I did not knit this

These were a gift for the new baby from a dear friend's mother. This is true Norwegian knitting mojo! I thought I should include them in my May Mittens Roundup.

The birds are Huginn and Muninn, Odin's ravens.

May Mitered Mittens

Daughter picked out the yarn, Rauma 3ply Stikkegarn. It's a finer guage than called for in the pattern, but the math is easy to adjust. I was impressed with the result of the i-cord cast on (easy and it looks nice) and the project overall was smooth sailing (unusual for me!).

Mayday!

from the Knitter's Almanac, Norwegian mittens; a fun and satisfying knit, once I got back into the swing of colorwork and started using 2 circular needles instead of dpns. I used Rauma Finullgarn which was fairly soft and not-scratchy compared to other Rauma wools. I chose oatmeal and brown, and the look is decidedly Norwegian. There's just one hitch, though...

"Mayday! Mayday! I wonder why it's 'Mayday'. The distress call. Why d'you say 'Mayday?' It's only a Bank Holiday. Why not 'Shrove Tuesday' or 'Ascension Sunday?' [Mimics] Ascension Sunday! Ascension Sunday! The fifteenth Wednesday after Pentecost! The fifteenth Wednesday after Pentecost!"

(10 points if you get the reference)

I knit two right mittens. Instead of pulling out the 2nd mitten, I'm just going to knit two lefts. At some point.

April Mystery Blanket

Ah, the April Mystery Blanket... not a mystery of construction as EZ suggests, but a mystery as to why anyone would want to knit this twice.

a maze of ends to weave in (at least two per square, plus perhaps 6 where I miscalculated ball endings, times 24 squares; plus 2 for each of the 15 corner-centers; plus 2 per each of the 38 sides to be woven, and at least 4 more for the border... more than 150 ends to be woven in)

a fuddle of fiddly little 4-round medallions

a devil of tiny pulling holes at each juncture that proves either I am not a good knitter, or EZ was an impossibly perfect knitter (perhaps both)

Knitting each square was oddly satisfying, and gratifyingly portable, but after the 10th square I found myself dreading the end of a square, knowing it meant that much more weaving (aka Kitchenering). I was not a fan of EZ's alternate weaving method described in this chapter (perhaps my yarn did not lend itself to this, and I'll be damned if I am going to "delicately steam" each little block.) I got fairly proficient at the two-needle method of weaving and I think I shall never forget it.

All in all: a learning experience, a good gift for the arsenal, and no regrets... but this pattern is definitely on my black list.

March 2.0

The Chainmail Sweater and I  duked it out for 5 epic days of knitting every second I could, usually 3 - 4 hours during the day (hey, I've got kids, that's an impressive number of day-time knitting hours), and 5 or 6 after bedtime.

During the knitting of this sweater I was a little obsessed with time, hoping to get it done by the end of March (full confession: I didn't, but I did get it done.) I timed myself. Each body row took almost exactly 10 minutes. Doing this reminded me of the slip-stitch color work technique where you only knit one color at a time. You knit each row twice, though. So I experimented. It was certainly faster to knit the row with just one color, slipping the other color, but then you have to knit the row again, knitting the second color stitches this time. So each row took about 16 minutes to finish by this method. Ultimately, wrangling two strands of yarn was worth it vs. the extra time the slip-stitch method took.

After the 5 days of marathon knitting the body was done, and I moved to the arms at a slower pace. By the time I realized I wasn't going to make my goal of being done in March, I only had the steeking and sewing up to do. I took my time on this, not feeling the deadline pressure, and wanting to do a good job.

 

My previous experience steeking this Colourmart merino was a little scary, as it is a very slippy yarn. I used the crochet method to secure the steek and steeked away. I'm going to use the word "steek" a few more times, just out of nervous energy. Steek, steek. Because steeking makes me nervous, even though I've had three successful steeking experiences so far... it just feels like the potential is high for it to go disastrously wrong.

But it all went ok, and I am very pleased with the product. It's a well-constructed sweater that fits me and has lots of visual impact. One of my all-time favorite knits. Thanks, EZ!

In case you care: Colourmart Merino 15/44 nm (burgundy and black) and Kauni Effektgarn. If you really care, go to Ravelry.

Remember When?

When I knit up the Knucks, I was so obsessed with what to put on them, and I still have a lingering obsession with 8-digit phrases now. Recently I ran across the Knuckle Tatoo Project, which would be a great resource for anyone considering some hardcore Knucks.

...or try some some hardcore knitterlyness 

...but I think these ones are only for knuckles, though, and the awesomeness would be lost in translation.

March 1.0

Mid March: project still in the early stages.

*

February projects bled over into March, but I was confident I would have time to finish the Chainmail sweater, which I was really looking forward to. I decided to use stashed Colourmart merinos, in black and burgundy, and went searching for  a harmonizing yarn. I found a Rowan yarn in  pink. Not usually my color, but the yarns seemed to match ok in the store so I bought it.

I went ahead with the pink/burgundy color combination, partly to try new things, partly reassured when a search through Ravelry for this project turned up this  beautilful sweater with similar colors.

Ultimately (though not until after about 10 inches of the body was done) I decided against this and ripped it all out. I wish I could have made up my mind faster, but I still don't regret it.

Instead of pink, I chose a burgundy-green-purple-blue Kauni Effektgarn. This was a very different type of yarn than the merino. It was very hairy and sticky and really sorta scratchy. But the colors are gorgeous, and I do like the effect of color change in the pattern.

Next time: a finished sweater!