Noro Mitts

Noro Mitts

Pattern: Bainbridge mitts
(also see her post on Ravelry -- again, if you're a member)

Yarn: Noro Silk Garden

Color: 243
Amount: scraps, not sure of yardage I used;
pattern calls for 150 yds. of DK weight
Needles: US 3 (3.25 mm)
Size: women's small

After making Mary Alice's Bainbridge mitts, I had to make myself a pair. Definitely my favorite of all the fingerless patterns I've made so far.

I wanted them to go with my Noro striped scarf so I dug up scraps of yarn left over from that project. It was close, but I made it -- just! I had to use short pieces to finish the final rows and bind off.

Details about the construction of the original pattern are on the pattern post. The only variations I made were to CO 34 instead of 36, and to do the Noro stripe thing made popular by Jared Flood. Oh, and I might have added a few extra rows to make them longer; I don't have my notes any more so I'm not sure.

Although I thought I was careful and made notes, one mitt ended up shorter in length than the other -- the first (mostly greys) turned out perfect, but the other is shorter. I did the best I could to recount rows and look over all details carefully and my conclusion is that the problem was with the yarn. Noro can vary some in thickness, and as I thought back to my knitting and examined the mitts, I realized that the second mitt was knit mostly with Noro that was thinner, and the first mitt was knit mostly with Noro that was thicker.

I seem to be the only one who realizes the mitts aren't quite the same length. And if I had enough yarn, I would frog the bind-off of the second mitt and add a few rows. The extra rows would be less noticable (to me, anyway) than the shorter length.


But I love these mitts. And accepting imperfections is one of the major parts of love, no?

Back to finishing up UFO's!