished these. A long time ago. No, I don't want my sister's hands to freeze!

One down...

Fingerless Mittens #4
Originally uploaded by thomasina.

...you know the rest. My sister tried it on and it fit, so it was safe to weave in the ends - my experience on the last pair was certainly a demotivator to finish up while going. I'm also working on some SP things, aka things that must not be named, so that is slowing down the side bar progress. The Kitty Pi is almost done (or at least almost out of yarn, which comes to the same thing).

Mock Cable closeup

Mock Cable closeup
Originally uploaded by thomasina.

As a combo knitter, I'm so used to reversing everything that I do it even when I don't have to. For the River Run on the right, I went straightaway to knit through the back loop on the knit two together. I realized immediately that this wasn't what the mock cable really called for, but decided to go with it anyway. I really like the sudden transition of the twisted stitches in the reversed mock cable. The Potluck Water on the right is done "by the book," which leads to a much smoother cable.

Mittens are my socks

Fingerless mittens 4
Originally uploaded by thomasina.

I've been boycotting socks, due in large part to their allegedly addictive nature. (The other part is rebellion against the fact that both work and climate require wearing socks and real shoes).

But. Let's see. DPNs, fingering weight yarn, pair of objects... 4th pair... not really much different. Sigh. I'm betting turning heels is easier than putting on thumbs, too. How long can I maintain this resistance?

This set is for my sister; she chose the yarn. Cherry Tree Hill in Water potluck. So. Pretty.

Kali on the needles

Fingerless mittens 3
Originally uploaded by thomasina.

Work has been getting most of my energy lately, so I've been doing "comfort knitting," patterns that I've done many times before - fingerless mittens and cat beds. There are a couple of new twists (literally) to the fingerless mittens, though. I've added some length and (reversed) mock cables to the gloves, along with some added purls and decreases to accomodate the length. I also wanted a bit larger glove, and tried the "medium-large" size (shown on right). I was even inspired to put on the thumb and weave in all the ends! I just kept ignoring the feeling that the gloves were really only suited for a giantess. It was only when starting the other glove that I finally admitted to myself that it wasn't going to work, and I didn't want to throw good knitting after bad. So I did the "small-medium" for the second glove. This fits my sister, who has medium-large hands... my gauge has drifted just a bit over pattern (10%). So if I want to make more gloves for myself, I'll need to go down a needle size.

This is really the first project I've had to frog due to size issues - the Fibonacci Windy City Scarf was more an aesthetic issue. The cable section was the same on both gloves (I just decreased at the stockinette portion for the second glove). I used some of the nice contrasting brick Cherry Tree Hill and a tapestry needle to pick up the first stockinette row. Then I had to search and search for the woven in end, dig it out and start frogging. I didn't think I could recover much from the thumb, so I hacked away at the top with the thread cutter (which really inspired the Kali up top - thread bits flying everywhere); even so the thumb was difficult to remove. I tinked back the last row of stockinette, to get the decreases in the first row, and I was good to go. There was enough extra yarn from frogging and reknitting to put on both thumbs, with plenty left over.

Final result:

W00t!

Fingerless mittens
Originally uploaded by thomasina.

Fingerless mittens, ends woven in, check! Ironically, it is the gloves that photograph well in any light that are getting the nice morning sunlight. This completes the clearing of the sidebar; now to plan out upcoming projects. And, we present the recursive fingerless mittens photograph:

Matching mittens

Fingerless mittens #2
Originally uploaded by thomasina.

The Highland Triangle shawl edging took 1 skein and a little bit, so I was left with tons and tons of Cherry Tree Hill in brick. What to do, what to do? Fingerless mittens, of course! This doesn't really come through in the photos, but the strand of Madil Kid Seta in "dead pumpkin" makes the gloves just glow - a warm, coppery color.

I still have 2.4 ounces of the CTH, over 250 yards, so perhaps a matching tam, also?

Done like dinner!

Finished Fingerless Gloves
Originally uploaded by thomasina.

I'm obviously most excited about the items I'm working on, but I do have a few finished items to share. The fingerless gloves are the third item I cast on for (after the Fibonacci Windy City Scarf and the first DNA scarf), and my first project in the round. These were knit on size 4 DPNs with Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in River Run held together with Madil Kid Seta, from a free pattern by Borealis Yarns. I did the first glove backwards (the yarn was on the far DPNs), so there was a lot of purling involved (fortunately wasn't too bad knitting combo style). I also learned how to m1, short rows at the top, and just learned how to pick up stitches. The first glove took months, so I was dreading the second one - but I must have gotten better, since it only took a weekend! They were then stalled at the thumbs, but I learned how to pick up stitches last week, so I practiced on these before tackling the Highland Shawl. The first thumb had some holes at the top, which I was able to fix when weaving in the ends, and the second turned out perfectly. I like the way these turned out, and am looking forward to using the second half of the yarn to make a matching feather and fan scarf.

Almost FO #2

Fingerless mittens
Originally uploaded by thomasina.

The not-quite-completed fingerless mitten now has a twin. It is ready to be bound off, then both will be to the point of needing thumbs. Not doing the thumb seemed like a good trick at the time to get me to start the other one, theory being that it wouldn't seem finished enough to make me think I was done. The downside is that I don't really feel motivated to put thumbs on either at the moment. Perhaps I should just accept cold thumbs?

Other down point - my gauge has changed (loosened) as I've gained experience. I probably should have gone down to size 3s, but didn't have any, and I was on a roll. I've been told that the gloves stretch with wearing in any case, and that the right one will likely match the left after a little bit of wear.

The other half of the Cherry Tree Hill will be used to knit a feather and fan scarf, a free pattern from Borealis Yarns.

Picking up the fingerless mittens

Picking up the fingerless mittens
Originally uploaded by thomasina.

I'm really goal oriented, and obviously obsessive about finishing the cables on the DNA scarf. But now that I've reached the ribbing, it is like a pause for breath -- and I've done 10 more rows on the fingerless mittens (up to the point in the pattern I no longer have the equipment for, or even necessarily understand).

This falls under the category "learning experience" because I'm knitting on the back end of the double pointed needles. Or since this is stockinette by this point, I should say purling. Since I am knitting combination style, this is not as much of a problem, except for increased opportunities to stick myself with the DPNs. Because it literally took me about 10 trys to start the k1 p1 ribbing on the DPNs, I am just happy that it worked at all.

Knit with 5 #4 DPNs, using Cherry Tree Hill River Run colorway held together with Madil Kid Seta 832. Fingerless Mitten pattern free from Borealis Yarns with yarn purchase.