October 2010
I'm still a bit of a novice when it comes to colourwork, and jump at any chance I get to practise it. So when my husband asked for a pair of fingerless mittens to keep his hands warm at work, these were the obvious choice.
I love the slightly vintage look of them, and the felted tweed is lovely and soft after blocking. We figured that as these are stranded colourwork, they'd be even warmer than single-thickness mitts.
I did find this pattern itself a bit bizarre though for several reasons. Firstly, it was written so that the mittens were knitted flat and then sewn up along a side seam. I couldn't for the life of me work out why they shouldn't be worked in the round on DPNs seamlessly, so that's what I did (subtracting 2 stitches from the total number cast on, as there would be no selvedge).
And I still can't work it out. The stripes do jog at the start of each round but that's the nature of seamless knits, and you don't notice it if you wear them the right way around.
Secondly the thumb was much too long - the pattern would have it the same length as the body of the mitten from the thumb gusset to the top, which just didn't look right to me. I worked it as 6 rounds of stocking stitch followed by four rounds of rib instead.
Pattern: Bird's Eye Mittens by Martin Storey from Rowan Classic Knits for Men
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed
Amount: Less than 1 skein of each
Colourway: 170 Seafarer (MC) and 165 Scree (CC)
Needles: 2.75mm and 3.25mm
Size: One size
On ravelry: here
I don't think that Rowan have heard about circular needles, all their patterns seem to be knitted flat and seamed. For some things I don't mind (jumpers and cardigans) but for something like this it's just silly.
ReplyDeleteThey look great, and really cosy!
I agree with the previous commenter - I really wish Rowan would wake up to the trend for circular needles, and the fact that some things just make more sense knitted in the round. These mitts are gorgeous - they look like the perfect man gift!
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