This year, along with several custom orders, I received also requests from my mother to knit her some winter accessories and clothing. The first thing she asked for, was a pair of mittens. I had created a black pair for her (in fingering) about 6 years ago, but sadly, they never really left their storage drawer. So, I think you will understand me, fellow knitter, if I say that I was a bit skeptical about this request at first. On the other hand, how can you say no to your mother?
Not overly enthusiastic at first, I started searching in my Ravelry queue for mittens I would like to make, and that she would like to wear. I showed her some designs, and in the end, we decided on the Lusekofte-sque Mittens by Mary Rourke. I frogged the old mittens, created a huge ball of black fingering yarn, added a few colors more and set out to work!
The project was rather fast and easy to make – basic stranding colorwork with no more than 2 colors per round and a very nice feature: stockinette hems. Which I omitted from the upper edge (fingers), because, well, I was lazy. xD
My only minor issue with the mittens is the tension: unfortunately it is off between mittens. The reason? I used different types of needles to knit different parts and each glove – wooden dps, aluminum circulars. It turns out that I knit a lot more tightly with the aluminum circulars than with the wooden dpns. Lesson learned here: do not switch needles in the same project!
I will openly admit that even though I enjoyed making these mittens, I was eager to finish them up quickly. That’s because I dislike working with black yarn – it is a color I generally avoid and it also makes knitting difficult, since you can’t always clearly see what you are doing with it. One needs very good lighting to examine the work being done. (and that does not comply with knitting while watching movies and TV series)
The happy conclusion: my mother wore them a lot during the winter! As much as the previous pair just sat around, this pair was the exact opposite. And that, is the best reward for a knitter. 🙂
This project also brought to light, the surprising fact that my mother enjoys wearing fair isle! This really helped pick out the design for the next request, a real long-haul project, for which I will write another time. 😉
