Two Mittens

A week to the day after I completed my mittens, I've finally got my blog back on.



Here are the stats:
Pattern: Norwegian Snail Mittens out of Book of Yarn, designed by Adrian Bizilia
Yarn: Dalegarn's Baby Ull, just under one skein each 3718 (maraschino) and 0007 (grey), plus a small amount of 0090 (black). The latter two came out of my stash.
Needles: I ended up using the called-for 0's for the grey section in the second mitten, but did all the rest on 1's. Definitely use five, even if you normally use four--it helps keep track of the pattern.
Modifications: I moved the thumb up from row 26 to row 35, as noted previously, and in spite of my many anxieties, it worked perfectly.



In short, I am glad I decided to go with a German chocolate cake knit rather than a candy bar knit. I crossed the Fair Isle frontier with project and sanity intact. The only real fault I could find with the finished product is that the left mitten is slightly larger than the right. That's sort of a non-mistake, though, because, as a lefty, my left hand is actually more robust than my right anyways.



Having tried all these new techniques--tuck stitch, Fair Isle (done properly), afterthought thumbs, and duplicate stitching--I feel like I've broadened my horizons, but I'm pretty sure that none of these techniques will enter my regular repertoire. My norm is a little closer to the "simple knits" end of the spectrum: solid colors, basic patterns, clean lines. German chocolate cake is good for special occasions, but candy bars are definitely better for everyday.