mitten mojo

taa daa - the corazon mittens are finished =)

These were so much fun to knit - and pretty quick too.

I cast on for the left on Sunday at S'n'B, and was done (except for weaving in the ends) last night, and really only worked on them on the bus (about 1hr each day)

And the zhivago is sooo soft and
(I could tell just from the 5 minutes I wore them for some pics) really warm =)


Here's the stats:
Pattern: corazon mittens (Knitty)
Yarn: Patons Zhivago in red (#4433) and black (#4438)
Needles: size 3.25mm and 3.5mm (thanks again Liv =)) dpns

Next up I have two projects up my sleeve (quite literally...):

1) I need to figure out 'what next?' with the Squirrels.

<- This is where I'm up to.
Maybe at the very top you can see the yellow stitches - they're squirrel feet =)

You can't see it in the pic, but there's also a ribbed cuff which gets folded under and sewn in - it goes up to the top of the pine trees there - so I've done about 10cm so far.

The thing (ooh, I know, there's always a thing), the thing is that I think it's knitting up kind of stiff.
But I'm not sure whether that's because I've been using the super soft, silky zhivago, or whether it's because I'm trying to weave in 3 colours as I go and it's too bulky or whether it just really is stiff.

I'm using Patons Bluebell, which is a 5ply, rather than the 4ply the pattern calls for, on 2.25mm needles, and suspect I may have to go up a needle size (and I think I could get away with a bigger needle, since the pattern is small, and may be a teeny bit snug).

So, I decided to swatch.
I pulled out just the centre bit of the pattern - only 33st by 16 rows, which should be enough since I'm more interested in how the finished fabric feels, than the actual gauge.

I knit up the 2.75mm needle swatch first, and was pretty happy with it - I think it feels less stiff (although, at this point I'm starting to think it may all just be psycological....).

Then I go to get my 2.25mm needles.
One is missing.
And there is an extra 2.75mm needle.
Oh yes, I have just knit up a lovely swatch - with one of each size of needles!!!

Tomorrow I might try the swatching again, although I think I'm more inclined to just start the second mitten with the bigger needles, and compare when I get to about the same stage.

The other thing is that the pattern uses the same size needle for both the ribbing of the cuff and the actual body of the mitten - patterns I've used before have had you switch to a bigger needle once the ribbing was finished - so it does make sense to me that you might use the 2.25mm for the cuff and then move up to 2.75mm for the rest.

2) I've decided to (and yes, this is big) make wrist warmers.


At first it was just about having a nice smallish project for my first attempt at cables.


But, seriously, wrist warmers?
No way...


I saw a pair at Sportsgirl,
and thought perhaps if they were 'in' then my more fashion concious sister might appreciate some - then I'd have some kind of excuse to knit them - but when I checked out how she felt about them it was also a 'no'.

The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to knit them.
And suddenly it occured to me that I could use the pattern I had seen but substitute in the DNA cable.

Now I even think I'll wear them!!! =)
(I think I'll use the brown 'Lima' there)

In other knitty stuff:
(ooh yes, there's more)

- Inspired by Liv's latest projects, I have bought some Sean Sheep wool for a felty project.

- The next mitteny project looks like being from S'n'B Nation.

Ahh so much yarny goodness =)

besos =)