Pattern: NHM #9, by Terri Shea
Yarn: Falk, by Dale of Norway
Needles: 2.5 mm wooden dpns
Beautiful pattern, right?
I also love the details in Terri Shea's book, like how to handle the thumb stitches so that the pattern moves smoothly from the palm up the inside of the thumb. Nice, no?
Only one problem.
Even after shrinking them as much as I could (until the floats started pulling in too much) They are still several inches too long.
Sigh.
Now, I'm no expert but I'm not an inexperienced knitter either. At some point in this process I really should have known that things were going horribly, horribly wrong. I mean, really. Look at those mittens. They're ET ready!
What I don't understand is why I kept going. Why did I not stop, listen to that annoyingly right voice inside, and fix the problem? Sure my gauge was matching the gauge in the pattern. (Still does, by the way.) That doesn't change that the finished measurements of my mittens is three inches longer than that listed in the pattern!
Willful denial is the only answer.
But! I promised a pair of mittens to my swap partner, and frankly these NHM #9s can't really be called mittens. Oven mitts, maybe, but not mittens.
That can only mean one thing.
Wish me all the speed knitting vibes you can muster.
7 comments:
Oh, that is the very saddest face ever!
You are a stubborn thing, aren't you? :) But you often have good instincts! I thought for sure they'd shrink enough.
Well, what if you just let them completely felt? Sure, it would look different, and somewhat obscure the pattern, but I've seen some nice felted things wither detailed patterns still showing. They would be really warm and firm, too, once felted. If they're still too big, you could knit a thin liner out of that red angora yarn you have.
Or heck, you could use mittens instead of stockings at Christmas!
The new ones look pretty. I've been wanting to buy that book ever since Adrian knit that initials mitten. Although your results are not really a good advertisement for the book -- what do you think happened? Why are they so big? Norwegian hands are no bigger than other people's hands. Did you do too many pattern repeats or something? Are the gauge numbers in metric? She does give an errata page and download: http://www.selbuvotter.com/errata.htm
Good luck with pair #2!
That is indeed a very sad face. I am very sorry for laughing.
I like the new mittens! Will the old ones fit your hubs? Also, since I am always having to go down multiple needle sizes to get stitch gauge (very loose knitter), I am all too familiar with the whims of row gauge. Don't have my book handy and can't remember if Terri gives row gauges for the patterns.
Anyhoo, Arrgh!
They are so pretty. I'm sorry the pattern did not work out the way you wanted it to. Every project has a lesson to be learned. I'm convinced of that!
Do you do your mittens on two circulars or one? Very interesting. I'd like to know more about it when you have time. Maybe there is a book or website you can recommend? Thanks!!!
my norwegian mittens are huge too. i think they are supposed to be??
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2299/2251385244_36b66cf207.jpg
I guess they're still too big, but what a shame to count such lovely mittens as a failure.
Time to go find a non-knitting big-handed friend, who is getting a surprisingly nice holiday present this year ...
I can honestly say that I feel your pain. Although Iva has not posted the mittens I sent her yet I had the same problem. Only her mittens were like 13 inches long and I had to rip them back to the cuffs and take out the extra rows I put in. The chart has extra rows for people with large hands. I didn't quite understand that at first.
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