Minnesota Mitts

Recipient: DH
Designer: Marcia Lewandowski
Pattern: Minnesota Mitts
Source: Folk Mittens: Techniques and Patterns for Handknitted Mittens
Due: February 17, 2006
Colours: Black
Yarn: 100% NZ wool, worsted weight
Cancelled status: Gave up after finishing mitten #1

2006-Feb-13

Mitten #1 is finished:

(ends have yet to be woven in, but the knitting is done)

Here's the problem: I don't like it. I actually haven't felt very good about the project for a while now. Don't get me wrong, there are things I do really like, such as the fact that I knitted it two-stranded with a strand in each hand; and I especially like the textured motif on the back:


But there are too many things that I don't like. I don't like that my stitch gauge seems to be a little tense and the gloves seem a little too thin. Moreover, the fingers are tight on me, which means I'm really nervous about how they'll fit DH's fingers. I don't like the gaping at the base of the thumb:

(boy, that's embarrassing)

I don't like the fact that the yarn is feeling a mite too scratchy on the hands. I don't like the fact that DH already has new gloves that he bought for himself to replace the ones he lost. The 'boughten' gloves seem to suit him just fine and they're black...so really, what good will scratchy, ill-fitting, gaping-at-the-finger-bases new mittens do for him? The only thing these mittens have going for them that DH's gloves don't is the finger pocket. But that's another thing I don't like - it's too loose and doesn't 'snug up' to the hand when it's on:


I'm just not feeling that 'click' that's so important to me when giving a knitted gift. The fact that I only have one completed glove and four days left to go until our anniversary kind of puts the nail in the coffin for it for me. I've decided - I'm giving DH the self-patterning socks I was originally going to give him for his birthday. They're gorgeous, I love them, he'll love them, and - best of all - they're already done. Very low-stress, that. :) The dress socks I'm knitting for him will be bumped up as his birthday present, and I'll have to knit him something else for Father's Day. (This will likely be an excellent excuse to buy more sock yarn.)

It'll work. Adieu, Minnesota Mitts. May you be replaced in my heart and on my project list by a pair of mittens which are small and fiddly and gorgeous.

2006-Feb-10

Fingers and thumb are complete. The pocket for the fingers has been started::

If you look really closely, you can see the texture pattern motif on the back of the hand.

And you know what? Knitting fingers kind of sucks. They're so small and fiddly, especially when you're doing two-stranded work. Gah.

Once I'm done the finger pocket, I'll be done the first mitten. Which would be very gratifying were I not a week behind schedule on this project...

2006-Feb-8

These actually saw some knitting action today! The pinky finger on mitt #1 is finished and I've started on the ring finger.

2006-Feb-6

I'm panicking a bit now about how behind-schedule I am on this one, but at least I have measured all the fingers on DH's current gloves, so now I can move forward and finish the pinky on mitten #1.

2006-Feb-2

There were 5mm DPNs at Lettuce last night, and I snatched myself a set! So this morning I set to work on the pinky finger of mitten #1. Man, it's fiddly as all hell, especially with the two-stranding of the Tsvaandsstickning. But I'm getting there. My only concern is that I really don't know how tall to make the fingers. I'll have to surreptitiously measure DH's current gloves tonight when he's not looking.

2006-Jan-22

I don't think I'm quite at the halfway point of mitt #1 yet, but I'm getting close. Lots of good work got done on this over the weekend - not only is the thumb gore complete but I'm even ready to start working on the stitches for the pinky finger. This means that I'm kind of stymied at this point because I am wincing at the very thought of how awkward the two circular needle technique is probably going to be on a tiny little finger. Yeesh. So I need to wait until I have some 5mm DPNs. Unfortunately I was unable to pick a set up this week. It was my plan on Friday (since the weather was incredible, I hear) to spend my lunch hour walking to Lettuce Knit so I could pick up my 5mm DPNs and...uh...maybe look around at some patterns (more on that in a minute). But I was smart (for once), and I phoned ahead. I got Laura, who unfortunately had to break it to me that because 5mm DPNs are so popular, they were out of them at that moment. Waaah.

But they are on order! So hopefully they'll come in this week, and Laura will call me, and I will go get them, and then I can keep working on the mittens.

