fo: squirrel and oak mittens

sheesh...this is five posts in as many days! i must be feeling talkative these days.

anyway...mittens! these were so fun to knit! this was my first colorwork project, and it wasn't nearly as scary as i anticipated, and i think the end result is pretty good considering it's my first try. i still need to block these, so hopefully some of the bumps will even themselves out a little. i will definitely make these, or some form of these, again. i already plan to make my sister-in-law a pair; she was over here last weekend when i was finishing up the oak mitten and she loved them. she made sure to mention that squirrels are here favorite animal. so i'm thinking of doing just two squirrels, facing each other maybe. i don't know. i'm going to stick to the basics of this pattern but i might play around with the cuff design and maybe even the palm design. we'll see what i come up with. i'm also thinking of using a blank norwegian mitten template and coming up with an owl and acorn set - how cute would that be?

i feel like the squirrel didn't turn out as well as the oak - it was the second one, and for some reason, the tension is all over the place on this one. i also struggled more with the thumb on this one, whereas it worked perfectly on the first. nothing too noticeable though...just don't look too closely at where the thumb joins the mitten!

by the way, i really liked the knit picks telemark for these. it's not very soft by any standards, but it somehow feels right for these mittens - sturdy, utilitarian, i don't know. just right. and at $1.99 a ball, a total bargain. these mittens cost $4, with yarn to spare!

pattern: hello yarn's squirrel and oak mittens
yarn: knit pick telemark in cream and black, one ball of each color
needles: clover dpns, size 3
started: i think i started these on 10.26.06
finished: 11.05.06
modifications: i omitted the 2006 across the top of these. i also haven't done the pompoms and cord for these yet...i may or may not make them.