Start Celebrating

Shoot!  I wanted to get one more post out in November and here it is Dec 1 and I'm just getting to it now.  Oh well- on the upside I have much progress to share.

Firstly- let us celebrate the END OF THE POLARIS MITTEN DISASTER!  (Or at least, near the end, as I technically have to knit the smaller mitten too- but I can at least GIVE this pair to it's intended recipient.)

Pattern: Polaris by Rebecca Blair
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine  (so soft!) in colorway 1285 and Little Knits Sockulent in colorway 1
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm)
Notes: My issues with these have been well documented on this blog, this is ENTIRELY my issue and not the fault of the pattern.  I didn't do the extra  folded over inside area that the mitten calls for, and I probably regret that, given that despite powerful blocking the cuffs still don't lie perfectly flat.

 

I will be honest- there's 2 errors.  1 is on the thumb and essentially invisible, so it won't eat at me but if you look closely at the cuffs, you'll see I got a bit hasty on my fourth go at it, and I skipped knitting 2 rows.  (At the very bottom- you'll see it.)  I am letting it go, (as much as I am able to),  but man I'm just so relieved I got these done.

 

Going up a needle size improved the sizing, but I knit these tight.  I relied heavily on the blocking to add some additional space in the mitten and I think, thankfully, that worked out pretty well.  All I need to do now is wrap these puppies and give them to one of Parker's teachers for Christmas.

I'm was so relieved that I immediately cast on the next mitten I wanted to knit.  Meet Warm Hearted by Rose Hiver.  (free pattern!)

 

The pattern is perfectly named for it's intended recipient, and unlike Polaris, these have actually been a breeze to knit so far.  In fact, I'm well into mitten #2 already.  (That's a good thing- I need to gift these on Dec 11!!!!)  I'm really glad this has been relatively pain free as Polaris nearly put me off mittens for good!

Since Warm Hearted is going SO well, there's this stupid voice in the back of my head that says "why don't you just knit a plain pair of mittens for Parker's music teacher too? "  But, I'm hoping I'll regain my senses and stop listening to the voices in my head and instead pay attention to the more rational side of me that says "QUIT WHILE YOU ARE AHEAD!"

And I suppose we can also celebrate that I've made as much progress as I have on my plain Jane self striping socks- because it means my son has been content to play and let me knit in his class.  (Now if only I could leave... baby steps!)

I'm going to try and squeeze as much progress as I can in the next few weeks, and I'll do my best to blog the progress, but now starts our Christmas season, which is insanely hectic at the best of times.  At least I don't have any Dec 24/25 deadlines this year!  Let's celebrate the progress I've made and be excited to know that there's more to come!