12/11/2015

Need to get these done so they can get in the mail in time for Christmas…could be cutting it close! Hope to start by the end of this weekend (so by Dec 13), and hope to get them in the mail by Dec 21st. Christmas is on a Friday this year, so I’m hoping that’s enough shipping days to get up to NY.

Hoping this video helps, since I’ve never done three color stranded knitting before…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEzWdMlKj_Q

12/13/2015

Slow to get started on these… Finally got started about 8:30pm Sunday night, and got through about 2 1/2” (27 rows) of the first mitt’s cuff. Mom wants 4”, so back to work on the cuffs tomorrow before I get to dive into three-color stranded knitting.

CO: 60 stitches (for the large size) in Coal.

Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Sport doesn’t seem as stretchy as the Worsted weight.

12/14/2015

Not exactly sure how to handle “dominant” color in this situation. So far I’m keeping them in priority - if black is being used it a row, it’s the left hand and the other yarn(s) is/are in the right. If back isn’t in the row, that means it’s just the dark gray and the light gray, so the dark gray goes in the left hand, light in the right.

I’m trying to stay especially loose with my tension on this. I know I should just use whatever tension the needles set by knitting with “proper tension”, but instead I’m keeping it all very loose, perhaps more so on the three-color rows. It looks a little weird as I’m knitting the row, but then I give some tugging, and it all seems to be settling out ok.

And, wow, I had no idea how much untwisting of the two right-hand color yarns would be involved after each row. I’m wondering how others handle this. I almost wish I had an automated lazy Susan off to the right, with both balls sitting on it, twisting in the direction I’m rotating the yarns to keep it slowly untangled.

Got up through row 8 of the repeating pattern.

12/15/2015

Up through row 16 of the repeating pattern. Slow going, but didn’t have much time to work on it thanks to making a yule log from scratch for tomorrow’s work potluck.

Brett: “I really like this design. (Seeing the pic of the greenish hat in the pattern) Ooh, you should knit me that!”

Me: (untangling three balls of yarn after knitting a row) “Nope!”

12/17/2015

Finished the first mitt, minus the thumb. I think I’ll wait til I’ve finished the second mitt, then do one thumb right after the other - just so I feel more consistent in their construction.

Went with the large size pattern (per mom’s request), but then realized it was maybe getting TOO long - plus the large size pattern doesn’t have the black zig-zags blend in with the black cuff on the knuckle end like it does on the wrist end. I decided to stop short by one round just so I wasn’t introducing little gray dots right before ending. It does have little white triangles (two rows worth of white) at the knuckles, but that’ll be fine.

Switched to US4, knit a round, then did 6 rounds k2p2 and bound off stretchy.