Cables for a Weenie

Well twist mah weenies!

I finished these over a week ago, but was waiting for my knitty Weenie Swap pal to receive them before posting. I just got word she did, so here you go!

Spell it out
I basically knitted this pattern as written, just subbed the yarn and needle size. Overall, it's a simple, elegant knit that you can wing out in a couple of evenings. Gotta love that!

The instructions can be a little vague at times, though, with some continue working in this manners and reverse shapings for left glove type things going on. Now I don't know about the rest of you, but when it comes to working the opposite side of something, I prefer to have it all spelled out for me. The word "shaping" kind of threw me, too, as I connect that more with the way increases or decreases lean when what you're actually doing here is knitting the entire row in reverse.

Since these were a gift, I decided to write out the instructions for the left glove just to make sure I didn't muff them up, which was kind of a nuisance. Granted, once you get going, it's pretty easy to knit along without even looking at the pattern, but it would have been nice if I, you know, hadn't had to like, think and stuff first.

One new skill I learned with these was how to cable without a cable needle! (Check the vid on knittinghelp.com or Grumperina's tute.) It's SO easy! Much less fuss and bumble. Gee, it's a good thing I learned how to do it on a pair of fingerless gloves, instead of, ooooooh, I don't know, a Central Park Hoodie with eight baJILLION cables on it? Ah well, better late than never!

Random pattern note - if I were to make these again, I'd go down a needle size on the ribbing just to pull it in a bit more.

Tell me a yarn
Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece is wonderful stuff! Enjoyable to knit with, very soft, and *80s flashback alert!* totally rad stitch definition! (Hehehe, I just wrote "stiff definition." Derive from that what you will.) I only barely tried them on just to make sure they were proportionate, but they felt lovely for those few moments!

I didn't want to risk ruining these mitts, but my curiosity got the better of me, so I knitted up a small swatch and ran it through a couple of washes to test out the yarn's durability. First I did an initial soak and rinse with vinegar, as the ball band instructs. That seemed to minimize the excessive bleeding this yarn in known for. Then I ran it through a second test and threw it in the washer/dryer with a load of delicates on gentle/low. It came through great! Minimal shrinkage, no fading, no pilling. That means this would make a nice, easy-care yarn for gift/baby/kid projects, which is always a good thing to find!*

* Disclaimer: Of course, that was just a small swatch - a larger project might be subject to a greater degree of wear and shrinkage. Hopefully this post won't bite me in the ass when I knit a sweater with CF later.

Wrap it up
All in all, a very nice project that I hope my pal enjoys! I only got the one pic before I shipped them off, but hey, you get the idea. ;)
(Er, visualize top pic again here.)
Weenie Mitts
Pattern: Cabled Fingerless Mitts
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Majestic Magenta
Needles: Size 5 DPNs