when the city clears and sun ascends

After a very, very long (and inexcusable) absence, Kniterary Club has returned! Naturally I've finished a project that is ill-timed for the season, but since I love knitting and spring pretty much boundlessly equally, it's okay.

These mittens are knit from yarn I dyed myself last summer during the class I taught at Old Village Yarn Shop. I picked an alpaca-nylon blend, fingering weight yarn, figuring I would knit socks like I had with all my other home-dyed yarns. When my other mittens started to deteriorate from overuse, I knew what this yarn was destined to be. Since it was fingering weight, I had to hold it double-stranded with size 3 needles...I'm pretty patient, but knitting mittens on size 0 needles just wasn't happening that day. These turned out to be a perfect density, nice and warm, no drafts come in! Once they've been worn a bit, they'll felt just a little, and that will be ideal.

I used The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns as a guide, but changed a few things to customize these (although I liked my original mittens, there were a few minor upgrades I wanted to make). First, I made the cuff a lot longer; this way they'll stay tucked well under my coat sleeves. I started the thumb gusset a little later, too, and didn't increase quite as much. I was hoping the skinnier thumb would help the mitten feel a little less oversized. I was really happy with the improvements, but will have to wait till next winter for these to really prove themselves...which is TOTALLY okay with me! We're all so hungry for spring.

Now, concerning the blog: I will post when I can, what I can...but I'm back in grad school and time is precious! I've missed my knitting, though. Let's say I was in hibernation for the winter...