First F.O. of 2016

It's taken me until mid-March for my first F.O. (finished object) of the year.  This is primarily due to the fact that I've taken on larger projects such as sweaters and afghans.  I have plenty of knitting on the needles and it feels good to finally finish something.

I joined a group on Ravelry, The Sweet 16 Knitalong [you'll likely need to be a Ravelry member to access this link] in which the goal is to make 16 stranded items in 2016.  I joined for fun even though the chances of completing 16 is highly unlikely.  It's a start, however.

The Winter Snows Mittens were a knitalong project.  It's by the same designer who created the Mini-mitten Advent Garland, which I'm still working on and enjoying.

Click to enlarge

THE DETAILS

Pattern:  Winter Snow Mittens from Just Crafty Enough

Yarn:  Jamieson & Smith 2-ply Jumper Weight

#27 Gray, #1A White and #FC34MIX Blue/green

All purchased at Jamieson & Smith in Lerwick, Shetland Islands

Needles:  US #1/2.25 mm - double points

Modifications:

  Cast on w/contrast color (blue/green mix), rib 1 row, changed to gray, knit 1 row, then continued in rib

I wanted a shorter, more close-fitting mitten:  worked to round 83, started decreases as on the longer option (for the small-size mitten) on round 84.  Continued with pattern but did decreases to round 97 - no dots on round 96.  Added 2 more rounds of decreases, in gray, to round 98 to end with 22 sts. total. 

Thumb:  Keeping continuity of the fair isle patterning, did not knit rounds 21 and 26 inclusive.

Notes:  This is a good, well-written pattern and I would use it again as a template for mittens in the future.