Sanders Mittens Finally Finished

The mittens described in this post sat in the UFO pile for an extremely long time. They are finally finished and I am very pleased with them.
Yarn: Dale of Norway Falk 0090 Black 48.4 g.; 6027 Turquoise 22.3 g.; 8426 Green 15.0 g.
Needles: 2.5 mm. dpns
Pattern: Sander's Mittens from Folk Knitting in Estonia
Begun: July 29, 2007
Completed: February 20, 2011
Size: 9 5/8" long and 4" wide. The thumb is 2.5" by 1.5"; I think this is a child's medium.

Ducks Above; Fish Below

For my first Dale of Norway baby sweater I am using the basic shape of the Pusekatt pullover (pattern 11405) in booklet number114 and have added a border from the Lighthouse sweater (pattern 5402) in booklet number 54. I revised the border pattern because (for some reason I cannot fathom) it was designed with the fish on top and the ducks below.

I'm using 6 colors of Baby Ull: light blue (5703) for the body; deep blue (5726) for the yoke, sleeves, and the sky behind the ducks; navy (5545) for the deep water, the sleeve edges, the button band edges and the dividing line between the body and the yoke; gold (2317) for the fish, turquoise (6714) for the shallow water and the hem, and yellow (2015) for the ducks.



This next photo shows the inside, including the bright turquoise hem. I began with a crocheted provisional cast on and smaller needles, knit the hem, knit one row in the main color, purled a turn row, and continued to knit. Somewhere in there I changed to the larger needles. When the body was as deep as the hem, I undid the provisional cast on and knit the hem to the body using K2tog. The row of K2tog stitches shows on the front but with all the wiggling babies do I think knitting the hem on rather than sewing it on is the better way to go.

Regrets--I forgot to knit in the baby's name and/or the date. I don't want to use duplicate stitch now but will try to remember to put some text in the next time. The sleeves and upper yoke are complete but not yet photographed.

Next I have to drag out the sewing machine and stablize the armholes before I cut them.

Twisted

The Sander's Mittens from Folk Knitting in Estonia is my first project using three colors simultaneously. Keeping all the strands from twisting around one another is a bit of a challenge but I'm rising to it. I'm using Dale of Norway Falk in 0090 black, 6027 "ocean blue" and 8426 "grass green" and rosewood 2.5 mm dpns.

This is also my first time working the half-wick decrease which is used at the top of the mitten. It is similar to a centered double decrease but involves knitting two of the three stitches rather than just one.

The pattern contains an odd number of repeats and I didn't like the way they were off center when I began the decreases at the top. I solved the problem by keeping the edge stitches black and working three rows of alternating stitches in black and the pattern color. The motifs use three rows per pattern color so the new design balances the main design nicely. I wanted to use stranding rather than all black at the top so the mittens would be as warm as possible.

This photo shows the thumb. I asked some children in my Monday knitting class try it on and it is much too short so it will have to be frogged and reknit. Fortunately I haven't yet knit the thumb on the second mitten.