I’ve caught the mitten knitting bug! As I write this the temperature here in Florida is 88 degrees (says the app on my phone) but it feels like 101…! What? I don’t think that is correct, but the humidity here can really spike the “real feel”. My AC is not on, so I don’t think it feels like over 100. It does feel like 88 though.

Even so, I am knitting on my second Glissade mitten beneath the ceiling fans. Once it is done, I will begin the Fiddlehead mitten pattern. Because it will be knit in the same DK yarn (Brooklyn Tweed Arbor), I have an idea of needle size to use.

Fiddlehead Cast On Changes

The suggested needle size sounds quite big for such a large cast on number of 60. The Fiddlehead mitten pattern calls for a lining to go inside the mitten, and I want to avoid that. So I went down to a size 2 needle, and I am a tight knitter.

I tried the suggested i-cord cast on – which took forever – and I didn’t like it for my purpose. So I began over, and used the Latvian Braid. The i-cord is probably used because stitches will have to be picked up inside the cuff to add the liner. Since I am not knitting a liner, I changed things.

Mitten gauge is hard to judge unless you’ve knit a lot of different mittens and know which sizes works for each yarn weight. I recently knit the Glissade pattern and used a size 3 and 4 needle, but the cast-on number was only 48, not 60. I knit with this exact same Arbor yarn, so I knew if I used a size 3 or 4 with a 60 stitch cast on, these mittens would be huge!

Now that I’ve knit this far along, they still seem slightly large, but should be okay.

DK Yarn and Colors Used

I loved, loved, loved the yarn I used for the Glissade mittens. It was my first time using Brooklyn Tweed’s Arbor yarn and it’s a new favorite. Need some nice DK yarn? Check it out. The link takes you to Wool and Company, and they ship free to US locations, with NO minimum order! Arbor comes in many colors, but I knew I wanted greens, because this is a fiddlehead pattern after all!

For the background color I chose Degas, which is a light tan. Then I chose five shades of green for each section of the pattern. Color names are: Dorado, Treehouse, Wreath, Lovat, and Parka, with Degas as the light color for the background. Very pretty yarn and colors, and a few are now discontinued.

Whenever I put stitches on hold, I always have a tough time picking those stitches back up again. This time I put the thumb stitches on hold using two different strands of yarn. I’ll use a very small size needle to pick them up, which may help. Then I can slip them onto the correct size DPN.

I have now reached halfway on the second mitten without doing the thumbs. I will do both thumbs last. These will not be done in time for the KAL with The Woolly Thistle, but I have already finished Glissade for that.

I am very happy with this pattern and the colors I chose – Dorado, Treehouse, Wreath, Lovat and Parka, with . Even without a liner, the knitting is quite dense and should keep hands warm.

Got some pictures today of my finished “Fiddlehead” mittens. I love the way they turned out. Fantastic yarn, good pattern (although chart printing is small – and the called for cast on takes forever – I didn’t do it), and best of all, they fit me perfectly! Those thumbs took some patience, but I am not used to doing colorwork. I’m also very happy with the colors. Possibly I will knit a hat in the future to match in order to use up the rest of the yarn.