FO Sunday

I kind of missed the boat for FO Friday, for the past couple of weeks running so I thought I'd better get these blogged about before another week crept up on me. Over on Ravelry I was part of a swap on the APlayfulDay podcast group. If you are new to podcasts then you should give this one a try. Part of the swap was a handmade element and I decided to make my swap-ee some handwarmers as she had some in her queue but I couldn't see any in her projects. Stalking, it's all part of the fun of swaps! I get really nervy when I'm making things for other people and it is so hard to make something when you don't know someone. I was trying to decide on a pattern that would fit a range of sizes.

I decided on Midnight With a Twist, a free pattern by Ferol Max. It's written for sport weight but I didn't have any to hand so I used my beloved Wendy Merino Bliss DK in Mulberry. It's a bit darker than the pictures suggest. I have to take all my pics outside at this time of year as my house is very dark so I had no choice but to head out to my scruffy garden.

I added 2 extra rounds before starting the cables and another 2 extra after the thumb. Had I not done this I would have only used one 50g ball but it was slightly over. If I'd been making these for myself I'd have had to add quite a few more rounds as they only just covered my knuckles. I did pass them around for people to try at knit night and it was fine on them, just my extra long hands they didn't fit! I did a provisional cast on and left enough yarn to go back and do a K2togtbl cast off (don't know the proper name for this!)

I did them on bamboo DPN's I bought as a cheap set from Ebay. They were £5.99 including postage for 11 sets of 5 ranging from 2mm to 5mm and they are in a much handier 5" length. For the price I expected I'd be spending some time sanding out rough spots or sharpening the tips but I didn't have to do anything like it at all, they are perfect. I used 3.25mm apart from the cables where I used 3.5 as when I'm concentrating I knit more tightly. I will probably knit this pattern again at some point. My hands are freezing now the weather has turned and I was very sorry to put these in the post.



I had planned a post where I had organised my queue and assigned yarn for the next few projects and had vowed to stick to it......until I saw Tiny Owl Knits' Deer with Tiny Antlers pattern and then my good intentions went out of the window. I'm all done apart from one ear and felting the antlers. My first attempt didn't go well at all and I'm dreading trying again! There aren't enough swear words invented for those antlers.

Wish me luck