I did it!

I totally knit those mittens.  In fact, I finished the second one on Monday and wore them (triumphantly) to work.

I even managed to put the thumb on the right side.  My mind is blown.

Bazzy seems pleased as well.  Warm paws are a requisite chez nous.

Maxin’ and Relaxin’

The past few days have been a whirlwind of activities and parties and meetings and fun.  In short, I’ve been really busy, and I’m sorry I haven’t been posting as of late.

But!  I did make cupcakes the other day!

Don’t they look super cool?  I tried to make the icing a robin’s egg blue, and made them with mint extract.  I used a Bundt cake recipe to make the cupcake part, and over-baked them a bit.  I’m not the best baker in the world, though, so I was pleased with the result.

I’ve also re-visited my Manos mittens.  I had to rip back the cuff by snipping one stitch about one round from the top of the cuff, pick up all the stitches, and knit down.

The hand of the mitten is in Manos del Uruguay Clasica in Olivewood, and the cuff is Lamb’s Pride Superwash Worsted in Lichen.   The pattern is Bella’s mittens, but reduced in size significantly (I cast on 30 stitches and increased by one in the first round of the hand.)

I used a provisional cast on with waste yarn and knit down the cuff so that the mittens would match, and then slipped the live stitches from the waste yarn onto my needle and started knitting the hand.  I’m almost done the gusset!  I’m really quite pleased with how quickly it’s going, and have been lightly promising myself that I won’t leave my house until the mittens are finished.  It’s too cold!

Sigh-nus

I was so sad yesterday when I was nearly done my sweater that I dove headfirst into a pair of mittens.  Bella’s mittens, to be specific.  I’m not one for following patterns – so this was unusual for me – but I figured I’d try.  After all, it’s an incredibly popular pattern, and I had some delicious Manos Clasica in a rich colourway that I wanted to use.

Four hours later, I had this:

 

That said, I made a bunch of changes for my peculiar and particular hands.  I cast on 30 stitches (not 43) and used a 8 stitch cable (not 12).  I made the cuff 2 inches long and only started the cable pattern on the hand of the mitten.  I increased the gusset on every round for 5 rounds and then kept knitting with the gusset stitches on my needle for another 5 rounds.  I did that so that the gusset would jut out more – I have funny thumbs.

I really like how they look and feel.  I don’t love knitting with the thick and thin yarn, but I absolutely adore how it knits up.  It really shows off the colour way, Olivewood.  And it stretches so beautifully into the 1×1 rib!

I’m scared I won’t have enough yarn for the second mitten, but I weighed them today (the ball and the mitten) and it seems like it may work.

Is anyone else sick?  I feel so gross.  You know you’re sick when your nose transforms itself into a faucet and your friends tell you that you ‘look like crap’ – although I do appreciate the candor.

Hasta mañana everyone!  I hope my body fights this off soon.