AB’s Striped Mittens
Posted on | January 13, 2009 | 18 Comments
Isn’t she incredible?
I had one of the best phone calls ever recently. Amazing what a little knitting can do. I only wish I had a recorder, but it’s on repeat in my brain, for the foreseeable future.
“Thank you for my mit-tens Aun-tie Mel. They’re my FAV-o-rite.” (Her enunciation slays me.)
AB and I picked this yarn from my stash while she was here with her mom & Dad for Thanksgiving. I was so pleased to have leftovers of Gryphon’s Eidos that I used for the P.S. Mitts (the darker, handyed stripes), in fact, I may have actively encouraged this ball of yarn. Now AB and I have matchy mitts. She doesn’t know that. But I do – and I love the thought.
When I first knit for AB, she was not yet 2 and although a ton of fun, she was too young to be conversational. Now, at 3, she is quite the chatterbox with an excellent imagination and a fast expanding vocabulary (out of respect for her parents, I tried my very best NOT to add any curse words to her repertoire while she was here – I’m a firm believer that there are far worse things than swears in this world, but perhaps I should not be the one to teach my 3 year old niece this. I’ll wait till she’s at least 5.) She is also whip smart and not a little bit bossy (“I want to talk! Give it to me [the phone]!” [Big Pause] “PLEEEEEEASE”). Somehow I delight in that fact and take it as a sign of her confidence.
These little mitts jumped on the needles the same night Erin took delivery of the Thrummed Mitts. From there, they flew, in part because they are quite small, and in part due to the stripes, which were addictive. I don’t know what it was – the linear stitches marching along my needles or the rich purple… They were so satisfying and I could not get enough. I love the contrast of the colors and the ingenious increases and decreases – small details with a big impact – watching that thumb gusset grow was one of the most fun knitting experiences I’d had in some time (my knitting of late seems to have been often soothing and nearly always satisfying, but not very often “fun”, I guess. Time to change that, I think!)
The Stats: I know you all can get this on Ravelry, but I do somehow still enjoy adding and musing on the details in a project wrap up. Ignore me and click through to Rav, if you’d rather!
Pattern: Striped Mittens by Robin Hansen, from Favorite Mittens
Yarn: Green Mountain Spinnery Cotton Comfort in Pink Lilac (also a perfect choice because AB is a Vermont girl), and @ 1/2 a skein of Sanguine Gryphon’s Eidos, left over from my PS Mitts, held doubled.
Needles: US3 DPNs
Time to complete: < 1 week – Like the Thrummed Mitts, without anything else going on these would take just a day or two.
Results: Love! My last FO of 2008 is one of my favorites. I would happily start another pair for myself right this minute if I had the time! (more on the projects that are keeping me from doing so soon).
New Skills: The Maine Cast On – a good structured beginning, with a bit more thickness than a standard long-tail cast on.
Mods: I added a couple rows of single crochet to the bottom edge; The cast on was great fun, but the edge rolled terribly. To combat this, I would suggest purling the contrast color in the ribbing for a few rows of the cuff or working ribbing in the main color for a few rows before bringing in the contrast color (crediting Pat for this idea – it worked beautifully on her lovely pair!).
A side note, these mittens are a great study in yarn dominance. I went against the suggestion of the book and made the lighter color dominant, but I love the photo in the book with another light/dark color combo where the dark color is dominant, it makes the increases at the thumb gore even more striking. Cool.
On to 2009 and more fun!
—————-
Now playing: Bright Eyes – Road to Joy
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18 Responses to “AB’s Striped Mittens”
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mel
I knit, I spin, I hike, I love,
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January 14th, 2009 @ 12:52 am
She is adorable – as are the mittens!
January 14th, 2009 @ 1:21 am
I love the mittens and your niece is such a cutie. Girls are so fun to knit for. My grandson is confident to, he will say “um EXCUSE me…” when he wants my attention. He is 4, lol
January 14th, 2009 @ 5:14 am
cute mittens for a cute niece! ^-^
don’t you think there’s a special “aunt-gene” that makes us crazy about our nieces and nephews? i bet there is!
January 14th, 2009 @ 6:00 am
Your niece is adorable! And the mittens beautiful too. I think I like them more your way than with the darker yarn dominant.
January 14th, 2009 @ 8:19 am
What a wonderful mitten post – You write so beautifully (that’s the one part of blogging that I don’t like – I wish I could just put up pictures!)
The mittens are beautiful – I love the extra thickness of the crocheted edge – and your niece is adorable – You are a great Auntie!
January 14th, 2009 @ 9:10 am
Beautiful niece and mittens!
January 14th, 2009 @ 9:41 am
She is just SO cute! The mittens look great – nice job!!
January 14th, 2009 @ 11:06 am
Those came out great…very cute!
January 14th, 2009 @ 11:17 am
these are so sweet.
January 14th, 2009 @ 11:37 am
I have to reiterate what Gudrun said, beautiful niece and mittens. It’s so nice to have your knitted gifts appreciated, isn’t it?
January 14th, 2009 @ 11:38 am
Hehehe. My parents didn’t realize what I heard, and when my dad said ‘bull’, little two year old me finished the thought. He still tells that story…
I love the mittens! I can imagine them on her wee hands. Did you attach the string to go around in her coat, or do her parents safety pin them to the sleeves?
January 14th, 2009 @ 12:55 pm
They are just too cute! My view on swearing is that as long as kids are old enough to understand the concept of context (ie not in front of grandmothers/teachers), they’re old enough to know the words. Which is lucky, because mine overheard me plenty…
January 14th, 2009 @ 2:20 pm
Cool is right! I agree – I want to knit fun things this year and also more gifts!
January 15th, 2009 @ 5:18 pm
The mittens are awesome, but the china doll is just gorgeous. The strawberry hair and charcoal lashes – plotz! What a beauty, at that perfect, earnest age. I love three year-olds.
January 16th, 2009 @ 1:50 pm
See–this is what I’m talking about with respect to your knitting! ;)
Lovely post all around…starting with a cutie, then onto some really beautiful mittens (seems like such a simple design, but in fact, they are ingenious), and ending with a lesson on color dominance (thanks for that—I’m still learning these things!). I do like how you made the lighter color dominant in yours…and so great that you and AB have that link through your mittens. :)
January 18th, 2009 @ 4:57 pm
The mittens are a great gift–just like holding someone’s hands over a distance.
January 19th, 2009 @ 2:18 pm
Mel!! What a beautiful little girl, and the mittens aren’t fantastic!! I am _so_ going to knit those as soon as I’m done with my belated Christmas knitting… I know a little girl of mine that has been hankerin’ for some mama knits and she just lost her mitten!
Thanks for sharing!
January 19th, 2009 @ 8:19 pm
beautiful mittens and my! she is precious too.