Sunday, January 31, 2010

Smitten

My last mittens for NaKniMitMo are the official NaKniMitMo10 mitten, an excellent combinationNaKniMitMo button of stranded and gansey knitting, Anna's Mittens by Spillyjane. (I got the pattern as a gift download through Ravelry, which worked well.) I knit mine out of odd bits of Patons Classic Wool.

Anna's Mittens

The excellent pattern is meticulously written in a way that is clear and helpful for novice knitters without being annoying to more experienced ones. There are some fine design elements: the colorwork section, which is thicker because of the stranding, covers the wrists like a pulsewarmer for extra warmth; the moss stitch frame forms a graceful arch at the top of the mitten. So clever!

Just to show off, here's the inside of the mitten. I expect with wear it will full, locking in the yarns and becoming fuzzy-cozy.

Stranding detail

The only mod I made was to shape the top of the thumb with mirrored decreases to echo the top of the mitten. I like the pattern enough to want to knit it again (gasp!) – I could see knitting pulsewarmers from just the colorwork section or mittens from just the gansey part.

Overall, I had a happy and productive NaKniMitMo. The moderators were unfailingly encouraging and the other participants expanded my vision and my queue. I never did get to my UFO thrummed mittens (cough), but I end the month totally smitten with mittens, eager to knit more, and looking forward to NaKniMitMo11.

Up next, the February knit-alongs. I understand a bunch of obsessive Sockdowners will be staying up past midnight tonight to stake their claims to sock patterns with fewer than 15 projects – already a few Sooners have been called for jumping the gun. Apparently manufactured scarcity works. I plan to participate eventually, but for the moment I'm focusing on Zarzuela's S/KAL and the mighty Ravel*****s.

Redacted 6/26/12: The Ravelry event formerly known by a name that rhymes with and supposedly infringes on the Olympics™.

2 comments:

Bezzie said...

Those are beautiful! A bit of spring in the winter.

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