My cruiser mittens are done!
I wanted a fitted mitten, so followed the pattern for the small sized mittens, and other than using a smaller needle for the cuff, I only deviated thrice. The first was to use a two stranded tubular cast on for the cuff (excellent video demonstration can be found here ).
The second was to help alleviate the ‘dog ears’ at the top of the mitten. I simply passed the first stitch of each side over the second, and the last stitch of each side with the penultimate stitch, before using the Kitchener stitch to close the top. To be fair, I prefer a rounded mitten. If I did it again, I’d sub that in instead.
Speaking of the top of the mitten, I continued the cable into the decrease section. I found that the decrease section of the mittens became a bit pouffy without the cable. I simply started the decreases on round two of the cable chart.
Here is a look at the yarn and fibre:
The details:
Cast on: January 17th, 2012
Cast off: January 24th, 2012
Pattern: Cruiser
Yarn: My handspun. 3ply DK weight Lincoln longwool.
Fibre: Dyed by Sue’s Crafts, currently available at the Knit Studio
A couple notes on the pattern. Firstly, it isn’t charted. Then again, it isn’t a difficult cable and really doesn’t need to be charted. Secondly, were I to do it again, I’d likely use a sore thumb (where the thumb gussets cause the thumb to stick out to the side). This pattern basically uses an afterthought thumb, and unlike norwegian style mittens there are no increases to the thumb hole. I found the palm of the hand to be a bit tight and the cuff too loose, but I didn’t want to go up a size as the finger section would have been oversized. A sore thumb would have solved this dilema. Then again, I have wide palms and small fingers. However, they still fit well and I’m looking forward to seeing how they wear.