Druid Mittens

It's been a long time coming, but I finally finished my Druid Mittens! They've been on my needles since January. But I've been working on them longer than that as I actually had found the yarn for the mittens back in 2010. 

When I visited New Zealand last, I bought 2 balls of Zealana Kia Ora Kauri Fingering. The fiber content is 60% NZ Merino, 30% Possum, and 10% Silk. That great halo in the yarn comes from the possum. The thumbs are the prettiest I've ever seen on a mitten. I didn't even realize it until I had knit an entire mitten.

I modified the fit pretty heavily. I like my cuffs more snug. I also had some trouble getting the right gauge despite using size 0/ 2.0mm needles, so I subtracted some stitches out of the pattern and added some length. The details are on my ravelry project page. 

If I were to make these again, I wouldn't have gotten rid of the slip stitches on the side of the mittens. I didn't realize until the first mitten was done what the slip stitches added to the design.

Still Knitting All The Things

My first Denature handspun sock is steadily growing. And although I really like the pattern and the yarn, I'm a bit on the ropes on whether or not they compliment each other as well as I was hoping. A  solid color would doubtlessly show off the pattern the best, but I suspect a good blocking will make the pattern stand out much better. I plan on continuing on since I spun this yarn with the intention of knitting this pattern. Starting over would only result in me never knitting the pattern or using the yarn for anything else. 

It should be noted that the heel flap is a little tough going and should be knitted in one sitting. 

The second Druid mitten grew a whole repeat last night. I've been feeling guilty about letting this sit on my needles for so long. (I cast on near the beginning of January this year.) Plus, I have finally worked out all the fitting issues I had with the pattern, so now I just have to knit.

Today's big project was to learn how to double knit. I have a pattern idea, and finally decided that double knitting would be the solution to the construction problem I was having. (A big thank-you to fernknits. Her botanical caplet is what inspired me to even look at double knitting as a solution.)

Learning this technique was much easier than it was the last time I tried. Partially because there are many more tutorials on the internet. (The one that made things click for me was from Knit Picks.) And partially because I now use both hands when doing stranded knitting, which helped immensely with keeping my tension even. Although I had to go down several needle sizes because, surprise surprise, it turns out my double knitting tension is looser than any other knitting I do.

Mitten Awakening

I haven't quite decided what the skein of Tanglebella wants to be just yet, so I have lined up my next braid of roving to spin. I'm rather proud to say that when I pulled the braid in half, I was able to separate it with only a 2g difference. This time I have a better plan of what I'm going to do. All going well, I will spin the two mini braids separately, then chain ply them into two skeins. If it looks like I have a decent amount of yarn, I'll make a pair of Denature socks. I've been wanting to make those socks for awhile, but I'd had a hard time finding playful yarn that would still show off the pattern. I don't know about all of you, but DNA screams robin egg blue, meadow green, dirt brown and blood red to me. For those who would like to know, it's Polwarth from Woolgatherings. And after checking my etsy account to see what this braid was (because I was too lazy to get up and walk 10 feet to get the tag) I found that I had bought it August 3, 2010. Sigh. If only that was the oldest thing in the stash....

I have pulled my Druid Mittens out of hibernation. I was rather inspired to work on them after my post about how I had only one project on the needles. I will be ripping out the mitten on the left. The cuff is too big and the hand is too small. The one on the right is much, much better. The cuff is a little tight to get over my hand, but it fits my wrist perfectly. Believe it or not, both cuffs were knit with the same size needle and have the same number of stitches. But the left one was done with one circular (and a beer in me) and the right one was done with double circulars (and no beer).

Only One Project On The Needles

I only have one project left on my needles. How often can a knitter say that? And I'm being extremely monogamous with this project because I'm embarrassed that I haven't finished it yet. I only have two and a half pattern repeats before I get to start the toe! But I finally figured out why I hadn't finished my second Boromir sock. I have learned that even though doing slip stitches might make a foot more durable, it messes up my gauge in a mighty way. This might not be the case for everyone. I would still highly recommend the pattern because it is just wonderful, but I don't think I'll ever put a slip stitch foot on any sock ever again. (But aren't the socks gorgeous?)

