Some knitting, and some, well, probably mostly knitting

Finally finished mitten #2 of the Love Bytes mittens! I somehow managed to make them a liiittle bit too small this time, but I can get them on and once they’re on, they fit pretty nicely, so it’ll have to do. And one of them is a tiny bit shorter than the other one, but not enough that I actually care. Or, well, I care, but not enough to make a fourth mitten for this pair. The pattern is really well written, and even provides alternative charts for dark-on-light color schemes, and I love the look of the mittens, but finishing the third one definitely became a chore, simply because of gauge issues and having to knit way tighter than I’m used to. If I were to knit these again, which I might, I’d go for a different yarn.

I would definitely not call this yarn ideal for the pattern, even if it is the yarn called for. It might have something to do with me knitting quite loosely, but I had to go down to a 2.25mm needle (pattern calls for 3.25) to get gauge, and knitting with needles that small and trying to knit tightly to get gauge was sort of hellish with this yarn. Not that the yarn isn’t lovely, because it is, but I wouldn’t use it again for something requiring this gauge, I think. It also pills quite a bit, so I think the pattern might disappear a bit after a little bit of use, but I won’t know that until next year, as we’re luckily getting spring weather here now.

(Let’s just pretend that camera strap isn’t there.)

But I’m glad to have gotten to know Malabrigo Worsted, at least, and the colors are awesome and I would love to knit some other stuff out of it, and I look forward to finding something to do with the leftovers from this. Probably a hat or something, with the green as the main color. Does anyone have suggestions to nice worsted weight hats, with details in one or two other colors? I’ve been considering a Thorpe with some stripes added, but I guess we’ll see.

• Pattern: Love Bytes
• Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted
• Colorway: Marron Oscuro (181), Bobby Blue (027) and Olive (056)
• Needle: 2.25mm
• Yarn amount: Finished mittens weigh 96 grams, add a couple for scraps.
• Modifications: Had to use smaller needles. Messed up the whole mirroring of the braids, so they’re identical, but it was too much work for me to unravel because of something so small.
• Ravelry link