Hannahmits

Now that it is January, everyone is getting to unveil the secret knitting that they've been doing for the past couple months. I have all of my secret knitting wrapped up in babies instead of Christmas, so I'm still stitching on the down-low. I do have one present that I can share though.

These weren't originally intended to be a Christmas present, but the timing worked out perfectly. (Wouldn't it be nice if that's the way all Christmas presents were.) While hanging out Hannah saw Owls and thought it was adorable (because it undeniably is). I had been wanting to knit something for Hannah, but I knew I wasn't ready to undertake a sweater for someone else (I haven't even made one for Hubby yet, and I have him and his entire wardrobe available for measurement at all times.) I also wasn't prepared to take on something that daunting in secret. Instead I decided to keep it simple and I found the mitten pattern. Once the mittens were done, Hubby helped me hijack Hannah and we took her to M & J Trimmings to pick out her own button eyes. Unfortunately, I never got good pictures of these mittens in the sun light before Hannah took them with her to brave the Arkansan winter. You will just have to believe me that they are the color of a gray squirrel and aren't really brown at all.

Pattern: Give a Hoot by Jocelyn Tunney
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Worsted in Squirrel Heather

Needles: I'm sorry I forgot to write it down.
Notes: I can't tell you what needles I used, because all I am sure of is that I had to change needle sizes. I made the first mitten and when I tried it on, I was just not happy with how it fit me. My hand stretched the stitches out too much, and no matter what I tied together and stitched over, I couldn't seem to close up the gap at the thumb. So, for the second mitten I changed needle sizes and it fit beautifully.

I also learned something very important with this project. I need to make mitten thumbs longer. I have a pair of mittens never been quite happy with. The join at the thumb is full of gaping holes that I have tried to darn, sew, and knot shut with no luck. I haven't made myself a new set because my fingerless mitts are usually enough. While I was fretting over my wrong gauge for the first mitten, I showed it to a co-worker who use to own her own yarn store in Manhattan. She mentioned that I should make my thumb longer, and so I did. Now that the mittens had enough fabric to cover the full length of my thumb, the join didn't stretch out and there were no gaping holes.

Pretty Pretty Pictures

All of last weeks running around helped Hubby come to a realization. He is already jealous of the warm fingers that I am going to have during Thursday's parade. I tried really hard not to have any last minute holiday knitting, and despite celebrating Christmas early I thought I was successful. That was silly thinking. Hubby is now in need of his own gloves instead of socks by the end of December, he is going to be getting (if the knitting deities allow) Broad Street Mittens by the end of the week. I started them last Thursday night so I could take them on my errands and what not Friday. On a long trip back from Queens I did my first subway knitting and finished the first cuff. This weekend I finished the first glove minus the mitten cap. I've moved on to the second glove and I'll do both the mitten caps after that just in case time runs out. I think two fingerless gloves will be better than one full mitten. I was going to take pictures today to share, but my new Interweave Knits arrived and by the time I pulled my nose out of it, the sunlight was gone. I don't want to leave you with out any pretty knitting though so here are pictures from some of the projects that I am excited about.

Parade Mittens

I've convinced Hubby that we must go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade this year. We both have childhood memories of watching the parade. For me it was whenever I spent the holidays with my grandparents that I got to see it. I'd be sitting in my pajamas eating breakfast and it would be on the tv in the dining room. I'd zip away during commercial breaks to get dressed, brush my teeth, and sometimes pull a brush though my hair. To say I'm excited about getting to see it live is an understatement. So far, I'm not at all phased by the thought of showing up at 6:30 to see a 9:00 parade. I doubt that it is going to become an annual tradition since neither of us really like crowds that much, but it is one of those things that I've got to do once.

Hubby is still a little reluctant about the weather, so I am trying to get us as equipped as possible. I took a sock detour and knit myself some mittens. My thoughts are that this will help me make sure to take lots of pictures because my fingers will stay warm. Hubby is usually the camera man, but if his fingers get cold, I will be able to relieve him of his duties as he warms them back up.

These are Subway Mittens from Interweave Knits. I used some left over Andean Silk from my Francis. They knit up very quick. I think it only took a couple nights of watching tv. The pattern calls for a pocket on one mitten to hold your subway card so you can just swipe your hand in front of the card reader and keep your fingers toasty. I haven't put a pocket on for a couple reasons. First, I put pockets on some baby dresses that I did awhile back, and I did a horrible job. That is something that I am going to have to practice before incorporating it into anymore projects. (Ohh maybe I should practice by sewing my gauge swatches onto each other.) Second, I can just swipe my wallet in front of the card reader so my fingers don't have to be pulled out of the mittens anyway. In the spirit of the pattern being more than just mitts, I'd like to put something on them. I haven't decided what yet though. I'll have to go poke my head in my yarn basket and search for inspiration.