You rest, you rust

Endpaper Mitts for moi

Project whore that I am (that'll get me some interesting hits via Google, won't it?), I could not resist the sudden urge that hit me last week to make Eunny Jang's Endpaper Mitts pattern. I'd been thinking about it for a while, because it's such a good-looking finished product, and because it does get a little chilly sometimes at the LYS, as well as at my office, to which I must return in two months (*SOB*), and in order to stay functional in a chill, my hands need to be covered. And I must say, these mittens are an extremely handsome way to achieve that covering.

Moreover, this project would force me to learn another type of cast-on and bind-off, and it would also be an excellent opportunity to practice stranded knitting holding both strands with my left hand, which has been a goal of mine for some time. Throw in the joy of finding something new to do with sock yarn, and you have a winner.

And so, off I went.

This is a delicious pattern. Extremely simple, with extremely gorgeous results. Despite having (as always) a Schedule, I couldn't seem to put this down (good thing I'm about two weeks ahead of myself).

I just finished off the first one today and am LOVING it:



The stitches are a tad wonky where one of the needle joins was (the fault of my still-inexpert-but-improving-decently skill with the single-handed stranding technique); it's a touch itchy (the fault of the yarn); and the side seams have a tendency to travel because they twist around my hand a bit from their intended side-of-the-hand positions (I think this must be the fault of physics, because the mitt itself fits very snugly indeed)...but those are the only non-gushing things I have to say about it. Despite the indoor temperature of my house being perfectly reasonable, I have been wearing this thing since I finished it (except I did take it off to dump a load of diapers in the washing machine...after all my hard work there's no way I want this thing tainted with urine).

I do feel a little tickle of second mitt syndrome at the back of my brain, but I'm pretty sure I can get over that.

(P.S. For anybody thinking of making this pattern, it's touted as 'reversible'...I'm pretty sure this refers to being able to wear the mittens on either hand, as opposed to being able to turn it inside-out and have it look good.)

Everything else on my plate has slowed way down because of the Endpaper Mitts, though.

Mitred corners blanket for Raymond

I'm on the last eighth! The end is nigh!

Leafy baby poncho

I just finished the third repeat of the self-striping pattern this afternoon. I'm guessing it'll take about five to finish the thing, so not far now.