Note for those of you in the UK: I bought my copy of Selbuvotter from KCG Trading. Buying from them means you’re helping support the Knitting and Crochet Guild and their work in promoting and raising awareness of knitting and crochet in the UK and are generally being a nice person, plus with the exchange rate being screwy at the moment, it works out cheaper than ordering from the US so you can be smug about it as well.

Hurrah for my first mittens! There are so many things I have never knitted, so I’m pleased that I can finally cross mittens off the list.

The whole Selbuvotter book is brilliant that it was hard to pick just one pattern, but these were the ones I loved best when I first got the book. They won’t be my last, either. I need a lot more picking-up-of-thumb-stitches practice, after all.

I love the way the thumb gusset grows from a series of backward loop stitches cast on as you work the bottom half of the mitt. It gave me a strange amount of pleasure to make the little loops and see the palm get wider.

Picking up stitches for the second mitt ended up slightly better, but I still couldn’t get the pattern aligned. I also buggered up the stitch pattern a bit, but can live with it. The second mitt also ended up being smaller than the first. I’d always read that once you relax with your knitting, it gets looser, so why that should be, I don’t know. But the size difference is not enough to be noticeable til you put them on and who else will be wearing them except me? *guards mittens from lurking mitten thieves*

I’ll be magic looping my next pair for certain. I wanted to follow the pattern as given to start with because I am a coward, but I magic looped the thumb on the second mitt and it was so much easier than wrestling with three needles each with a tiny number of stitches.

I suspect my yarn choice probably won’t be as hard-wearing as, say, a Shetland yarn, but the mitts are so soft that I don’t mind in the slightest. It feels virtuous to have used stash for once instead of deciding that nothing I have will do. I have issues about using stash for gifts, but that’s another long and rambling post, I think.

And a final self-indulgent photo of the inside of the mittens, because I love how the pattern looks in reverse:

For the record, I think the next pair I make will be either NHM #9 (Ravelry link) or NHM #3. Ruth started these recently and hers made me want some as well! They can be my reward for finishing at least one pair of Christmas socks for MrB!

It dawned on me this week that, apart from the Endpaper Mitts, I have never knitted a single pair mittens or gloves. Of course, there were the ill-fated Winter Garden mittens which just proved that I don’t have any colour sense, but they’re the exception.

It’s certainly not due to a lack of suitable patterns. I have Knitting New Mittens and Gloves, as well as a copy of the much sought-after Mostly Mittens by Charlene Schurch. But as I’ve also been gifted some very lovely mittens in the past as well, it’s never been very high on my list of priorities.

Then, earlier in the year, I chanced a peek at Diane’s copy of Selbuvotter: Biography of a Knitting Tradition. This book follows the story of the beautiful Norwegian mittens and gloves and contains over 30 patterns adapted from original mittens and gloves. I love the simplicity of the black and white colour scheme - no chance of me messing that up! - and snaffled my own copy of the book a few months ago.

So lots of mitten patterns, but no completed mittens. And then last week, Winter came. It took everyone by surprise, I think, as we dashed out in the week to buy winter coats for the small people who are never quite small enough to fit into the previous year’s coats. I realised that fingerless mitts just weren’t going to cut it this year, and my fingers needed to be warm as well.

After a quick stash dive for some RYC Cashsoft 4ply in black and cream, I started my own pair of Selbuvotter. These are the niftily titled NHM #7 mittens (Ravelry link). This pattern was my favourite when I first looked at the book, although now I have about a dozen more.

I am not particularly happy with the job I did of picking up the stitches for the thumb (marked with a big red ring just so you can’t miss my ineptitude). It looks messy, though I’ve neatened up the looser stitches and closed the holes. But as these gloves are for me, rather than a gift, I’m not going to stress over it, but try to make the second one neater.

I’m halfway up the chart for the second mitt, so hopefully the weather won’t get any colder before I get the chance to finish the pair!

Even with a helpful bunny knitting a few rounds, these mittens just aren’t working:

It’s not a case of the colours not going together; they look fine on the cuff. And I’ve made the green yarn dominant (holding it in my left hand and bringing it under which means more of the yarn shows on the right side), so it should be going zing! and woo! and leafy. But it’s getting completely lost in the purple background. I bet right now you’re all squinting at your monitors, trying to see the green pattern. And that’s the problem.

One option is to switch the colours around, but I would prefer to have purple as the main colour. I think a lighter green might work better. *ponders* In any case, these are going off to be frogged while I decide what to do. And my fingers are no nearer being warm and cosy…

So this is definitely not lace knitting. But it’s getting mighty cold here at the moment, and with the threat of snow, I want to be prepared. I’ve been wearing my Bronte Mitts quite happily so far, but now I need to get my fingers covered up!

Enter Diane’s Winter Garden Mittens. I’ve had four balls of Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift in my stash since the summer, so it was just a case of finding the yarn *ahem* and getting started.

I found the two colour ribbing took a long time to do, but it looks so pretty that I’m glad I persevered. I did consider just knitting the cuff in one colour…

Anyway, I also have a new helper to knit a few rounds for me:

He came all the way from Kai’s house in Germany this morning, and he’s already making himself at home…

I just hope he’s housetrained.