Thursday 24 March 2011

Can you tell what it is yet?


So... can you tell what it is yet? I've been on a bit of a simple, vanilla knitting kick lately and enjoying the soothing nature of the garter stitch. It becomes a bouncy, springy, pleasantly thick fabric with good elasticity. I'm especially proud of the provisional cast on - the first time I have been able to learn a new technique after watching instructions online. The yarn is Cadenza by Colinette in colourway Slate, I love the flashes of colour in amongst the blue grey of the background, most cheerful and they mean that the yarn "goes with" quite a range of my clothes.
The picture above should have made it clearer, I've been making Garter Stitch Mitts by Ysolda Teague, one of the best written and most ingenious patterns I've knit in a long time. As you can see they are knit from side to side, starting with a provisional cast on and forming the thumb and wrist shaping through judicious use of short row shaping. My only modification to the pattern was to do six rows of thumb stitches instead of four to add slightly to the size. The mitts are then closed by undoing the provisional cast on and grafting the stitches together using Kitchener Stitch. Indeed this was the hardest part of the operation, although it went more smoothly the second time thankfully. The finished mitts are lovely to wear, soft, warm and sufficiently closely fitting so as not to get in the way while doing important day to day things (such as knitting!) but not so closely fitting that they impede movement. I would definitely recommend both yarn and pattern; it's especially fun confounding non knitters with what on earth you are making.
They are a good addition to my growing wardrobe of fingerless mitts, mittens and gloves - there's got to be an upside to Raynaud's right?

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