Handsome Mittens

Some people think that where I live is the "desert". Some people think that I live in 40 degree (celcius) temperaure for 365 days of the year (plus one on a leap year).
These people are wrong.

Yes I live in the country, but i wouldnt call it the desert. It's definitely very red, but I believe that is because it is a resource rich area, rather than dry and arid. And they are certainly wrong about the 40 degree living. Yes, it does get extremely hot in summer (as does most of Western Australia I should say), but in winter, boy is it cold. The thermostat says it's about 11 degrees most days in the winter - and while for some people living in cold areas this might be reasonable, to me it is freezing.

So when winter rolls around, i love donning my scarves, my winter tights (fashionable or not), my beanies and my gloves and mittens. This year I have tried to escape my classic winter colours of grey and black (too drab), and decided to bust out some brightly coloured mittens with hopes of at least putting a smile on one's face..

Project Details:

Pattern: Handsome Mittens, featured in Interweave Knits winter 08 issue.

Yarn used: Half a ball each of Cleckheaton Country 8 ply (blue) and Heirloom Merino Magic (pink).

Needles : A set of 4 4.5mm dpns. The pattern calls for a set of 5, but i only had a set of 4 and wasn't going to go out and buy another set just for one needle. That said though, it would've been easier to make these if you had the extra needle (counting wise and fidgeting wise).

Comments and mods: The colour changing took me two goes to get it right. The first go I had a terrible line going up my mitten showing where the colours had been changed.. But something in my head kept saying "nah that's fine keep going" until I had almost finished my first mitten, and then of course, the painful feeling of frogging the whole thing and telling myself "i told you so" hehe.

The pattern itself is really easy to follow , and as mentioned above, if you have the extra needle, should be fairly straightforward. In general, I don't think i made any mods, and i think the whole thing went fairly smoothly.