I am Knitting Like A Latvian! Finally. The first cuff of my Latvian mittens! This has been a fun challenge so far. The fringe and the braid are both new techniques to me. I like learning something new. I also like the look. The colors are playing well together and the cuff pattern I am using (barely visible - up by the needles) is very satisfying.
Does anybody hear a "but" coming?
But, there is only one thing wrong with my mitten. It is HUGE! I guess my gauge swatch was wrong or the handspun I used in the swatch was finer than the bulk of it. I wanted the mitten to measure a little under nine inches around and it is measuring ten inches. Sasquatch could wear these mittens.
The plan is to go down a needle size and maybe trim the pattern a bit. I hate to frog all that work. It took me a long time to get this far. Both the fringe and the braids take forever.
Oh well, there are a couple of things I wanted to change anyway. I'd like the fringe to be a bit longer and for more space between the fringe and the first braid (blue & white just about the fringe). I may rearrange the braids by putting the blue one above the other two. I may also use the black as the tie down row (purl bumps just above the fringe). Latvian mittens don't seem to be ashamed of contrasting purl bumps. I like that.
I have started my Master Knitter swatches. Here are the first five; the sixth is almost done. This is some boring knitting. The only spice comes from a sprinkling of panic that I haven't picked the correct cast-on or that my edge stitches aren't even enough. Good grief! I have been knitting for decades.
It has spurred me into learning a few new tricks. I learned several tubular (dude!) cast-ons and used one of them for the 1x1 ribbing swatch. With a bit of practice, it turned out decent. I like the look better than the long tail cast-on I usually use.
Next up: I get to fret over my weaving in method. It is a great method, never shows, and is elastic. But, I will still fret.
