Look what I’ve been making!

I’m knitting a pair of Snapdragon flip-top mitts by Ysolda Teague to replace the ones I knit a few years ago. Yeah, I didn’t knit them that long ago, but tragedy struck last March when I moved, and I LOST one of the mitts I knit. I spent an entire year looking for the lost mitt, but I must have dropped it somewhere that isn’t in the apartment. Cue sadness.

This time around, I’m knitting them in a lighter, pinker, funner yarn. I’m still using madelinetosh tosh dk, but in a punchy bright pink that makes winter almost tolerable! I’m in love with them, I think. (Don’t worry, I won’t tell Ted.)

So far, I’ve made just one minor modification to the pattern; I’m using size 4 needles instead of the size 6 the pattern calls for. I knit my originals with my trusty size 6 needles, but always felt they were a little loose, especially around my wrist. The size 4s make them fit so much better.

Another noteworthy item pertaining to these mitts; I’m FLYING through them. I’m most likely the slowest knitter on the planet and I still made this much progress on the mittens in just one day. Yeah, I can’t believe it either. I really, really want to get these done so I can focus on other knitting, especially that Arisaig cardigan I’m wanting to FINALLY finish. I’m confident I can do it.

What have YOU been making recently?

Firstly, thank you all for your congratulations! I realize it’s been, you know, a MONTH since I’ve written in here, but eh, I knew I’d get back to it sometime soon.

Anyway. What have I been up to this past month?

Knitting. Lots of it.

A few years back and many blog posts ago, I cast on Arisaig, a sweater I’d wanted to knit for ages and ages. I started it sometime in 2007, but didn’t keep track of needle sizes or alterations I made to the pattern. So, after it languishing in my yarn bins when I moved out to New Hampshire, I frogged it, vowing to try again in a couple years when I felt more inclined to do it.

Enter my 2012 goal of knitting a sweater that actually fits. I looked around at a few other patterns, but I always came back to this one. I need to finish it, I need it hanging in my closet, I need it to wear both to work and at home! I need to make this sweater.

So, I cast on for it again on the 7th of January, and I’m making actual progress!

A few changes this time around: This time, I’m tracking my needle sizes. I’m using a size 1.5 for the ribbing and 2.5 for the body of the sweater. Last time, I believe I messed up the sizes and didn’t keep track of what I used where, so the sleeves came out HUGE while the body was so tiny. Not this time.

Also, I used a plain ol’ long tail cast on instead of a not so stretchy tubular ribbed cast on. Actually, I don’t remember if it was tubular I used all those years ago; either way, the cast on edge did NOT stretch, which I knew would cause problems in the long run. Yes, I was right.

I’m having fun with this pattern so far. I’m really hoping that I finish this time.

Edit: Did you see the nifty Ravelry icon next to the Arisaig link? Well, thanks to this post right here, I can denote links like this as Ravelry links. I knew how to do this already, but I’m happy to have gotten the awesome icon from the user on the thread!