Just in time for Spring

These are not blocked yet.

Whoo-hoo! And a Happy Dance! I'm extremely pleased with these mittens, even though the weather has turned warmish here and I probably won't get to wear them until next winter. It's been a really fun knit, and I've gain several new skills: fringe, braids, and stranding using magic loop. I must admit that the fringe was the most difficult.

The book tells you to cast on, join, and knit one round before reversing direction to do the fringe. I think it would be better to go three stitches into a second round before reversing, in order to tighten up that join, since I had trouble with it being too loose. For the first mitten, I did the fringe stitches exactly as the book illustrates,

winding the yarn onto my left index finger and then scooping it up with my right needle, extracting my finger (which was sometimes difficult), and pulling through. This leaves the leading yarn on the far side of the fringe stitch, and you have to make sure it's coming through the back in order to start winding your next stitch. It made for slow going. For the second mitten, I tried winding the yarn onto my right index finger, taking the loop off and then knitting it through - this put the leading yarn on the near side of the stitch and ready. That was easier, but it also made the stitches looser. I think the tighter fringe - on the left side mitten, looks better.

There is one small error, which I spotted on the left thumb, and didn't care to rip back and correct. I did a row of striped stitches right after the pick-up. That's OK, no one knows but me (and now you).

I'm happy. I'm not planning on another pair just yet, as this is waiting for me:

And I've got a baby item to knit for a co-worker - I'm thinking of an entrelac blanket. I've got heaps of cotton-rayon yarn that I dyed ages ago and would like to de-stash. I also have a slip-stitch sweater to finish, and would like to start on Dale Torino 2006 for DH.

Thanks, everyone - this has been loads of fun!