I had to run a short errand for work. It should have taken less than 30 minutes. Instead, it took 2 and a half hours. Why? Because I locked my keys in my car.
It could have been worse. I was in a store that I could bus home from, and the store had computers so I was able to email my boss as well as call Dave to find out where the extra house key is hidden. I even had change for the bus, and it all worked out. But I felt really stupid. Locking my keys in the car is not exactly par for the course. I just don't do things like that.
Enter: Pregnancy brain. My new excuse for everything. Some people may think it's a bogus claim, but I sign up for it. Thanks to Google, I have plenty of people to back me up. Including these folks here, here, and here. None of these pages site an actual medical study, but I think they're all right on course. How else could I have dropped my keys inside my purse and the left the purse sitting on the passenger seat? That just doesn't make sense, folks.
Now, the thing you've been waiting for - finished mittens!
Photobooth doen't lend itself well to hiding while you're taking a photo. Oh well.
Pattern: Eunny Jang's Anemoi mittens
Yarn: SandnesGarn sisu in brown and Cleckheaton Baby cocoon in color 005.
Yarn Source: LYS
Needles: US 3 Prym double points
Gauge: Ask me and I will kill you
Modifications: I ended up skipping all of the repeats in the pattern because the mittens were long enough before I got to the end. I changed needle sizes 3 times, and used the Italian tubular cast-on.
They may not match anything else that I own, but I love these mittens. The colors are great, they're warm but not too warm, and fancy shmancy.
Last week, I began working on the anemoi mittens. I've long read Eunny Jang's site and I admire her knitting and her patterns very much. I knew that this pattern was probably above my skill level, but I thought I would go for it.
Surprisingly, I was successful. On the 5th try, that is.
Take 1: Cast-on with size 0 needles, as called for in the pattern. Knit through cuff. Did not fit over hand. Pulled back.
Take 2: Cast-on with size 1 needles. Knit through cuff. Did not fit over hand. Pulled back again.
Take 3: Cast-on again with size 1 needles, but consciously tried for a very loose cast on. Thought I was successful, knit up to the thumb. Didn't fit over my hand. Pulled back.
Take 4: Cast-on with size 2 needles, and discovered a new way to do the tubular cast-on. Thanks to this nice lady, I was able to get a very flexible cast-on, and knit up to the thumb. It fit over my hand! Woo hoo! I was so excited that I excused the fact that it barely fit over my hand, and that the cuff was a little too tight (read barely allowing blood into my hand) so I knit the whole right mitten.
It was beautiful.
But it didn't fit.
Now, I realize this entire situation could have been avoided if I had just done a gauge swatch to see how many stitches I was getting per inch. Why didn't I? Why did I knit up this entire mitten knowing that it wouldn't fit? Because it was really fun. I really liked following the pattern. And I could only find 4 of the 5 size 3 needles, and I didn't have the energy to go searching for the other one.
After taking this picture, I ripped the whole mitten back.
Take 5: Found (with Dave's help! go Dave!) my missing size 3 needle, cast-on the Italian way with the size 3's and changed the main color from blue to brown. I knit them up in 4 days, and I love them. I would have a finished photo for you this morning, but I left them in the car. Oh well. They fit great, and I love the color and the pattern. They're not perfect - I have a serious problem with loose stitches at my needle join, but they're still fantastic. And I have mittens!
Tonight - we're meeting with our homebirth midwives again. Tomorrow - a new project on the needles.
