Merry Christmas everyone!

Heart Mittens

The mittens from hell are finally done. 

It's was definitely a learning project for me. Here's what I learned: 

1. I really need a pattern when I knit stuff. Improvisation leads to frogging. 
2. Colorwork with both hands sucks. Or my English method sucks. Weird, distorted stitches. Can't really say I'll ever get better at it. 
3. Different tension produces different sized mittens. Again, yet another reason to dislike colorwork. And I really tried to maintain my tension. Damn the TENSION!!!!
4. I should probably trim my fingernails.

A simple project that was only supposed to take three day tops, and yet somehow it dragged on and I managed to turn it into a hell project, by doing every single thing wrong. 

The finished mittens don't look all that bad, but every time I look at them I just remember all the frustration and the stress they caused me. Maybe I'll learn to love them with time. 

I should probably add that the colors are not so bright in real life.

Quick! To the rip pond!

I started a mitten last week, to go with my hat. I decided to use absolutely every color of GGH Wollywash I had left. Decided to start the thumb after the second row of hearts. And then I just knit away. Is it going to be too long? Nah. Not so sure about the red color. Maybe the orange is a bit to garish? No, it isn't, what are you talking about, just keep knitting.  It'll work out.

This my friends, is called denial. 

I got as far up to my pinky, and then it became evident even to my brain that it's not going to work out. The mitten is too long, the thumb is too high, and the top portion without the hearts is too long and just looks blank.

So I'm going to rip it. Start the thumb way lower, probably right after the cuff. I might keep the red color, because I don't have enough of the other colors to repeat them on both mitts, but the orange is going away. 

I think I'll try a different thumb. I could end up ripping it once more, but right now my brain is telling me to go ahead - try that thumb technique you never used before, why stick with this one that works just fine for you? 

Oh, brain, one of these days you and I are going to need to sit down and have a serious conversation.