Finished Knit: Fallberry {Filler} Mitts

My niece requested I post already, and she's right, it's a longer gap than usual. I've been spending my evenings, which is also my blog-posting time, downstairs painting the ugliest stuff ever. Okay, maybe not ever, but it's pretty blech. Our Pages + Paint assignment this week was to play the two-minute prompt game (if you have her book, Painted Pages, it's on page 18). I have my theories on why this isn't quite working out for me, but this post is about knitting.

Last week when I requested ideas on what to do with a skein of Socks That Rock Mediumweight, my sister suggested mitts. So I searched Ravelry for a free pattern for mitts using sport weight yarn, and I decided upon Fallberry. Then I realized I'd already queued up this pattern almost a year and a half ago. Well. Obviously it was time to knit them, and here they are.

All photos are, once again, taken by my ten-year-old, this time in a quick window of time with a dodgy background before it began raining again. (No real rain, just apathetic sprinkles, alas.) I wove in the ends this morning, giving me one knit-less evening before the Olympics begin tomorrow. (Just as well, I'm going to try to paint something that's not ugly tonight.)

I used US size 3s for these and did 2 1/2 repeats before beginning the thumb gusset, for a nice long-armed cuff. At the top, the pattern can only end at a certain point in the repeat, so I went for a little long rather than a little short. I can always turn down the tops, thusly:

I like that option with my mitts anyway, so I can turn them down to finagle car seat buckles and then flip them up so my fingers don't have to touch the steering wheel. The stitch pattern was easy and intuitive and I really, really like the end result. I knit most of these while watching the Tour de France finish up (what a great race this year; I'd watch it all over again).

I have enough yarn to make at least another pair--I forgot to weigh these before dunking them in the sink, and now they're wet and weighing will have to wait. (Socks That Rock has an odd, almost chemical-ish smell to me, I assume from the dyeing process. It's really bothersome and anything I make with it gets washed immediately. I have to wash my hands after knitting with it, too.) That second pair will go into the gift closet.

As for my lace project, I decided upon Luscious Lace Scarf. I'll cast on tomorrow. Is anyone else going to be doing any Olympic knitting? I'm not sure how much Olympics I'll actually watch, but I'm really hoping NBC shows us the bicycling events to help with my Tour withdrawal.