Persistent Knitter

We have a mitten:

And the back of the mitten too:

What, you thought I only knit the top side? :)

It’s Anemoi by Eunny.  The design is absolutely fabulous! it took me about 4 different tries to get the color combination I wanted. I was trying a variegated yarn instead of the rust-red, and while it was pretty, it just wasn’t what I was looking for.

I have one issue with the pattern in general, and because of that I might need to reknit this mitten.  The cuff is just too tight!  The pattern recommends using size 0’s to knit the cuff.  As you can see, the cuff is corrugated, using two colors. This means it has no elasticity whatsoever.  If I had knit it on size 0’s, I don’t think I would have been able to get the durned thing on at all!

I went up to size 2.75mm needles to knit this cuff, and while I can get it over my hand, it’s a bit tight.  Then in order to make the hand of the mitten not gargantuan, I dropped down to a 2.25mm needle to do the colorwork.  In between the cuff and the hand patterning, you increase 12 stitches, which is quite a lot. On the left mitten I’m casting on 8 more stitches, which I hope will give me enough room in the cuff to easily put it on and off. Then I’ll increase the final 4 stitches right after the cuff.

I can’t decide if want to try to block this mitten before I decide if I’ll keep it this way or not. It was quite fun to knit, and went pretty fast once I got past the entirely fussy cuff.  I’d be interested in finding out if others had this same issue with an overly-tight cuff, or if it was just me.

I’d like to point you to a totally impartial review of Knit Visualizer up against two other programs that also will let you create charts:

http://www.knittingcurmudgeon.com/2007/01/best-quote-i-heard-all-day-in-order-to.html

To skip to the relevant part:
“Knit Visualiz[er], with the addition of color functionality, is a
professional-grade knitter’s charting program. The high-quality
graphics, the ease of charting and the incredible stitch symbol
palette, along with the parsing, make this my choice.”

Note that color is not available in the current release, but will be available in version 2.0 when it is released.

A wonderful box made it’s way to my house recently.  It only took an extra week or so because of all the snow we’ve had; but it was definately worth the wait.  Here’s one of what was inside, shownig off my latest handspun:

(click for larger version)
That is a purple heart niddy noddy, hand crafted by none other than my wonderful mom.  You can take a peek at her business-blog here. Ok, so there’s not much there, and she’s playing around with the format, and I might get a call later with her griping that I’ve given away her secret blog, but owell :)

Here’s the yarn off the niddy:

THe fiber was the monthly selection from Spunky Fibers, color named Pie in the Sky.  I don’t remember what the fiber was; but it was a very long staple, without much crimp. (Somewhere around here is the small tag I got with it; or maybe mom will post a comment with what the fiber is since she’s in the same club).  It’s got a lot of shine to it, and the picture shows it grey where it’s really more brown.

Also, here’s a sneak peek at something you’ll be able to order from The Knit Foundry soon:

A sample sized niddy noddy, and it fits perfectly in a 6" Ultimate Storage Container. If you buy a sample niddy you’ll get the container included; this will make it easier to put in with your spinning supplies and not lose the smaller pieces.   This makes an approximate 12 length skein (meaning each loop is 24" from point A, back around to point A). The wood is Ramin; it’s a hard wood and it’s a natural colored finish.   

We will also be selling full size niddy noddies.  Fancy woods (Cherry, Lyptus, Purple Heart) will come with handles that will make 2 yard and 1.5 yard skeins.   A more economical, yet still amazingly beautiful, niddy noddy with one handle to make a 2 yard skein out of Ramin will also be available.  (The design is the same as the mini niddy).

I need to verify prices, etc, but if you are interested in ordering one of these, you can email me (nancy
AT knitfoundry DOT com) to let me know.  I’m working on a webpage with
details on how long it will be before your order will be shipped, etc.
I’m waiting for the first shipment of stock on these; but letting us
know soonest that you are interested would be great so we can adjust
our stock levels appropriately.