Thursday 7 January 2010

chunky children's mittens

Absolutely the last knitting project for 2009 - I don't have any more up my sleeve.

The Vital Statistics
Pattern: Chunky Children's Mittens by Adrienne Jones, available free at Fabric Addict.
Size: 3-4 years.
Yarn:
Ístex Álafoss Lopi in shade 133, purchased at St Vincent de Paul op shop in Malvern, Melbourne.
Needles: 4.5mm
Start to finish: 6 December 2009 to 28 December 2009.
Recycle/stash content: 100 per cent! I was so delighted when I found this yarn at the op shop because it was one that I hadn't encountered before and it seemed quite, well, exotic.
Comments: While I am very grateful for patterns that are provided free of charge on the internet, I guess that they don't get quite the same degree of quality control/checking as those that originate from commercial sources. I knit the first mitten in an evening but had to rip it back to the cuff the next day because the proportions were way out - may have just been a case of the yarn that I used and my gauge. I knit them again, measuring against little miss bear's hand as I went. I also mucked up the stitch count on the first mitten as the pattern is written using the abbreviation M1 (make 1) but actually defines this as 'knit through the front and back' (which I would denote as kfb). This does make a difference.

Verdict:
Hmmm, ok. Next time I would knit the cuffs using a smaller needle to keep them snugger. And the yarn - yes, exotic and still filled with scraps of Icelandic vegetation but really, these heavier yarns are just not my knitting cup of tea. I would like to embroider or needle felt a snowflake onto the back of these mittens but that will have to be considered a separate project!

1 comment:

shandy said...

I just love the way you move things across the world, really making use of the charity shop bargains. Me, I buy up cones of yarn, but very often it's the wrong weight or has a hard handle to it.