2006-Jan-19

These got started yesterday. I finished the cuff of mitten #1 this morning and started on the hand. Then I promptly screwed up by forgetting to start increasing for the thumb gore. Okay, it's my first mitten, easy mistake to make. I tinked back to the error point and started over, this time increasing for the thumb gore...on the wrong side of the mitten. Sigh. (Loser.)

After much tinking and re-doing, I finally seem to have started to move ahead now, although there have been a few minor mistakes along the way. At the moment, I'm about halfway up the thumb gore. And I've gotten the hang of the purling/stranding texture patterning in Tsvaandsstickning. The instructions in the book weren't specific on what the non-purling strand should be doing, but I've got it now: it should stay at the back of the work out of the way, and is used to knit stitches when the other strand is supposed to float over the front. I'm glad I worked it out because the texture motif will really add extra oomph to the whole thing.

Unfortunately, the Lettuce Knit SnB was not an option for me this week, due partly to bad weather and partly to really wanting to spend as much time as possible with my girlie. (We are having sleep issues these days.) So I'm still not in possession of any 5mm DPNs. Therefore I'm using the two circular needles technique, which I'm finding pretty awkward. I suspect this is largely due to the lengths of the circulars. One is almost too short for the purpose, and the other is ridiculously long. It's driving me a little batty. So I'm going to pick up some DPNs at the first possible opportunity.

No pictures yet - the black really isn't photographing well. I'll have to wait for natural light, which is of course rather hard to come by at 10:30pm.

2006-Jan-15

I started swatching on this today. It turns out that this is an incredibly good project choice for me right now because it involves Tvaandsstickning, which is where you have two strands of the same colour and alternate using them from stitch to stitch (forming a double-thick fabric). I just know that if I use my usual two-strand technique of knitting with strand A, then dropping strand A and picking up strand B, then dropping strand B and picking up strand A (and so-on), I will screw up - because the two strands are the same colour, and because that same colour is black, I am guaranteed to mix them up at some point unless I use a different knitting technique. Specifically, I will be holding one strand in my left hand and one strand in my right. So not only is this going to be a great anniversary present for my dear husband, but I also get to practice knitting continentally! I'm very excited. Doing an entire pair of mittens might enable me to actually get decent at the continental technique. I used the one-strand-in-each-hand thing for the swatching, and it actually went pretty well. I felt pretty good about it, wasn't horribly slow, and didn't feel very awkward. I can totally do this in public.

The only downside is that I'm going to have to buy needles for this project. Swatching determined that I need to use 5mm needles to get the gauge I need for the size I want...and I don't have 5mm needles. This may be an excuse to go to Lettuce Knit SnB this week!

2006-Jan-11

I have decided not to make fair isle gloves for DH, partly because I'm no longer sure I'll have scads of yarn left over from my Hillhead slipover projects, but also because I found a really neat mitten pattern in Folk Mittens...and I've been dying to knit something from this book ever since I got it last year for Mother's Day. The pattern is called 'Minnesota Mitts' and is actually gloves with a mitten 'pocket' that can go over the glove part for extra warmth, or retract when you need to manipulate things with your gloved fingers. Very cool. It will be DH's anniversary present (February 17). I'm hoping a month will be enough time to swatch and then knit my first pair of combo mittens/gloves. Am I setting myself up here? (Again?)

2005-Jan-28

I got to thinking the other day, which is always dangerous. It was while looking at the duct tape-wrapped gardening gloves that DH has been using for mittens. Yes, you read that right. Duct tape-wrapped gardening gloves. I'm sure it sounds ridiculous. Believe me, it looks even more ridiculous. The man needs real gloves. I bought him a pair a few years ago that he says are the best gloves he's ever had. Unfortunately, in his stress-induced haste to leave work some weeks ago, there were a number of things he left behind, including one of his hats and - yep - his gloves. So it occurred to me, I'm going to have lots of coloured oddments leftover from my grandpa's slipover. Why don't I use those to make gloves for my hubby? Okay, I've never made gloves before. But it can't be that hard, right? Right? Well, we'll probably find out. If I have enough left over maybe I'll make him a matching hat.