Mermaid Mitts

Project Stats
Pattern: Mermaid Mitts based on the lace pattern by Cookie A. published here.
Yarn: Shibui Knits Sock yarn, Color #3930. Basically lavendar.
Needles: Size 2 Brittany Birch

As soon as I saw these on Ravelry I was smitten with the pattern. I decided to make them as a christmas/birthday present for a good friend and co-worker, Donna. There is no real pattern for these mitts. I cast on 48 stitches, worked one pattern repeat (22 rows long) then started the thumb gusset between stitches 24 and 25 (between the second and third pattern repeat.) I worked the thumb gusset like the one in the Fresco Fair Isle Mitts, basically increasing two stitches every other round until there were 17 stitches in the thumb. I placed those on a holder, finished the pattern repeat, then worked three rows in 1x1 rib to finish the mitts. I think these are pretty and functional. I will most likely make myself a pair soon. The best thing about these is that I used significantly less than a skein of yarn. I would estimate that I used about 3/4 of a skein to make both mitts. Definitely a fun, quick project.

I have also finished Stephen's Thuja socks. I will block them today. And I finished the last christmas gift, a cell phone cozy. I am therefore free of christmas knitting obligations. And four days early. Now I have a couple of WIP's to finish: my lotus blossom tank and Alpine shawl. I am also knitting on another pair of Bijouterie earrings for myself. I'm having a hard time getting really excited about any of these projects. The LBT uses the cotton yarn and it's a tank top and there's three feet of snow on the ground so it's not really catching my fancy. The earrings are fun but I can only do one at a time because then my desire to knit with metal wanes. The Alpine shawl really should be finished first because it has been on the needles longest and I will get some use out of it this season if I finish it.