Angora Mittens

Pattern: Mittens from Greenland and America from Folk Mittens
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Angora
Needles: Size 2 dpns

It has been so nice to knit these simple mittens in between projects that require more thought and technical skill. They remind me of the many pairs of mittens in a myriad of colors we always had around the house that my Great Grandma knit.

I like this pattern for a basic mitten; however, I disagree with the author's idea of a comfortable distance between thumb gore and decreases at the tips of the fingers. One thing I can't stand in mittens is when they don't fit perfectly down to my thumb, and the tips of my fingers are pulling it up. This pattern says to start decreases when the mitten reaches the tip of the little finger. I found that I got a perfect fit by knitting until the piece measured past my ring finger, as you don't get much more length once you've started the decrease rows.



I have one huge complaint about this book in general: yarn requirements are given in ounces and grams only, no yards! I ran out of yarn at the decreases of the second thumb, had to call the yarn store I bought it from months ago in a panic, and they saved one of their last skeins for me. The pattern called for 56.5 grams of angora or mohair for a pair of mittens, which seems completely off anyway, but I thought I would be safe with the 100 grams of angora blend which I used. Not so. I will have to reinstate my old rule of buying an extra skein for each pattern I attempt in this book.