One Down, Time To Cast On

When I got up this morning, I had every intention of blogging but didn't really have anything to blog about! When John told me about the link to "We Are More", I knew I wanted to blog about that, but I still had no knitting to blog about.

This week has been a very slow knitting week. I did cast on for a baby gift, but obviously I can't show you that at this point; it will be revealed in time. Then I knew what I needed to do; I needed to sit down and finish the first of the Elbistan mittens. All that needed doing was the thumb and I needed to knit it and chart it at the same time.

Well, it is now finished, both the mitten and the chart. Here's the back of the hand...

And the palm...

I'm really happy with the way this mitten turned out. That said, there are a couple of things I'm not completely happy with. The first thing is the alignment of the thumb pattern. I thought the center of the thumb pattern would be centered over the V of the thumb gusset; it's off by one stitch. I'm not sure many would notice, but I do. Secondly, I'm still having tension problems.

I've tried stranding using the magic loop technique and using four or five double pointed needles. Each time I end up with either puckers or a noticeable line where the join between the needles lies. I think I know what the problem is; I tend to knit the joins quite tightly so that I won't get a line, which means I could be overcompensating. I need to keep reminding myself to loosen up; perhaps knitting colourwork with a glass of wine at the ready might help??

Now, I need to cast on and work the second mitten before I've forgotten what I did with the first one. Right now, though, that just feels like way too much work. Instead, John and I have a little shopping to do and, when we get back, I'll be making a pot of goulash soup. And we'll be keeping an eye on the Olympic coverage.

Happy Valentines Day to all of you!