One sock, one mitt

I have accomplished remarkably little knitting during my unemployment for reasons which completely escape me. This week I put my nose to the proverbial grindstone and finished some things.

First, the Wanida sock which I started waaay back in early June. Shameful!


The flash really washes out the color. It's actually a rather vibrant purple.

Next is the first of my Endpaper Mitts.


I have to say that I'm not especially excited about starting the second portion of either of these projects, but especially the Endpaper Mitts. I will do it because I like completion, but I'm not super happy with this project. The pattern includes 3 different sizes, but they are completely based on needle size, which of course means a change in gauge. I originally started this on a smaller size needle and it was too small - it is still a little tight, but much better. The problem is that now that I'm knitting at a looser gauge, the colorwork isn't as crisp and clear as it was. From a distance it looks good, but up close it looks sloppy. I'm hoping that blocking will improve it.

I've also been working on the second sleeve of my Lucy In the Sky Cardigan, and I'm happy to say that I am most of the way through it. I believe I have something like 26 rows left. I'm especially excited about this project, because there is nothing like the satisfaction of seeing a beautiful sweater really come together!

Endpaper Mitts

They are finally done. Actually, I finished them a week or so ago but wanted to block them out so they'd fit better and hopefully look better. I think the colorwork does look a little better with blocking, though they're still a bit tight.

Pattern: Endpaper Mitts by Eunny Jang (free pattern)
Needles: Addi Turbos of three different sizes. I'm afraid that in my happiness at finally completing this project, I threw away my notes before entering them in Ravelry. I *think* I cast on in a 2, knit the ribbing on 0 and did the colorwork on 3.
Yarn: Louet Gems Fingering Weight in teal and aqua. I liked the yarn a lot.

As mentioned previously, I don't like that the sizes are based on gauge because it affects the appearance of the fair isle pattern. It was also annoying that the chart rows weren't numbered, but I suppose that's a minor quibble. For the most part it was easy to knit, and is a quick project despite the fact that it took me six months to complete. It's good fair isle practice too, since the pattern is so simple and only requires two colors.

The bind-off was very fiddly and obnoxious and didn't even look very good, as evident in the photo below. Check out the bumpy edges on my left palm.
It may not be the fault of the bind off itself - I suspect I screwed it up, as the process is unnecessarily complex. Unlike other bind offs, I wouldn't have been able to undo it and fix the mistakes. I have no idea why this bind off was chosen.

I'm happy to finally have another pair of fingerless mitts. Of course they don't match even one hat or scarf that I own so I don't know how much use I'll get out of them. Maybe this calls for some more hat and scarf knitting?

Endpaper Mitts Preview

This is a preview because that is my practice mitt - it's essentially my gauge swatch and also fair isle practice. The only fair isle I've ever done is my Fairly Easy Fair Isle from Stitch n' Bitch. It was pre-blog, but if you're on Ravelry you can see it here. There wasn't a lot of fair isle on it, and it didn't come out especially well. It was my first time, and I think the fact that it was bulky yarn was also a factor.

But the mitt looked pretty great, didn't it? I was starting to feel pretty comfortable with the colorwork and it looked nice and crisp and clear. But it was too small, and the cast-on edge was definitely too tight. Per the instructions, I cast on with a size 0 needle and used that for the ribbing before switching to a size 2. This pattern gives you a choice of 3 different sizes, but just uses gauge to vary the size of the mitt. I needed to move up to a size 3 needle, but I didn't have a circular in that size, so I used DPNs instead.


Not a great idea, apparently. Look at how muddled the pattern looks. If I look at it closely, it's obvious that the stitches aren't uniform at all and they look like they are all being pulled in different directions. Which makes sense, as knitting with these stupid things is one big miserable tug of war. Plus I can't hold my hands the regular way because the porcupine-like mess of needles dictates where I can put my hands. And I had to keep ripping back because I was watching a movie and not paying attention to what I was doing.

So today, I sucked it up and bought myself a set of Addi Turbos in size 3. I can't believe I've spent the better part of two days on this project and haven't actually started it for real yet. Good thing I don't have a job - this could have taken weeks!