Not unlike the Bermuda Triangle.

I started writing this morning and it was the most awful self-referential claptrap.  Really.  I know self-referential and this was the bad kind.  Do not even reassure me.  So instead I will tell you about the most awesome knitting ever.

Really.

Perfect pattern, perfect yarn, holiday = a knitter vanishes.  Allow me to explain.

Just before Christmas I got to hang out with the fabulestest New York knitters Chez Too Much Wool - and you know what, I can't even pretend I'm not the luckiest girl in the tri-state area, I am.  The nice thing about it is that I bet you are too - tell me the knitting people in your life are not almost universally the best you know?  Anyway.

Visiting from the frozen Midwest was Ms. GreenDillyBeans, packing a pair of mitts she had finished the day before.  They were brilliant - 4ply yarn, perfect fit, gorgeous pattern.  I wanted to steal them.  I would show you, but the next day she lost them.  I almost cried, I tell you.  Cried.

But instead, I decided that the pattern was the perfect thing to do with the Sargasso cashmere blend I finished a little bit ago.  About to get on a plane for the holidays - interesting pattern?  Check.  Small project?  Check.  Handspun you adore more than life itself?  Check.  Sanity for the holidays?  CHECK baby.

I kept meaning to tell you about it, but Christmas ate me. 
I cast on and did a few rounds of ribbing then stuck the whole thing in my bag for the plane.  My self-control was heroic, I tell you.  HEROIC.

This is under the orange tree as sunrise come over the mountain, after a day of travel.
I used floss to hold the thumb stitches, as I was on a plane and my resources were limited.

Mitt the second, Christmas eve.  By which time I totally needed tequila.   If I could have found a blue agave to pose it with, I would have.  I find it interesting that my family - who know not of the blog - said nothing about the photos of knitting with plants.  I think they just think I am insane (Well, really, my brother knows of the blog, but he doesn't KNOW the blog, if you see the difference.)

Finished the pair on the plane home - and have barely taken them off since.  The right mitt - knit on the plane out - is distinctly larger than the left, knit over the holiday.  I can't imagine why, can you?  I have enough yarn left to make a third mitt and I am FIGHTING the desire to redo the loose one.  Even though I am the only one who can tell the difference.

I love them.

Admire the thumb shaping.

It is very hard to photograph one's own hands, by the way.  Tripod and timer were used.

Genius who Wrote the Pattern:  Mitaines a chevrons @ www.tinysushi.com (Ravelry link)

Genius who Discovered the Pattern:  Green Dilly Beans (replacement pair underway)

Genius who Blended the Fiber:  Abby's Yarns 25 cashmere/50 merino/25 silk blend

 

2.25 mm Inox DPNS, handspun fingering weight

Mods - 32 rows of ribbing, not 10, made thumb a few rows deeper.  Added another column of rib on the outside of the hand - was a mistake I liked and decided to repeat on purpose.

Used 1.9 ounces of the 3 ounces I had, or maybe a bit less than 200 yards.  The perfect project for small amounts of luxury handspun yarn.  Or luxury yarn in general.   Go.  Knit some now.   

Comments

[Geri]

Wow! These look a lot like fingerless gloves I designed and knit from yummy Drops Alpaca yarn. I started to write the pattern down but gave up. Check out mine on my blog:
http://notjustaboutknitting.blogspot.com/2007/09/back-to-school-not-for-me.html

Yours are beautiful.

[Manise]

A great marriage of yarn and pattern and handspun to boot! Very nice!

[Melanie]

My holidays are a lot less stressful now that my family (who I love dearly) doesn't actually congregate to celebrate (too geographically scattered).

Thank you for posting about this pattern! I was so taken with these after your post that I cast on for a pair last night in some alpaca. Absolutely delectable.

[Jessica]

"I kept meaning to tell you about it, but Christmas ate me." I'm totally going to have to use that line some time!! Love the mitts. Great project for handspun. See you at a knitting group sometime soon I hope. :)

[carolyn]

swoon. those are gorgeous. you've inspired me!

[lanea]

So pretty! So, so pretty.

[Jocelyn]

They are truly gorgeous! Congratulations on surviving family holidays -- and it's good to know I'm not the only one who feels no overwhelming urge to share the fact of my blog with mine. :)

[k]

Define self-referential, please.
Anyway. Thanks! I have now changed my thumb gores. I knew there was something wrong, and now I see a solution.

[Laura Sue]

Why thanks, I believe I will(knit a pair, that is)! Thx so much for the link to the pattern. I'm joining the "use up your stash in 2008" on Ravelry and this may be just the thing to use up some of it since usually I plan sweaters and 12 sweaters for the year would be a bit much. (Run on sentence alert!)

[Charlene]

Yum yum yum (sorry, my response to things I like seems to be tied to food). I just got laid off yesterday, and that looks like a perfectly lovely consolation prize. I *know* I have to have suitable handspun.

Next time you're in the midwest you should stop by and visit. I have a spare room.

[stashhaus]

Wow - they are gorgeous! I've downloaded the pattern already - now to go find some yarn.

[Lizbon]

Mmmmmm. Delicioso. And for the record, I am also a fan of the self-referential claptrap. Or a practitioner who can't point fingers. Or both.

[Marin]

They're lovely. And I'm lusting over the yarn for sure.

Also? As the Queen of Self-Referential Clap-Trap, I'd never call you out for self-referential clap-trap. It would be hypocritical. Besides, I'd probably like it.

[Sarah]

What a wonderful match between your yarn and pattern. I hope you continue to enjoy them.

[Ruth]

Gorgeous mitts! Besides, if you are right handed, the right hand is probably a wee bit bigger. If not, a little work with the gripper gizmo should fill things out (because that would make a lot more sense than reknitting....)

[anne]

how pretty; mitts are just the thing for that yarn indeed.

[Michelle]

They are lovely. I'm off to queue them.

[Sarah]

Yours look fantastic! I've realized that I'm looking at my new yarn supply as a potential slew of chevron mitts. Glad you agree that this is such a great pattern!

[claudia]

Cute and incredibly useful.

[Paula]

Those are really beautiful. What a wonderful way to use your gorgeous handspun.

[kmkat]

I especially like that they cover your arms higher than your wrists and your fingers and thumbs to the second joint. Warm, mmmm.

[Stephanie]

Go ahead and reknit one! You'll enjoy doing it and it'll bug you otherwise.

They're gorgeous, BTW.

[Alida]

Don't worry about the one bigger than the other - one hand and one foot always bigger than the other! Alida

[Carrie]

Oh the heartbreak of lost knits. Yours are lovely.