Secret Project Revealed!

Saturday, September 29, 2007

My semi-secret project is finally done! Let me present: My So Called Mitts. These were inspired by the great stitch pattern in My So Called Scarf by sheep in the city. I don't know the history of the name but I always thought it had something to do with the TV series. :D At least it looks like something Angela would wear. :)

I checked with the sheep herself and she gave me the go-ahead to write up the pattern. Expect the free pattern (!) to appear here soon(ish) when I get off my lazy bum to actually type it up. :P But for now, my project notes:

Pattern: by me! inspired by the great stitch pattern in My So Called Scarf. Free pattern coming soon!
Yarn: 80g of Novita 7 Veljestä Colori (75% wool / 25% polyamide), colorway #899 (multicolor/deep fall colors). This colorway is from the early 2000's so, yeah, discontinued. :/
Needles: 4.0mm and 4.5mm 80cm aluminum circular needles

• $$$: The yarn was old leftovers from a couple of projects. This color is no longer available but the same yarn goes for about 3-5 € / 100 g.
• Pattern: I'm a bit biased to comment on the pattern. ;) I really like the stitch pattern and think that it looks best with variegated yarn with short color repeats. But I didn't realize just how dense and non-stretchy the fabric would be, so the mitts are very snug.
• Techniques: The pattern itself is really simple. The only bit where it gets a little complicated is the starts and ends of row #1 in the stitch pattern. The stitch pattern is offset on every other row so that no matter what number of stitches you cast on, it's never even. It doesn't matter when you're working the stitch pattern back and forth (like in the scarf) but in circular knitting, you have to cheat a bit at the ends.
• Yarn: Novita 7 Veljestä is a sturdy, worsted weight work horse. At first, I was bummed that I didn't have enough yarn for a scarf, but it wouldn't have made a good scarf anyway -- it's fairly scratchy. But I really liked the colors and think that they work best in small accessories. In larger garments, the yarn would be is too busy and distracting.
• Instant Gratification: It's a quick knit! I think I spent more time swatching and figuring out how to do the stitch pattern in the round than what I spent knitting the mitts.
• Will I Wear Them? Yes! Great for fall when the morning's are nippy but you don't want to wear mittens yet.
• Final score: 4/5.

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