Lost Mittens?

A pair of mittens from November 2015 were finally finished (they were intended as a gift, but then my niece got a new coat and the colours were all wrong.  Long story short: the unfinished mitts went into "hibernation").  While they were a smidge big for the youngest toddlers, they were still wearable.

Finished Mittens

Sadly these mittens have since gone MIA.  Yes, that's right: I lost my mittens.  At the centre, one of my toddlers wore them ('cuz it was still snowy).   The mittens went into the dryer along with all the other wet hats and mitts.  Then they were no more.  I suspect someone took them home by mistake, but they have yet to return.  Hope that means somebody likes them . . . 

To comfort my loss, I started another pair with some mods to create a better fitting mitt for smaller toddlers. Then I got to thinking: why worry over mods?  And wouldn't pure wool make a better mitten?  After all, wool's properties allow it to retain body heat even when wet. 

New mitten project in Briggs and Little

Browsing through my stash I found lots of Briggs and Little.  One skein would make lots of wee mitts.  So the search was on for a pattern using worsted weight.  Lo and behold, check out Another Pair of Mittens (Rav link).  

Mitten detail

Thus far I've made minor mods with the exception of how the thumb is created.  Instead of an after-thought thumb, I'm doing a regular one.  It seems to create less holes and it isn't as fiddly when picking up the live stitches.  I may have to tweak the numbers, but someone may have already done the math for me as tons of Ravelers have already made this pattern.

About All the Knitting . . .

There is much to share!

First off, all gifts were sent off and/or dropped off in time for the holidays.  That was a bit of a challenge.  You'd think a few hats would be easy to whip up, but I got distracted by work, school and family life in general--and of course I had to re-do one set of mittens and hat (remember this post ?).  And honestly, I wish I could have made more . . .  

Of course, when you knit for someone else, you never know if the recipient will appreciate the effort or even the item, especially if the recipient is a child.  It can be hit or miss (but I needn't have worried).

First Berry Hat with matching mittens

My sister and her kids loved their hats--and everything fit which is a double bonus, especially when the recipients are so far away.  Distance can make measuring next to impossible (although I suppose I could have asked my sister to measure the kids' heads, but that would have spoiled the surprise).

Second Berry Hat with matching mittens

Remember the  Pixie Earflap Hat with matching mittens?  As you may recall, the hat was the Iceland Earflap Hat  from Crystal Palace Yarns.  I made a few mods because the original was adult-sized and written for super-bulky yarn (I was working with bulky and needed toddler size).
Modifications included:
1) bulky yarn on 6.0 mm needles
2) brim worked in garter stitch instead of ribbing so it would blend into garter flaps
3) stitch count adjusted to accommodate toddler size:  when connecting flaps & joining in round, knit across 1st flap (15 st), cast on 9 st (instead of 12), knit across 2nd flap (15 st) and then cast on 15 stitches (instead of 18)--54 stitches total.
4) second hat had no I-cord ties, but was otherwise constructed in the same way

Last Minute Mittens

The mittens were an amalgam of two patterns:  mostly used Last Minute Mittens  from Valley Yarns, but used measurements from  Bernat's Family Mittens to help achieve appropriate size (and it helped to be working with toddlers who willingly tried on the mitts as I worked on them).

Modifications included:
1) used 5.0 mm needles instead of 6.5 mm
2) using women's size small, worked cuff in K2P1 for 1 1/2" (instead of 2").  Then worked 1 plain row in knit before working thumb gusset as written
3) after round 9 of thumb gusset,, worked 1 plain knit round before putting aside 6 thumb stitches on holder
4) worked body as written, but only until length was 5" (instead of 6-7").  Decreases worked as written
5) For thumb only worked 5 rows on 9 st (approx 1") before decreasing/casting off


I'm so pleased with the final results that I'd like to make more mittens.  Hard to find toddler-sized mittens that fit easily and stay on.  I tested these on toddlers in my classroom, so the pattern works.  I think I'll start by finishing the rust mitts I couldn't use for my niece.


More to come later  . . .