Post One.The Postwar Mitten Post

This might be a two post day.  Or three.  Or one.  Posts keep rolling around in my head that, in my mind, would mean more if actually posted at the times the events are happening.  All in all the pull of my needles and sewing machine gives me plenty to show, but not the time to do it.  I never said I could do it all (or any of it for that matter) well or consistently.  Deal.  I am.  Sort of.  (This is where I could tangent off into the crazy that is me, but I am short on time today so I am squelching the demons back down.  Some days are easier than others.)

So, Postwar Mittens.  Love.  What's not to love, really?  Blue, blue, green.  The colors are so enchanting and the mitten so attractive the eye is drawn away from my still burgeoning skills in stranded mitten knitting.  That's the real trick, give 'em the old razzle dazzle.  Razzle dazzle 'em.  (You are welcome, I will be singing it all day as well.)

First mitten, first time finished.  No, I didn't love it then.  I loved most of it, but I didn't love the top.

Now, it is my way to finish as I go, so I set to weaving in my ends and finishing up the thumb as soon as the knitting was completed.  This is a mode of operating that almost always works for me, so as I proudly and confidently wove in the ends I totally ignored the niggling little voice whispering that maybe I would regret that.  Maybe this mitten wasn't as finished as I thought.  Stupid voice.

Some of the problem was mine, well maybe all of it, but I'm not sure.  This is my second colorwork mitten, my first being the Snowbird Mittens I finished last month.  I don't know all the little traditional finishing bits about mittens, so I followed the instructions to make a flat topped mitten and ended up with a mitten that only just fit, my middle finger pushing against the top.  Not ideal.  And looking around at other finished mittens I noticed that they were grafted with the same color that is running up the sides of the mitten, in this case the navy, giving it a continuous line over the top.  The instructions on the mitten were vague, having you knit with the main color of the mitten and then grafting the stitches, but not being clear on what color to graft with.  Then there was the crappy grafting job I did.  Ewwww.  I really wanted to re-graft, because that is just the way I am.  Must.Perfect.  Unfortunately that would still leave the mitten a little short and since the option to do a pointed top was available to me I went with that.

Okay, not a great photo of the fix, but it is much prettier, I promise.

I debated knitting the year on the thumb, but isn't there just something about preserving that moment in time, or in this case that year?  This was kind of a pain in the neck, because there is that green color on the outside of the thumb that has to be floated across the inside to get to the working side again.  (Clear.As.MUD!)  And on the rows with the green, the navy has to be floated across to be available to knit on the date side.  It is just really fiddly.  That isn't a problem with the second thumb, but thumbs being what they are, the little devils, it is still fiddly.  

 

The thumb instructions seemed to assume experience with thumb-top finishing as well and I ended up doing my own thing.  Working the second thumb now, I really wish I could remember what "my own thing" was.  Maybe it will come back to me.

2010.  Twenty-five.  Next up:  Let the games begin!

Comments

[Norma]

I am truly razzle-dazzled. I LOVE 'em! (and love that song, too)

[margene]

You are very hard on yourself. The mitten is gorgeous and the colors magical.

[Marcia]

Love!

[Manise]

That color combination is yes "magical"! I adore these mittens. That color combination is yes "magical"! I keep coming back to gaze at them.

[Lynn]

Those are fantastic mittens!

[Birdsong]

Wow! I am soo impressed... yes, it was worth the fiddly parts in the end. Very 'razzle dazzle', and puts all the black and white ones out there to shame.

[Carole]

I've had these in my queue since the pattern first came out. I even have the yarn. I just need to go ahead and knit them. Yours looks great.

[Karen]

Beautiful! I love the colors. Maybe I'll knit some after the Olympics.

[beverly]

They're beautiful!

[Suzanne]

Great mitten!

[Kim]

LOVE them! I have had this pattern for a long time but just not confident enough to do colorwork yet. I'm hoping Carole's going to give me some good tips at SPA. :)