The Real Latvian Mitten has begun!

I did it! I made it past the fringe, which looks great! Definitely an improvement over the first try. Then I did the cool braid, and made it up to the beginning of the thumb opening.

I am enjoying the process again! Now that I am successfully past the fringe. That was a bit stressful! Now I have to find a few more moments of quiet to figure out the thumb opening. Mittens sure would be simpler if we did not have to accommodate our opposable thumbs! However, living without them would be much more difficult than figuring out how to knit around them:)

The only part that I am going to need to work on as I continue with Latvian Mittens is the tension with the yarn. The X pattern part of the mitten is a bit tighter than the rest of the mitten. However, remember this...

I love this knitting bag, but seemed to have a tension problem here too. Although, I do think I am improving:)

I let kid #5 pick the color scheme for these mittens since she will be wearing them. And yes, I think I will finish this pair before the snow melts! I am not sure if they are "true" Latvian mittens since I totally varied the colors from the original pattern. They are still going to look awesome:)

Start of the Sampler Latvian Mitten

OK, so here it is...

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my first attempt at a Latvian Mitten.

What I love, love, love, is the braided rows. I think they look fantastic, and bring a sense of wonder to the mitten. 

I also enjoyed the fact that once I got started I made quick progress.

What I am not so proud of is the fringe. It just isn't flowing with the rest of the mitten.

So, I am going to rip this out and start again, for the last time:)

In my Latvian Mittens book by Lizbeth Upitis, I would like to quote from Chapter Three,  Section 4, Correct Your Mistakes. 

If you discover an error in your knitting, rip it out and knit again. Rudolfs Blaumanis (1863-1908), a Latvian classical author, wrote a play entitled, "The Prodigal Son" The erring son regrets his worthless life and laments:

Why cannot one do with a spoiled life the same as a spoiled mitten -- rip it out and start again from the beginning.

Lizbeth goes on to say, "SO..RIP! It is a soul purifying experience."

Lent seems to be a good a time as any to purify my soul! So here I go...

What? My LYS is closed? But I need some 2.5 needles!!

OK, so I made what I was hoping was my last swatch...

Nope, it is not so. I have the right number of rows per inch...but still too many stitches per inch. Before I go to the thought that I need sport weight yarn instead of fingering weight yarn I have one more thing to try...size 2.5 needles!

So, as a woman on the move, and ready to start the actual mittens, I left immediately for my LYS (local yarn shop). It takes me 6 minutes to get there, this information may be necessary some day:)  I walked confidently to the door, knowing exactly where I needed to go once I entered the store. I would go straight to the carefully labeled drawers of DP (double pointed) needles.

As I walked from my car I was admiring my efficiency and luck of timing. Just when I realized I needed a new set of needles, there were no kid obstacles to stop me! So, I approached the door with a smile on my face thinking of knitting my swatch with the new 2.5 needles. I put my hand on the door handle, pulled it gingerly, and it did not budge!! I pulled again, and nothing, it was locked!

How could this be? I needed some needles, I had arrived there in 6 minutes, with absolutely nothing in my way, and now I can't get in? I thought, "now what am I going to do for the whole evening?". 

So, now I know what I am doing over my lunch break tomorrow:)

Tomorrow I start the Latvian Mittens!!

First of all, welcome to all the new readers from Russia!! When I check the stats of my blog it shows me a world map of where my readers are located. And I have over 50 new readers from Russia. How fun! 

So again I say welcome...and please feel free to share your Latvian mitten stories, I would love to hear from you!

Second of all, I finished the prayer shawl for kid #4!!

It's a bit more like a prayer square, but it is so soft. She just loves it!! And she is small so it can cover her up when she needs to hide out and regroup:)

And third, I actually ripped out the periwinkle headband I was working on. It was a bit wide, and I lost my row count on the 6 row pattern and a one of the cables didn't look just right, and it is supposed to be 50 degrees on Wednesday! Who needs a headband on a 50 degree day right? (I'm sure in May I will be wishing I had it!)  So, for now, the headband is "done".

Now I can focus on the Latvian mittens. I am going to start with the children's sampler mittens. They have all the intricate features I like incorporated into the pattern.

But first, I must knit a swatch:)

My box of Yarn for the Latvian Mittens

OK, so it all started by my fabulous husband taking me away for a weekend. We stayed at The Candlelight Inn, in Red Wing MN. Great idea!!

www.candlelightinn-redwing.com

When we were visiting with our host Lynnette at breakfast, we started to talk of knitting. She asked me if I had ever heard of Latvian mittens. I had not and was very excited to see what they were. Well, they were beautifully knit mittens with a very intricate pattern. The part I liked the most was the braiding that was incorporated into the cuff. The needles were so tiny, I think they were 0's!!

I came home and bought the ultimate Latvian Mitten book...

Then I looked through the book and decided this would be my State Fair Project for the year. There were so many beautiful patterns. My daughter #1, who has decided she would like a blog name, and not be referred to as daughter #1 anymore (but has yet to decide on her blog name), is also knitting herself a pair of Latvian mittens.

So, we looked through the Knit Picks catalog, that we love to browse through, and selected some great color combinations. When the box arrived we first just looked at it with great anticipation.

We waited, daughter #1 and I, until most of the people in our house were asleep.

Then we carefully opened the box...

And there they were, our Latvian mittens in their raw form. We each ordered a set of double pointed needles. I went for the wood, and Daughter #1 went for the bamboo.. 

Then it was time to do a swatch. Since this was a serious project I decided I should not skip the swatch step. Really, I don't do this for every project!!

So here is the swatch...

No, I did not do the full four inches of pattern because I could tell after one inch that I had way too many stitches to the inch. So, I tried the same pattern on size 3's, since I had size 3 dps (double pointeds) in my collection. This came out with to little stitches to the inch. Since then I have been to my LYS and purchased size 2's.

and here is the opened and explored version of the yarn box...

Since I am a bit dismayed with myself, but not too much, about having too many projects going at once, I am going to finish the prayer shawl before starting the next....and PLEASE GOD!!...be the final swatch before knitting the mittens.

This weekend is looking fairly quite, so perhaps I will find many hours of peaceful knitting:)

I just crossed a line!!

As I started my new headband,

I realized that I have crossed a line in knitting.

The line is having multiple projects going, without a set finishing date, but a REALLY great reason for having to start them!! 

Up until now I was in control. I had one, maybe two projects going at a time. I would happily interchange working on one or the other. See it through to completion, and then buy yarn and start another project. I didn't "get it" when I read about people who have many projects going at once. Why would you "let yourself go" like that. And now here it sit with my projects and justifications for all.

Really, wouldn't it be wise to create and finish a winter headband before the summer comes? Actually, I was hoping I wouldn't need the headband this March, however, with another impending snow storm at the end of this week, I think I may be sporting the headband well into May!! I might even wear it to the Shepherd's Wool Festival on Mother's Day.

Then there is this lovely Prayer Shawl I stared for kid #4. The only one who does not have a blankie. I think everyone should have a blanket to hide under. One you can dive under when you need a few minutes to collect yourself and to avoid the reality around you!! Kid #4 is in need a such a blanket and, of course, I am the person to provide it!! 

I am still working on my blue cardigan, which I haven't even written about yet!

And then there is the yummy box of fingering wool for the Latvian Mittens I am making for the State Fair in August. Really, I will post those pictures soon. So many possibilities there!

OK, I admitted it, I'm all in, and I am still smiling:)