Winter

I live in Central IL, USA.  I've been hearing rumors for the past few months that this winter is supposed to be as bad, if not worse than the one we had last year.  And that's saying quite a bit.  We had a lot of snow (compared to what we have in an "normal" year), and we had temperatures that were so cold that our schools shut down multiple times for "snow days" even though snow wasn't really the problem.  The problem was that they were afraid kids would be outside waiting for busses for too long ("too long" in this conditions being longer than 5-10 minutes) and not wearing enough proper cold weather gear.  So you can imagine how much I have not really been looking forward to seeing whether this prediction becomes true!

Then two weeks ago, there was apparently a typhoon that hit Alaska, and basically blew freezing cold Alaska air all over most of Canada & the US.  Our temperatures, which normally have highs in the 50s through most of November, were more like highs in the teens - low 30s.  One day this past week, we had a morning where it was below freezing somewhere in each of the 50 states, and yes that includes Hawaii.  So while my attention might not normally be turned to gloves in November, this year I'm feeling very determined to make sure we are all properly outfitted for the winter-pocalypse that is surely on its way!

I thought these Karen Double Layer Mittens looked like a fun project.  And the "double-layer" thing was a big draw for me - the person who can put on regular gloves/mittens and still have freezing cold fingers.  These do a very nice job of warming my hands up and keeping them toasty warm, even when it's zero degrees outside.  

I chose Llambrosia yarn for the outside, which I loved because of the halo and the warmth.  It is the tiniest bit heavier than the yarn I chose for the inner lining, but that worked out great since I wanted the lining to sit inside of the outer mitten without bunching up at all.  

The inside fit my hand like a glove, if I do say so myself!  The lining was made from Bugga yarn leftover from my Rock the Lobster sweater.  It has 20% cashmere, so it's lovely to have next to the skin.  And if everything I wore was dyed this rich blue color, I'd be totally fine with that.  

The pattern has you starting at the fingertip of the inner glove, using Judy's Magic Cast-on.  Then you knit the inner glove, weave in all the ends for that, then join the outer glove and work from the wrist up to the fingertips on that one.  I finished the thumb before I grafted the top of the glove so I could weave in the end of the thumb without too much hassle.  Weaving in that last end from the grafting is tricky, but because there is a lace pattern on the front of the glove, I used the little holes to work my tail in and out of a few stitches.  Without that lace, this would be a very difficult pattern to finish off, with the construction done the way it is.  

I wasn't sure about the picot edging around the wrist while I was knitting it - it seemed to want to stick out and be too puffy.  But after blocking, it is flat and looks great.  It isn't the sort of mitten wrist that "grabs" you, so these aren't play-in-the-snow sort of mittens.  But for "I need some mittens to wear while I'm driving and my car is still warming up", or "I need some mittens to wear when I'm out running errands", these are perfect.  And like I said before, the double layer really helps these be a cut above when it comes to warmth!

If you're curious about the specifics, my project page is here.