So yesterday I finished the main part of my first mitten, twice. The first time, I had cut my yarn and pulled it through the stitches and was just about to start on the thumb when I thought "I should make sure it fits." Good thing, it was way too short. So I ripped it out - all the way back down to where I'd set aside stitches for the thumb - didn't want to take any chances dropping a stitch or counting wrong. You know, since I want to make one that matches. Then I started again. I knit four more rounds before I started my decreases. I was just about to cut the yarn to pull through the stitches when I thought "I should make sure it fits this time." Yeah, um, it was still too short. Now, I am following the pattern directions for the Women's size. And it's not like I've got big hands or long fingers or anything... So I started tinking back down to the row before the decreases. Then I realized that it was way, way past my bedtime. I wrote myself a note on the pattern - explicit instructions as to what I needed to do. And I went to bed.
This morning I got up, put on a video for the kiddos and set to work. Managed to get tinked back without dropping any stitches, added a few more rows before the decreases and tried again. Tried it on again (before I cut the yarn) and this time they fit!
According to the pattern (from Little Turtle Knits) I am supposed to start the decreases ten rounds after I set aside the thumb stitches. In the end I knit 17 rounds before starting the decreases. That is a HUGE difference. I'd say that my guage must be way off, but everything else is fine. Of course, saying that I must now confess that the thumb is supposed to be 14 rounds and I stopped after 12 (really getting the hang of this whole 'try it on as you go' thing...)
Here is one side of the mitten:
And the other side:
And a close up - so you can really see the color change:
I love how the colors zig and zag. Very entertaining.
And now I'm going to go cast on the second mitten. I should have enough yarn left to make it through the day (although not to finish the mitten.) Last night, the first time I was ripping back the mitten, I remembered that I got the yarn at the fabric store here in Malmo, so I won't have to go all the way to Lund to get more. This is good in that I can get more tomorrow when I pick Jenni up from the train station. But it is sad because now I do not have a compelling reason to go to the really cool yarn shop in Lund.
The sacrifices I make for my craft.
1 comment:
Yes I've found that I can't really trust LTK sizing on some of her stuff. Like the felted mocs, the body is too tall so I end up taking a row or two out. And I've only made her mittens once and had the recipient around so he could try them on. But those were the first and only mittens I've ever knit, and they were successfull because of the explicit how to do the thumb instructions. I'm going to be using that pattern to make some for me. Just in time for it to be nearly 70 degrees on Monday. Stupid NC weather.
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