Friday, January 16, 2015

His and Hers Finergerless Mitts


These mitts might look a bit boring after the last pairs I knit, but they will match all my clothes and sometimes you need something that will do just that.  The yarn is my own handspun using the same merino fiber from Ashland that I used in the aforementioned mitts.  It's colored a rich navy blue, called "Midnight", and was originally part of my first plan to spin scrappy yarn.  But that idea went horribly wrong producing yarn that was too ugly to even photograph (really you have to trust me here it was UGLY.)  I'm afraid I was rather wasteful too and threw the yarn in the garbage can.  I hardly ever do that so I'm trying not to feel overly guilty about it. 

Well, after that crash and burn I decided to just ply the navy blue fiber with itself for an everyday pair of mitts for myself.  I picked out this pattern on Ravelry which was free (as I'm still trying to cut down on my hobby  spending) as well as having a nice nubby texture pattern I thought the single colored yarn would show off well.  My only modifications were to go down to a US size 4 needle (I like my mitts snug) and add a couple of pattern repeats to make them the length I wanted.  They came out just as I anticipated, which is a win in my book.

What made them even more winning was my son Sam's admiration of them and his request for a pair for himself.  A couple of years back, when he was 6, Sam put the kibosh down on my knitting anything for him much to my dismay.  I mean really what knitter doesn't want to knit for their children?  So, I was over the moon with his request and quickly whipped out a pair for him using the leftover yarn from mine.  They are a little funky as I only glanced at the pattern thus missing some key points, but of course that's what happens when you relax and get cocky.  You can see my notes on them here.  Sam still thought they were great and put them right on and began making punching jabs in the air such as a Boxer would do.  This made me laugh because I thought of the mitts as keeping his sweet hands warm and he thought super action hero costume.  My son is such a boy.  Ah, I love him.

Joining in with Linda for Creative Friday and Andrea for Fibre Arts Friday.

18 comments:

  1. One can never have too many mitts and yours are charming!

    Barbara at Knitting | Work in Progress
    http://knittingwip.blogspot.com/

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  2. How nice that he wanted them. Cool blue. I remember knitting my son a phone cosy that he said he could not possibly use without losing all street cred. Even my husband refuses all offers to make him a hat.

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    1. Thanks! Losing street cred would be rough for a boy. That's probably in my future too.

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  3. Yay, so excited that Sam let you knit for him!!! These mittens are cool--love the nubby texture and the rich navy color.

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    1. Hey thanks Denise! It is a coup for sure having Sam ask for something knitted! Now if Dan would only let me keep the house cooler so I can wear my mitts all the time ;)

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  4. Those are great mitts! I'm so glad your son likes them too.

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    1. Thanks! I've got "new knitted item" obsession and have been wearing them ever since I finished.

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  5. I've been on a mitt binge lately and appreciate seeing this pattern made up. Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Thanks Linda. Mitts are addicting as they go so fast. Are you making them in Fair Isle like your hats?

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  6. They look great, and always good when your child gets excited about a handknit

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    1. Thanks Evelyn. Your children always seem to love there handknits - I'm envious.

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  7. lovely fingerless mitts! So amazing you have your own home made yarn!

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    1. Thanks! Spinning was intimidating to me at first and now it's just as much an addiction as knitting is for me

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  8. Fantastic! I have three boys and yep, knitting for them has pretty much been given the thumbs down. Great that you found a winner.

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    1. Oh, I'm sorry to hear it's the same with your boys! I've started giving knitted goods to friends (for no reason sometimes) to fill my need to share my knitting. They seem to like it :)

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  9. I love the blue! Yes, they will go with everything. I have a few pair of fingerless mitts. Sometimes you just need that wee bit of hand warmth.

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    1. I'm even getting to wear them outside now as the weather has turned unseasonably mild here in MN.

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