FO: Black Raspberry Mitts

Pattern: Raspberry Mitts
Yarn: 1 ball of Patons Classic Wool in Black
Needles: 4.5 & 5.0 mm KP Options

Commissioned a few weeks ago. They’re 17.5″ cuff to cuff, which is much longer than my original pattern intended. Elbow-length on someone of normal proportions, but significantly above-the-elbow on someone like me.

I usually like Patons Classic Wool a lot, but the black feels more processed and less natural than other colours–likely because of the amount of chemical dyes needed. It didn’t rub off on my hands or needles, but the blocking water was positively indigo after a 20-minute soak. Thankfully, the mitts don’t appear to have faded or lightened. (Photo is pre-blocking.)

I learned one thing from this, anyway: I need better lighting in my room. Most of my knitting time comes after dark, and I had to do more squinting than I (or my eyes) would have liked, even for basic, uncomplicated stitch manipulations. I have a plain black knit on the holiday gift list, but I’ll try to find some daylight knitting time for it and work on something else in the evenings.

It’s been a stay-at-home kind of day thanks to pelting rain and howling winds. Call me nuts, but I love it. I just wish it could be quiet here in the basement, if only for a little while, so I could really hear the storm. Since that’s not possible, I’ve been curled up in bed with yarn, cats, hot chocolate, and animated films on DVD. I knit most of the second mitt while watching Disney’s The Sword in the Stone and Robin Hood; I started watching Wall·E (so, so cute) but have it on pause now while I decide on my next project.

Maybe I’ll take one of my skeins of organic cotton and knit a mindless washcloth for a while.