Scottish winters are famously cold, and my acrylic shop bought gloves just weren’t up to the job. I’d been wanting to knit a SpillyJane pattern for quite a while, and this seemed like the perfect excuse. I had a good look through all her patterns in Ravelry, and decided to go for the Swedish Fish design. This also seemed like a good opportunity to use up some stash, so I tried out a couple of colour combinations to see what worked best. I was really drawn to this lovely mustard yellow charity shop find, a 4ply wool and nylon blend, and contrasted it with a blue green sock yarn. The best thing about both yarns was that they were machine washable, as there’s nothing worse than spending ages knitting fairisle on tiny needles, only for it to shrink in the wash!
The actual knitting was pretty quick, although I had to unpick and reknit part of one mitten, as I’d made it too short. It’s a really easy pattern to follow, and there’s something very satisfying about knitting fairisle, somehow it goes much faster than plain old stocking stitch!
I’ve had the opportunity to test the mittens several times now, and they’re impervious to the driving wind and rain of Glasgow. I have never had cosier hands, and it makes me very happy! Making these mittens reminded me of the Sanquhar gloves I knitted last year, which are currently warming the hands of my flatmate. I really want to try some more of SpillyJane’s patterns now – she designs lovely things. Next on the list are owl mittens I think!
Torya Winters Designs 