Now I know what you are all thinking. Only one project? There is no way that someone who knits as much as Audry does (and owns as much yarn as she does) can possibly have only one project on the needles. Well, in the interest of full disclosure, I will share the projects that "don't count." The first is Sound of Waves by Kieran Foley. I have great respect and admiration for Kieran. His patterns are inventive and beautiful. I also think that the yarn pairing of mulberry silk lace (colorway Glacier) from Silk and Shine is wonderful. But I just stopped having fun knitting it. So this project doesn't count because there are no needles attached to it (only a cord) AND because if I were to find another pattern, I would rip it. I just haven't the heart to rip this out yet.

The other project that "doesn't count" is my Druid mittens. I had trouble with the gauge on this one too. I finally got the cuff to fit right, but the hand is too tight. So this doesn't count because I'm still figuring out how to fix it AND because it's on waste yarn. No needles attached. (See what I did there. Only one project ON the needles.)

I do know what I'm going to cast on for the minute I finish the Boromir socks. Actually, I plan on casting on two things. Design #8 for the book, and a pair of 2x2 ribbed socks using a skein I bought from Stitches West this year. I really could use a simple, simple knit to use up some yarn and clear my mind.

Oh Dear, It's Colorwork Sock Sizing Time

I realized that I haven't really talked about my knitting in awhile. Probably because I hadn't much to show. But as usual, I have a bunch of things that all were finished around the same time. I also have some knitting disappointments to share too. We'll start with the bad news. The mitten is having some issues. I know this picture makes it look all dandy.

But in reality, my big worries about it being too big (which is was) has taken a complete 180. It is now too small! Usually I would just block something bigger, but in this case, the pattern is straining. It just isn't what I want. So this project is in time out until I decide whether I'm going to add 4, 6, or 8 more stitches back into the hand portion of the pattern. Of course the cuff threw me. The cuff fits just fine. Any feedback or encouragement would be very welcome at this point.

Now on to the good news. I finished my Rocky Coast cardi. As usual the shoulders are suspect, but the fit is really nice everywhere else. I wore it for a day deciding whether or not I'd block it, but in the end I thought the pattern might open up a bit. Of course SOMEBODY thought it would be a good place to sun himself. When I was taking pictures I told Scooter to sit. Usually he sits where he has been standing....

And last, but not least, some book news. I've finished design number five, which turned out pretty good. Actually, it's fantastic, but I'm a super picky person when it comes to my own designs, so I'm sure I'm just being overly critical. I've started work on design number six, which has been a tough one to work on. It is going to be a pair of socks with large amounts of colorwork and I'm having a little trouble deciding what gauge people might like to knit it in. Colorwork has less give, but I knit so loosely, it usually isn't an issue for me.

I'd like to ask all of you guys, what is the typical number of stitches you like in your socks. I typically cast on 60 stitches for mine. As a reference for these socks, I'm getting 8 stitches to the inch unstretched, but it stretches easily to 6 stitches to the inch. I know not everyone gets that kind of stretch with colorwork, so any advice or feedback on what you'd like to see in a colorwork sock would be super helpful. (or good websites to check out) I already know sizing is going to have to be done with gauge due to the nature of the design.

Genius, Right?

Does anyone else do many, many things and then feel like they have done absolutely nothing. I seem to be in a constant time warp where I may have done an impossible number of things, but feel like I did them all last week. Things I've done since Saturday: A two day illustration project, massive coordination for the music video, picked up yarn for a prototype, drawn some comics, fixed the armpits of a sweater. 

Speaking of sweater armpits, I have decided to do my Rocky Coast Cardi's arms at the same time. The cables change around a bit as the arm decreases, so it is a little easier to remember what I've done if they are done at the same time. I've also come up with a great system to figure out where I am in the arm. The cables are an 8 row repeat, so I'm using the right number on the counter to mark where in the cable repeats I am. I'm using the left number to let me know how many total repeats there are. So I haven't done 32 rows. I'm on the 2nd row of the cable repeat and I've done 3 total repeats of the cable. Genius, right?

I've also continued working on the Druid mittens. I did come to the conclusion that my original plan of shrinking down the mitten wasn't going to work. At least not to the degree of shrinking that would be needed. I mean, look at that. I could nearly get both my hands into one cuff.

I've gone ahead and taken 18 stitches out of the pattern, which results in the cuff on the right. Much, much better. It may need to be felted a little bit, but not very much. Of course all this extra work to make the pattern fit me has sucked some of the fun out of the knitting. I'm going to look on the bright side though, and note that I have learned to make bobbles while making these mittens, and I think I like it. The bobbles do seem to like to flip to the wrong side of my work, and I'm not sure why, but I've decided not to worry about it too much just yet.