How Cold Is It Mittens
Started: 13 Jan 2022
Finished: 24 Jan 2022
Pattern: How Cold Is It Mittens by Drunk Girl Designs
Yarn: KnitPicks Palette in colorways B961 (Light Blue) and 2425 (Dark Blue) – used just about half a skein of each
Needle: US 0 / 2 mm
Notes: This is now the second time I’ve knit these mittens and these ones went to a friend as a holiday present. It’s not too often that I knit for other people, but there are some folks who are absolutely knit-worthy! Most of the time I’m knitting for just me because it is a sizable amount of time, energy, and cost that can go into producing a knitted object. You’re damn right I’m going to do that for myself! There’s a longer conversation here that I saw on Twitter about men’s vs women’s craft/hobby endeavors and how women are called selfish if they engage in a craft or hobby for themselves while that’s not said of men.. and also a conversation about how I knit for the enjoyment of knitting and don’t need to monetize it and sell what I create in order to make it valid and worthwhile. Buuuut anyway, back to the mittens! I had to check back to my notes when I knit the first pair, and I did indeed go down 2 needle sizes to a size 0 since I tend to knit a bit loose in colorwork and the pattern called for a US size 2 which seemed way too big. I also always use a Norwegian Knitting Thimble for colorwork since I’m a continental knitter, and it works great to keep the yarn organized on my left hand without getting twisted or falling off my finger. The mittens came out a tiny bit tight straight off the needles, but after washing and laying out, the yarn loosened up a considerable amount and the fit is damn near perfect. The pattern also comes with a Norwegian style thumb, but I find that those twist the mitten funny when it’s being worn – our thumbs sprout out the side of the palm, not the center – so I switched up and added a “sore thumb” instead. For the thumb, I started increasing every other row at the edge of the mitten body starting at row 3 of the mitten chart till I got to 25 stitches and then slipped those onto a holder and backwards cast on 1 stitch. When it came time to work the thumb, I picked up 5 extra stitches along the thumb ‘crotch’ for a total of 30, then worked the thumb till it was long enough, decreased, and cast off. This is absolutely my favorite mitten thumb type to knit and IMHO, it fits the best without twisting or distorting the pattern while wearing the mittens. Uncensored version below the jump!
