Test knitting a pattern for fineskylark.

10/21/09 - Cast on! Got the 10 rows of ribbing knit on the first mitten; time to call it a night and tackle the charted cables tomorrow when I’m fresher.

10/22/09 - Cabling commenced! It’s a fairly intricate cable, but the chart’s pretty clear. I love the way it looks, so I can’t wait until I’ve created it.

Ok, first cable repeat complete! It’s really looking great, and no issues with the pattern after a minor chart typo that was quickly fixed. I do think I screwed up in an early row, but it’s on the cable on the side, so it’s not that obvious. I’ll keep an eye out for that in the next repeat and make sure it’s me and not the pattern.

Row 15 kicked my butt, but it was my own problem, not one with the chart. I kept forgetting the first (uncharted) stitch…but I only did that on Row 15, for some reason!

10/28/09 - Well, I chugged on quite happily to the end of the decreases…and discovered a problem. My hand is too long for the pattern! After all the work I’d put in for my first intricately cabled project…after using my beautifully bpush cashmere/merino yarn…the mittens weren’t going to fit and I was going to have to give them away.

Well, the heck I was! :-) I posted about it for the designer, who has given me the go-ahead to modify the mittens to fit. I didn’t want to do that on my own while I was test knitting for her, but I had completed the pattern so it was fully test-knit. So now on to trying to figure out how best to modify. I need a little over another inch in length…and I have some thoughts about modifying the decreases by using the cables. We’ll see if I’m inspired or nuts. But first I have to manage to rip back to where the decreases started!

8/4/12, 23:32 PDT - That modification thing? Never happened. And this yarn is just too wonderful to allow it to sit there unused. So when I found this project while looking for another WIP I was frogging for the 2012 Ravellenic Games, I decided to add this one to the list.