Dreaming of Spring Mittens

I had been eyeing up the Dreaming of Spring fingerless gloves for such a long time, thinking that the cable panel was too complicated for me, for a long time and when compiling a wishlist of things I might like to do over my Christmas break they popped back into my head.
If the last year has taught me anything at all it is that the majority of knitting is not difficult.  I increasingly find that I look at a pattern and immediately feel intimidated but when I actually look at what's involved, I find I can do it. Youtube fills in any gaps along the way.



The pattern is in More Last Minute Knitted Gifts which I've had for over a year and found useful and reliable, however, this pattern seemed to require a lot of cast on stitches for a dk yarn so I went over to Ravelry to read other people's project notes (I love doing this - seeing all the little adaptations people make and using their experience with the pattern to guide me) and found that a LOT of people had had a sizing issue.

I have large hands for a woman but I cast on for the child large size and they turned out just as I wanted them to - fitting but slightly snug (because I find loose flappy fingerless mitts a hindrance rather than a help).

The pattern also wasn't especially well put together, I prefer a pattern where they just spell out what needs doing in order rather than saying repeat increases every three rounds, meanwhile follow this and that whilst standing on your head, spinning plates and reciting the alphabet backwards.  This one wasn't that bad and the mitts were complete in three days.



The cable panel was not as complicated as it looks but it is lovely and dense.
I knit these mittens with Debbie Bliss Rialto DK in Basil.  I love the Rialto, it's so soft and bouncy, durable but also practical because you can throw it in the washing machine on a cool wash.  If you're a regular reader you'll probably have worked out that green is my favourite colour and this basil shade is right up my street. (Rialto is available in the DK section of my shop - still with up to 25% off RRP for the rest of January with coupon code JANUARYSALE).





I can't bring myself to start another fictional book yet, I'm still mourning the end of The Language of Flowers so this week I've been reading 2 Hour Garden - a 1970s Sunday Times book that I picked up at a second hand book shop.  It promises that if you follow their plan you can go from wasteland to posh garden in a year.  There are bits that do not apply to my garden but there's a lot of useful advice in there, too, and the timings are useful so I know what garden jobs I should be doing at specific times of year. There's a good pruning guide which I really needed as well.  A pretty good book for £1.

I'm joining in with Yarn Along today.

What are you knitting and/or reading at the moment?