the blue blog archives: mitts bits

It's gotten cooooold here in Boston. This means two things re my garter stitch mitts.

1) I've had the opportunity to wear my fingerless mitts and I can make some conclusions about them. Despite the early wristbrace vibes, I really like how they look (I especially like the short-row shaping) and how they feel. They're comfortable and, surprisingly to me, they do keep my hands and fingers warm enough. They perfect for a short walk holding the boys' hands or for keeping my hands cozy in the car while holding the cold steering wheel. But although my fingers are warm enough, my thumb is a bit chilly. If I make more mitts, I'll probably switch to Bonne Marie's voodoo wrist warmers or Midnight Knitter's mittenettes, both with thumb gussets.

2) No playground knitting. So I've made absolutely no progress on the second pair of bear paws. Thus, no cute photos of boys in mitts today. Instead, I give you 'boys playing Dora Candyland'.

posted by alison at 8:55 am | in accessorize me

Comments

You're so right about thumb gussets! Maybe you could adapt Missa's pattern - knit it in garter stitch. Or just borrow the gusset. Oh,Hey - afterthought thumb gusset!

Posted by: Meg at November 11, 2004 11:30 AM

I agree with you about the thumb gussets - I'll bet they add just the right amount of extra warmth! Dora candyland...we're going to have to find that!!

Posted by: Jackie at November 11, 2004 1:21 PM

Oooh, candyland!! I love that game! :)
It really IS cold around here lately, isn't it? A slap of reality for me.
I can't wait to see your dream socks!

Posted by: sandy at November 11, 2004 5:17 PM

Hi Alison,
I had the same problem with those mitts, I solved it this way:

Follow the pattern from the Weekend Knitter book up to the thumb row then place 11 sts from top of the palm end (the side with the short rows) onto a holder. With scrap of yarn ch 10 sts (provisional cast on). K across all remaining sts on working needle, then pick up and knit 6 sts from chain. Short row shape the thumb by knitting across 16 sts, wrap the next st and turn K back. Rep short row with 15, 14, & 13 sts. Next row knit across all sts picking up wraps and working them as “k2tog”. K back and repeat short row shaping in REVERSE order.

I have now made several pairs, they're getting to be very popular. I did find that I was happier after taking out some of the short row shaping from the palm, but not every wearer agrees with me about that.

Hope it helps!

Posted by: Amy at November 11, 2004 5:58 PM

DON"T forget these...
http://straw.com/cpy/patterns/mikado-gloves.html
please.

Posted by: melly at November 11, 2004 7:35 PM

Thanks Amy for the headstart on adding some sort of thumb to those great Weekend Knitting mitts! I'll have to try out what you've described to really understand what's going on, but I love the idea of keeping the side to side garter stitch and just adding a thumb gusset!

Thanks for the link, Melly. You can never have too many neat gauntlet patterns. :)

Posted by: alison at November 12, 2004 11:23 AM