Mittens!

So. My first attempt at the mittens wasn't a complete failure. Sarah requested I make a pair for her friend Jeff, and myself being so nice decided to go with it... ha. I used one of the longer skeins of yarn Sarah and I dyed earlier, a blend of orange, red and pink. I just found the pattern through an online search and it required no knitting in the round, only side seaming at the end. It was pretty simple and straightforward; basically, all I had time for. It was also suggested that I attach a string from one cuff to the cuff of the other mitten to string through the coatsleeves (just for secure measures). Of course I couldn't pass that up!

Jeff and his mitten puppets!

I'm working on a pair of fingerless mittens (again, ugh) for Sarah. I plan on avoiding those suckers for awhile because the three needle binding off really kills me. It's got to take me waaay longer than it should... but oh well. For these I'm using another skein of the Kool-Aid dyed yarn that was specifically claimed as Sarah's own...


Unfortunately I'm losing my needles left and right, so it seems and I had a choice of either US 5 or 10.5 to work with... I went with 5 and eesh those stitches are a bit tight. At that stage it's hard to keep it loose. This is also making the size small more like an extra small so I've had to add a few rows because I refuse to rip the entire thing apart... Sorry Sarah... but they will fit I assure you!


Finally, in my quest to begin to avoid using patterns I started what I thought was an excellent idea. Really, it may only ever look good on paper... This is intended to be a squid. Seriously. I think I'm going to go with a jellyfish instead, HA. I like jellyfish better anyway... This was the largest skein Sar and I dyed and God are the colors the most hideous thing you ever saw?! I'm going to do an all over re-dye in purple or something upon finishing....


Part of my dilema is never having used dpns before. It's impossible to knit in the round that small with just circular needles, so I attempted to do an i-cord type deal and then move to knitting in the round. Let me tell you it doesn't work. Not at all. I ended up with a huge hole in the top because it was too many stitches to cord and too few to do in the round. Before I continue any further I'll take up dpn work...