All progress on my CPH has stopped while I knit these:
(The pattern is Fiddlehead Mittens by Adrian Bizilia of Hello Yarn.)
Peter had been complaining that he's never had a pair of mittens or gloves that have kept his hands warm. Well, to a knitter, that is a challenge. (And I have a sneaking suspicion that he knew it.)
I pulled out a skein of 3 ply handspun (on the left) that I spun this summer from natural BFL that I got from Spunky Eclectic, and a skein of Cascade's Eco Alpaca.
We looked around for a pattern and he liked the Fiddleheads the best. While they were designed in color, and I'm tempted to make a colorful pair for myself, I really like the natural combo for a men's pair.
The thumb on the first mitten will be finished tonight.
I knit this one on double points - which I really like for knitting single mittens or socks - but in this case, it was a bit frustrating to manage the stranding work on the dpns. I've been getting a lot more pulling and puckering than I would like, despite tremendous attention to my floats, tension, etc... . Because of all that, it just wasn't a relaxing experience. And I love the pattern. And the yarn. Ok, so the yarn is part of the problem. You see, my handspun is heavier than the Eco Alpaca - resulting in some of the uneven stitches I've been battling. I knew that going in, but damn it, those were the yarns I wanted to use. And I technically got gauge.
For my sanity, I'm shaking things up on the second mitten.
Magic loop, here I come. I figure it will allow me to focus on the yarn and pattern and not switching between all those needles.
The first mitten took about 2 days. Then, the pattern calls for separate linings to be knit. Essentially, you knit another pair of mittens.
Am I going to do this? They would certainly be warm - especially since I would use the pure alpaca for the lining.
One part of me is thinking, the unlined mittens are completely awesome and warm on their own (and I have other things to knit).
Then there is the knitter voice that says I can't let the project out in the world technically unfinished.
Of course, there's the voice that argues that if he loses these mittens, I will be doubly &*%$ed off if I make the linings.
What to do...
At least Connor has his scarf.
