So, my classroom is really, really cold. The heat comes on in the morning, and then for the remainder of the day, the fan blows cold air through the room. It actually creates a breeze in the room. Needless to say, I am always bundled up in extra clothes. I wear sweaters, scarves, gloves and sometimes even my coat. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to hand out papers when wearing gloves, so I decided to knit some fingerless mittens to keep my poor little hands warm at school. I found the pattern on Ravelry, and I love the pattern stitch in these mitts. It was very easy and it looks really cool. I used Red Heart acrylic yarn. My aunt gave me a bunch of it that she couldn't fit in her suitcase last time she visited. I guess even yarn is cheaper in the States :) The yarn is a dark green color. I knit in the round with size 3 dpns. And here are the pictures.......the right hand mitt......
A few weeks ago, my honey asked me if I would knit him some gloves. I answered, "Of course," although I was very nervous about the prospect. I had never knit gloves before. I did knit mittens once. They did not turn out so well. They are so large that they slip off my hands, and one of them is considerably larger than the other. Yeah, you could say I was nervous about knitting gloves....I mean gloves with five whole fingers!!But, apparently I have gotten better at knitting since I tried those mittens. I mean, these gloves turned out awesome. I used a yarn from JoAnn Fabrics. My sister gave it to me as a gift. Debbie Mumm Traditions yarn in Chocolate Raspberry. The yarn knit up really nicely. It is so soft and the color change is really neat. And, perhaps the most surprising of all.....the gloves are both the same size, and they fit. Success :) This weekend was also felting weekend. I threw all my felting projects in the washer with some awesome Kookaburra soap and off we went.....
Here are all my felting projects drying in the sun. Well, actually there was no sun, but they dried outside.
There's 4 cat toys waiting to be stuffed with stuffing and catnip, a small purse that needs to be shaved a little, a remote control holder pouch thingy of my own design, and a bright green frog waiting to be stuffed.
And the left hand mitt.......
When I started the increases for the thumb, I followed the pattern exactly, but discovered that the method for increasing used in the pattern created little holes in the fabric (as seen below). After two increases like that, I changed the way I increased. In order to create a more solid fabric, I increased by putting the needle between the two stitches and making a stitch. This worked much better than the way outlined in the pattern.
This was my first time using a sewn bind off technique. I really like it and think I will use it more often. It allows the bind off edge more give. I usually bind off much tighter than my cast on edge, but this bind off edge is really comfortable. All in all, I love my new fingerless mitts. They allow me to do everything I need to do while keeping my little hands nice and warm :)
