Knitting is supposed to be fun and it is, but what I also love is that it’s a great teacher.  Any knitter worth his/her salt will tell you that while we adore fiber and everything related to the craft, one of the best things about it is how much you can learn (if you pay attention) in a single project, even from a small one.

At the beginning of the year, I told you that my goal is to make this:

source

Quite ambitious since I’d never made a mitten before.   So I decided to remedy that.  I figured I’d start with something easy like a bulky mitten since what I really wanted was to get an idea of the construction, kitchener seaming and finishing (especially between the thumb gusset and the rest of the mitten).  As I used bulky yarn, within a few hours, I’d finished the rest of the mitten (excluding the thumb) and kitchener stitched the top.  In about 15 mins or less the next day, I was finished the thumb.  Wanna see the proof:

The thumb was actually perfect, the kitchener stitch mostly okay (so much easier than I was told to expect) except for the side I pulled too tight, but the mitten doesn’t fit.  No fault of the pattern but my hand is apparently longer than I thought it was.  I should have gone another inch before the decrease so the mitten itself doesn’t sit right although it looks just fine.  The other part of the mitten I’m not particularly happy with is the area between the thumb gusset and the main part of the mitten.  I know it’s normal to get holes there because of general mitten construction but my perfectionist self wanted to have those holes seamed/finished better than I did them this time around.   I decided to go to one of my favourite online teaching sources — VeryPink — and of course, she had a video tutorial of how to make fingerless mitts including how to close up those annoying holes better.  Can it get any better than that?

On this mitten, I learned three techniques and crossed an accessory I never did before off my list.  I’d say that’s pretty good learning!   I’m not going to finish the second one yet, at this point, I think I might undo this first one and convert this pair into thrummed mittens.  How awesome would that be?!!!   Not bad for my first mittens or should I say … mitten.  😀

Next stop … these:

Oak Grove by Alana Dakos

I might even be adventurous and dye some yarn for this pattern, but that my friends is another story.  😀

What mini projects gave you lots of learning?  Chat with me in the comments.  This is the year I want to up my crafty game so the dialogue is welcomed!