These are so much fun to knit. I’m loving every round! The alpaca gives them a beautiful halo - it really softens the colours and makes the mitts even more gorgeous.

These mitts use just a tiny bit of the handpainted sock yarn - 20 grams was all I used up of the alpaca.

I made my mitts much longer than the pattern specifies - the whole mitt is over 11” long and 3.5” wide:

• I made the cuff 3.75” long (32 rounds).
• I knit for a full inch on the mitten body before starting the thumb gusset
• I didn’t do my top decreases until the mitten was a full 7.5” long from the top of the cuff (this is way longer than the pattern states; I have long fingers!).
• I forgot the decreases on the base of the thumb on my second mitt (as seen on Thumb Rnd 2 and Thumb Rnd 4 in the pattern) and that thumb turned out to fit better. I would ignore those decreases completely next time.

Update (March 21, 2010): They are done! I’m very happy with the way they turned out. There are a few invisible green spots where the variegated was the same colour as the main colour, but it still looks great. My least favorite colour area is the dark burgundy, but it does add a bit of punch.

Update (Feb. 7, 2010): First mitten is complete. I’ve made mine a lot longer than the pattern’s suggested measurements, to fit my long hands. They look a little comical off my hand, but they fit great!