Harvest Time in New England

Project Specs
Pattern: Yellow Harvest Mittens designed by Tikru of MadeByMyself
Pattern Source: Vogue Knitting, Fall 2008
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Frank Ochre, less than one skein
Needles: US 10 Clover DPNs
Date Started: 8/15/08 @ 10:35 AM
Date Finished: 8/16/08 @ 1:10 AM
Size: 9.75" from bottom of cuff to tip of fingers, to fit Womens Large
See them on Ravelry

It is easy to say that Tikru is a great designer. Pretty much every one of her designs involves cables or bobbles to create a really unique and interesting pattern. I was first introduced to her work last year when making the Chevalier Mittens which were a really fun, and these Yellow Harvest Mittens don't disappoint. The pattern is intuitive and simple enough for beginning knitters or someone who isn't experienced at cables. They're also a really quick knit, and requires less than one skein of Malabrigo!

Although the pattern is really simple once you get into it, I admit that I had a few gauge problems starting out. Originally I planned on giving these to a friend who is rather small, so I took the patterns suggestion on using US7 needles for smaller mittens. After finishing the cuff I realized that it was so small it probably wouldn't even fit Camdyn! I then went up to size 8 needles, and it was still tiny, then finally jumped to size 10 needles and ended up with mittens that perfectly fit my hands (women's large). Now I'll be giving these to the same friend I gave the Chevalier Mittens to last year and turn it into a little tradition of giving her cabled mittens for Christmas. I really love these mittens and will definitely be making myself a pair sometime soon!

The only thing I changed about this pattern is the cast on. The pattern says to knit an i-cord then pick up stitches from it, instead I used an i-cord cast on. I did this by casting on 4 stitches onto a DPN, slide the stitches to the right end of the needle and hold in your left hand. With a second DPN, kfb into first stitch on left hand needle, then knit remaining three stitches (you will now have 5 stitches on your right needle). Slide four stitches back to left hand needle and repeat until you've increased to 43 sts. Turn work, bind off 2 stitches purlwise, slide stitch from right needle back to left and p2tog. You should be left with 40 stitches and ready to continue with the pattern as instructed.

If you decide to knit up a pair of these mittens, make sure you check the errata. There are a few minor mistakes in the pattern at the tip of the mittens. Also don't be concerned if you can't find the chart in the magazine, because it's not in there! The chart is provided online at VogueKnitting.com. Make sure you save it to your computer just in case they take it down in the future, a la the Pea Pod Baby set and Interweave Knits.