Tuesday, January 29, 2013

mo' mittens

It's that time of winter when you want something woolly on your hands. When Dave put in a rare knitting request, I was all over it. I showed him a couple of skeins of Noro that seemed  black-ish and teal-ish. I love me some Noro knitting. I coulda shoulda woulda cast on for your basic mittens and whipped'em right out.616_GaleZuckerFV_0113But nooooooo. I had to make them more special. Fletcher Mittens.  You know how sometimes you make things more complicated than they need to be?600_GaleZuckerFV_0113Admittedly, some of it was my own doing. I started out on dpns.  I do not enjoy knitting mittens on dpns. And,  working from both ends of the Noro Kureyon at the same time, to get the striping action, made it a fiddly undertaking.636_GaleZuckerFV_0113Mr. Noro, it turns out, had impishly hidden a ton of fuschia in the colorway. Dave's pretty open minded about his mittwear but fuschia?  Not going to cut it. So I cut it, instead. (Ok, tore it out, but you know, give me some poetic license). Adding smaller bits and ends just increased the fiddly factor. Again, that's on me.608_GaleZuckerFV_0113 
I switched to  magic loop for mitt # 2, making me much happier. Overall, the mitered mitt is kind of a fun construction, it has generous thumbs, and the pattern makes a nice dense handcover, perfect for shoveling snow. Which in the end, is what it is all about.  Right?
Let us move on to something that is as close to perfection as you'll find at mi casa.207Zoes1bday_Zoe turned one!

12 comments:

Cookie said...

Lovely mitts! Ya know, I never trust Mr. Noro. I always wind his yarn so I don't get any surprises while knitting.

Happy Birthday, Zoe! I can't believe she's already a year old.

Lori ann said...

those are really fantastic gale, love the style, well done! love your photos too and happy birthday sweet baby!

penny said...

Lovely mitts. Noro is always full of surprises.. it's been a while since there was a true penny-friendly (non)colourway i loved. ;)

And Happy Birthday Miss Zoe!

Jenn said...

Wonderful mitts! I love the construction.

Happy Birthday, Zoe! What a great picture!

Kirsten said...

Oh, that Zoe is just so precious.

Love the mittens. I've done the same thing several times (some of us never learn). I'll cast on with DPN's thinking it will be a wonderful thing connecting me with generations of knitters before me, and end up hating the process. Each time I quickly switch back to magic loop.

Susan in Katonah said...

Zoe is. so. PRETTY!

margene said...

How can Zoe be one already? Your mittens are so much fun! I love the way you embrace color.

Lee said...

Great mittens! No male in my house will venture beyond gray hand coverings.

And Zoe, well, what a sweetie!

Ellen Mason said...

You know how sometimes you make things more complicated than they need to be? Yes, yes I do. Always worth it, one way or another.

Ellen Bloom said...

Fiddly but FANTASTIC! The mitts are very cozy looking.

Zoe is more adorable every day!

Mary Lou said...

And Dave will wear them! Zoe is muy gogeousa!

twinsetellen said...

Thanks for the Zoe pic, it made me smile. As did the mitts, and even the hidden fuchsia!