Knit the Mitt Fantastic

This week was a very busy week. I found that knitting with a group of people could be rather enjoyable.

Before we go any further with my adventures with group knitting, I would like to proudly say that Mr. BF’s hat is finally done! Spring has not yet sprung in lovely Toronto, so he might still get to wear it for a while.

I’m quite pleased with the result. Though it took me multiple attempts to get it right, I learned a lot about fixing mistakes.

Tuesday evening I went over to the The Purple Purl and learned to make mittens! Though I think I’m quite confident with reading patterns, the actual techniques still often elude me. I learned two new ways of increasing and two new ways of decreasing. I also learned the 3-needle bind-off, and most importantly, how to make a thumb gusset (the part of the mitten where your thumb goes is knit after the rest of the mitt is done). I am quite happy about learning these new techniques! I feel that it adds more flexibility to what I can knit. I made a very (very) small sample mitten (will not even fit a newborn, methinks) using all the techniques. It’s rather crude, but with practice, it will come together, I am sure!

Sample mitten:

Thursday saw me attending Knitty’s Yarn Tasting at The Purple Purl. It was a lot of fun. The idea is that Knitty wants to test out new yarns on people who will actually knit with them. If a yarn isn’t a hit with the knitters, it doesn’t go into Knitty. It’s a great way to test out new yarns and work with something you wouldn’t normally try. At the end of the night, there was a draw for prizes, and I won a ball of Sonora yarn. I’ve never worked with a linen yarn, so this is a little treat for me. I’ve already decided I’m making a pair of springtime wristwarmers (fingerless gloves) with this new yarn. Now that I know how to make those thumb gussets, a simple pattern should be less daunting to tackle.

I hope to have at least one wristwarmer knit up by next week!

~ by tripknit on March 22, 2008.