Friday, April 16, 2010

My 1st Mittens

I have knitted fingerless mittens before but not proper mittens. So I was a little hesitant when Lynette asked for mittens. She has a pair of fingerless mittens but now she wants one to cover all her fingers & she was them in her favorite Harry Potter Slytherin colors.

So this means that I not only have to knit mittens but have to knit them in stripes - both techniques that I have not tried. I did not agree to it & spend a couple of weeks thinking about them & of course, searching through Ravelry for ideas. At last, I decided to take the plunge & using this pattern as a template, I cast on & did it !

The mittens turned out great but I had to rip it out twice - once as I did not do a good job of joining the 2 colors & the joins were a little lumpy & another time as the sizing was not right. I had to make some modifications to the pattern to get the sizing correct.

They fitted her perfectly & she loves the colors. Lynette found the yarn from my stash, in fact they are leftovers. The silver is Bendigo Luxury 8 ply (Ghost) & the green is Fleece Artist Trail Socks (I used 2 strands together). I knitted the mittens with 4.5 mm dpns.

Actually these mittens are quite easy to knit & also knits up really fast. The pattern is great as a guide but you will have to make adjustments for a better fit. Knitting in stripes in the round is a first time for me but I am glad I gave it a try. The join where the colors changes look great & it not really difficult to achieve that.

Now that I have overcame this, maybe I should try mittens with fingers or fair isle mittens ?????


10 comments:

Rose Red said...

Fair isle mittens are fun! You should definitely give them a go!

2paw said...

Great HP mittens and well done on tackling new skills so well!!! I am thinking of knitting some complicated mittens with dogs on them. We'll see!!!

Bells said...

oh yes try fair isle! Great fun. Thanks for the link to that pattern. I think I'll find it useful. Love the reverse striping!

Michelle Lee said...

Hehehe. I've also never knitted proper mittens before. I've tried a few pair of fingerless mittens but that's it!! Maybe I should try this pattern one day :)

Roseann said...

I cannot believe those are your first mittens, they are perfect!!! The stripes turned out beautifully, I see some Fair Isle in your future! Will there be mitten patterns in addition to all your lovely sock patterns? If so, I think Knitty would like to feature them, you are a brilliant designer, which I know as I am quite enjoying my comfy Fields of Clover socks today.

Sasha said...

Fantastic, Ann, they look marvellous! I love those striped colours - not just plain colour stripes but the sock yarn adds that little bit of extra interest - lovely!

Wonderful to learn a new skill, another feather in your cap. Lynette's a very lucky girlie to have such a talented Mama!

Anonymous said...

Those mittens are fabulous! I love the stripes. I've never knitted mittens before, but you're inspiring me to try.

At Home Mommy Knits said...

Love the mittens! The Harry Potter color striping is great.

Rachel said...

I so love that the striping is reversed between mittens! These look great!

Fair-isle for sure!

Alison said...

Fun mittens! I've been planning a bit of a mitten marathon myself!