November 22, 2008

Mitten progress and comment commenting

The state of the emergency replacement mittens:
postwar saturday
The pattern is Postwar Mittens by Mary Ann Stephens from the second (and just as fab as the first!) issue of Twist Collective. The issue came out about two weeks ago and I marked this mitten pattern as something I'd definitely like to make... I just didn't realize how soon it would be!


A few comments on comments from the last post...
First, gauge and size!
Margaret commiserated about row gauge, and wondered if Terri gave one. Shana wondered what went wrong and was curious about whether the book is still a good buy.  E speculated that maybe the mittens are just supposed to be huge!
The facts: Terri gives a row gauge of 32 rounds per 4 inches, and specifies that the mitten will end up 9.5" long. While my stitch gauge was right on, my row gauge was more like 29 rounds per 4 inches. My mitten is (blush) 11.5" long. 

The moral of the story? Measure your row gauge in your swatch, not just the stitch gauge. But you all knew that already! 

If I had used a thinner yarn, it probably would have worked out. But since my Falk was slightly heavier than the recommended yarn, I ended up with plump stitches. Going down a needle size would have solved the madness. So, Shana, I still recommend the book heartily and take full responsibilty for the disastrous results!

Shannon wondered what kind of needles I normally use for mittens. My approach has been the same as with socks: either two circs or a set of dpns. The dpns slowed me down a bit since I had to manage two yarns during those frequent needle changes. I'm doing this pair on two circs, and so far so good! 


2 comments:

Shannon said...

These are beee-u-ti-ful!!! I will have to try the 2 circ method. So far I've only made mittens on DPNs and socks on magic loop (one 40" circ). I wonder if it is possible to do mittens with just one needle??? Will have to do my research! Thanks, Vilde!

knottygnome said...

the new mittens are very pretty. i love the colors you chose.