Test Knitting Adventures, Part 2

My last post was starting to get really long, so I decided to break it up into sections.  Here is another test knitting adventure!

Like other social media sites, Ravelry has the capacity for connecting a multitude of people across oceans and continents.  I am especially impressed with how you can use it to meet knitters and designers local to your area, as well as work with foreign designers (like my next test knit project, which I did for a Swedish designer).  It makes the world seem like a smaller, friendlier place.


Jolnir Mittens

In early December I was pattern-surfing with the idea of finding something quick to knit for my sister for Christmas, when I can across these beautiful Scandinavian-style mittens by Emmy Petersson (available on Ravelry).  I had knit socks, sweaters, cowl and gloves for my sister, but not mittens (and I'm really glad I did given the crap-tastic winter weather WA has received over the past couple weeks).

Her favorite color is green, so I chose a forest-y green and white color combo, reversing the main and contrasting colors for the left and right mittens for a funky look.  (Have you noticed how knitters are doing this for socks?  That was my inspiration!)

I used sock yarn for the mittens for several reasons; 1. Sock yarn is the right weight for the pattern (can you imagine how cool the mittens would look with a solid and a variegated?  I want to try that next.)  2.Mittens (just like socks) wear out, so if your yarn has a little acrylic or nylon in it, it will wear longer than if it was knitted out of 100 percent wool.  3. The doubled thickness of sock yarn creates a warm, dense fabric, perfect for keeping your hands toasty!  (I would, however, strongly recommend against using Serenity Sock Yarn, as it is very slippery and split-y, making it hard to work with in a Fair-Isle setting).

My favorite part of the pattern, is that the thumb is actually charted (unlike many Fair-Isle mittens that I've seen) with a cute column of hearts.

Both mittens knit up pretty quickly (except for the mental freak-out moment I had where I didn't follow the main color/contrasting color color key, and used the wrong needle size) and have fairly basic construction.  Although this isn't a beginner pattern, if you've knit mittens and you've done stranded knitting, you could handle this without any serious problems.

More adventures coming up in Part 3!