It’s Furious Balancing

Pattern: Mitered Mittens,  The Knitter’s Almanac (May), Elizabeth Zimmermann

Yarn: Noro Kureyon, Color 265

Needles: US Size 6

Size: Children’s Large/Ladies’ XS.  I started with a cast on of 40 stitches.  After 5 rows of 1×1 ribbing, I decreased 4 stitches evenly on the first knit row, and worked on 36 stitches until the decreases at the top of the mitten.  They fit me very snugly, so I’m imagining these for a 8-12 year old girl.

Mods:  The gusseted thumb.  EZ’s pattern calls for an “afterthought” thumb.   After finishing the mitten, you’re supposed to snip a few stitches where you think the thumb should go and pick up stitches for it.  That was way too haphazard for me, even with my l33t steeking and yarn snipping skillz.

I found a write-up for a gusseted thumb on Kathryn Ivy’s blog, and did a 12-stitch thumb.   Putting the thumb on the side, I think, keeps the “spirit” of the EZ mittens, in that they can be worn on either hand. ¹

They were a quick and easy knit, and the color changes in the Noro kept me entertained.  I am easily amused by self-striping yarn — I do not deny it.

1. At least, in the early life of the mitten before it felts and shows signs of wear. [↩]

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 4th, 2009 at 8:19 pm and is filed under Knitting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.