Jan 7th, 2009
My final FO of 2008
So here’s what I’ve done with the yarn I won at Knitters’ Day Out 2008. (Some of it, at least. There is a lot of it.)
After knitting the We Call Them Pirates hat last summer, I was eager to try my hand at more Fair Isle, and the Squirrel and Oak mittens had long been on my to-knit list. (Like the pirate hat, this pattern is a freebie from Hello Yarn. This site is where I also found the hat that inspired the Totoro hat I made for Jan’s Halloween costume.)
I really wanted to make mittens for Sylvia, and I figured that subbing fingering-weight yarn for the sportweight called for in the pattern ought to yield something the right size for a three-year-old, as long as I chose the correct needle size. That seems logical, right?
So last September I picked up my #1.5 DPNs and knit away. The result was too small (just barely) for her hand.
So then I moved up to #3 needles and knit another one right away. This time I used the purple yarn for the dark spots on the chart and the green yarn for the light spots. (I had reversed them the first time around and ended up getting confused every once in a while, which required some tinking here and there.)
This time I ended up with a mitten that was too large. D’oh!
After putting this project aside for a couple of months, I decided on December 20 that I really wanted to get them done by Christmas. So I tried again, this time with #2 needles.
And it worked! The mitten fit perfectly (with “perfectly” being defined as “there’s just enough extra room to insure that she won’t outgrow them this winter”). After trying on this mitten, Sylvia was so happy with it that she wore it (yes, just the one) around the house for half an hour.
I finished the second one after Sylvia went to bed on Christmas night. I am thrilled with how they turned out.
I love this yarn. Linda at Bearlin Acres grows, spins, and dyes some mighty fine fiber. If you have a chance to throw some on your needles, go for it. This stuff didn’t split or snag or anything, and it flowed wonderfully as I knit.
I love this pattern, too. It’s very well written, and the result is something worthy of a post on Cute Overload.
See the fuzz on the palms? That’s the result of some post-Christmas snowman building. Sylvia loves her new mittens. That’s the best part of all.
10 Responses to “My final FO of 2008”
Yay!!! And I suppose you could knit a 2nd of the “too big” mitten and be set for next winter.
Very Cool!
I can’t believe you ended up knitting 3 sizes of mittens…! Purple is my favorite, and lime green is a close second. And how good you are to knit something your 3-year-old loves!
All versions turned out adorable! Third time is the charm. Must have been so satisfying seeing Sylvia run around with just the one one.
those are really great. I knitted three Fetchings in purple.
Lovely! And that she wears them? Even better!
They’re even better in person!
They are the cutest darn mittens I’ve ever seen.
so…what do you plan to do with the extra 2 mittens? :) do they still exist? (it looks like your photos were all taken at the same time.)
LOVE the finished product, though. and that’s so cool that Sylvia ran around with just one on. it’s so satisfying when you see someone seriously enjoy something you put so much work into. especially children, who can sometimes be finnicky! :)
Very, Very nice. I’m very impressed by the speed of mitten knitting! I wish I could teach the sheep to knit. THey seem to have plenty of time to laze about in the pasture and chew their cud. Beautiful job!
Those are great! And bravo to you for the patience to stick with this when it started to go awry.