Mittens and UFOs. Oh, my!

I’ve been working on making mittens for Gabe and his folks lately (1 of 3 so far!) and as I wrote about earlier, I made a huge leap in my mitten making. I won’t go into it again in this post, but you can read about it here. Instead of trying to explain what I did, let me refer to you the indispensable Knitting Help article with videos on Knitting Increases. I used the third method down on the chart, M1R and M1L. Why I didn’t think of using this method for increasing on thumb gussets before? Anyhow, I’m using them now and that’s all that matters.

I was unable to get some good pictures to share for a few days as the lighting in the apartment hasn’t been the best, and it’s been too cold to go outside and get pictures in my favorite local park. I have some now, though! Here they are:

Mitten one and mitten two on the needles.

 

See what I mean about holes? When I stopped correcting the twist, I stopped making holes.

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In response to my attempt at making her recipe, Chocolate-Covered Katie wrote in the comments:

Oh you are TOO sweet!!
Seeing this post just made my day. Your blog is adorable!

Well, thank you, Katie! I love your blog, too! I hope I can do your recipe justice soon!

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On the original mitten post, Mittens:  A Knitter’s Journey,  TK wrote in the comments:

I love making mittens. My favorite part is the thumb gusset–I always use the M1 or lifted increase, unless I’m following a pattern with a different style of thumb. For some reason my ease is always off and my mittens are very snug. Except the thumb, which is nearly always perfect.

I see what you mean, TK! This is such an efficient and beautiful way of making increases.

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In an email to me, Jennifer R. wrote:

Thanks for updating me!  I hadn’t read your blog before and just read your latest post on mittens.  I don’t normally read text posts all the way through, but this was a very heartwarming story. 🙂  You’ve just given me such a great idea of knitting hats for charity – I just learned how to make hats and it seems like the perfect useful gift for someone!

Thank you, Jennifer R., for your kind words! It means a lot that you had such a great experience reading the post. It reminded me, as well, that I haven’t done as much charity knitting as I used to and would like to. You’ve inspired me to make that a greater part of my day!

After finishing Robert’s Scott Pilgrim hat, I had a skein of blue and brown wool left. I woke up Saturday morning and had a burst of inspiration for charity knitting! I’ll be posting a colorwork chart for baby and kid hats soon! Stay tuned!

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Did you know that February is for Finishing? As stated in the rules, I must have a complete list of UFOs (unfinished objects) by February 1. I know what I’ll be doing this afternoon. (March is for making mates for all those mittens and socks!)

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Tea-for-one pot, bone china cup, and citrus to fight off a cold with beauty and VitC

I’m nursing the cold I wrote about yesterday with ginger, thyme, lemon, and honey tea. Little things, like pretty tea-for-one pots and pretty bone china cups, make cold season more tolerable.

Pretty tea pot!

 

Gabe gave me a set of four for my birthday. He's a keeper, for sure!

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Stay warm! Enjoy your Tuesday!

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Continental Break-through.

A few days ago I posted about the life-changing event that took place at Fiberphilia and the resulting decision, namely to learn to knit using the continental style of holding the strand. I didn’t realize what this decision fully entailed until that night when I was home working on a moss stitch scarf for my brother-in-law. I found myself getting stressed, frustrated, and tired. I couldn’t keep the tension. I couldn’t get the strand to move around my pointer. I’d end up dropping the strand when dipping for a purl. I was ready to throw the knitting across the room, or shake it up and down like a frustrated 3-year-old with a teddy bear while wailing. Knitting has never ever felt like this for me before.

I tried so hard for a few days to sit and knit and those sessions always ended in walking away after 15 minutes. Not cool. I finally took a look at the knit-stitch video at Knitting Help again. That’s when the break-through occurred. I had been wrapping the strand once around my pinky and twice around my pointer. I couldn’t keep the strand moving that way. I watched the video and she showed two ways of wrapping the yarn. It was the second that dissipated my frustration. I wrapped twice around my pinky and once around my pointer and off I went! I zipped through several rows on a baby blanket like I used to with the old method. It was the most wonderful experience.

Despite the frustration that learning continental has been, it has been immensely valuable as it has encouraged me to try out other techniques and styles that I’d never considered before. It has urged me on to be a better, more skilled, more diverse knitter.