Sunday, January 20, 2008

Belated Christmas gift

I knew I was biting off more than I could chew when in October I decided I would give each of the seven people in my immediate family a pair of handknit socks. My strategy was to use worsted weight yarn and fatter needles so fewer stitches-per-sock.
I wasn't really surprised when just a day or two before Christmas I was short by two pair. Regardless, that was an impressive binge of sock-knitting for a person at my skill level.

Anyhoo, I decided I could whip out a scarf for one unfortunate sockless person and a pair of Broad Street Mittens (from Knitty.com) for the other. In two days. Here it is January 20 and I haven't finished that scarf yet. Why did I think I could do all those cables with no cabling experience?

I did, however, finish the fingerless gloves only two days late, with only a few things I will change on the next pair. One of the thumbs turned out a little odd, but not odd enough to frog. And the supply list DID call for two sizes of needles, but I'll be darned if I could find where in the pattern it said to use which. I used size 5 US but apparently I should have started with 4s and switched to 5s for the mitten-top. I thought about adding a touch of duplicate-stitch embroidery in the green, but since they were already late, and the weather was bitter cold, I decided to go ahead and give the gift. I think he liked them.

1 comment:

Bernadette said...

The mittens look great! Usually the smaller needle is used for the ribbing at the wrist - to make a snug fit. (I took a quick look at the pattern, also, and did not see a mention of changing needle size anywhere. You could always email Knitty or the pattern author to let them know - they might want to post a pattern correction.)