Testknit for Westknits

(And I was also testing out a new lens. Hence the zillions of pics!)

I knit these mostly 2 at a time on 9” and 12” circular needles. I have discovered I don’t care for 9” circulars.

Modifications:

Used Worsted Yarn - I have big hands

Cast On an additional 6 stitches on size 7 needles.
It fits better and doesn’t stress the buttonholes. (I guess I have big wrists too?)

I only had to increase 6 stitches to get to the appropriate stitch count for the hand. I just spaced those more or less evenly. (KFB)

Used size 6 needles for the mitten portion. I liked the cables better on sixes.

Left Mitten:
Gusset increases as directed.
When picking up for the thumb, I picked up 4 extra stitches. (Um… big thumbs?)
Halfway up my thumb I sneaked in 4 decreases.

Right Mitten:
I started the gusset increases on row 4 instead of row 6. The 2 extra stitches made the thumb perfect for me. And as on the Left Mitten, I picked up 4 extra stitches.
The 6 extra stitches were decreased randomly before the actual decrease rounds.

Did 5 repeats of the main portion. (Not a modification, that’s just how many it took.)

Purled the 2 middle knit stitches on the decrease portion. (This will make sense if you use the chart.)
It seemed like a good idea at the time and I like the way it looks.

I sewed the cuff down first and then sewed the buttons on. I didn’t want the buttonholes to get stretched out with overuse, and even buttoned shut the cuffs are stretchy enough.

Even though I picked up extra stitches for the thumb, there were still some holes. (Is this because it’s garter? I don’t know.) I had to do some minor cosmetic surgery to close them up.

These fit perfectly!