My vacation project is still lingering around despite being attacked by le chat méchant. Pictures usually get taken outside so that we don’t get into a brawl. Actually he’s pretty good about the knitting. It appears to be one of his favorite hobbies since he gets the leftover yarn.

This mitten design is from a book called Latvian Mittens by Lizbeth Upitis. It is one of the charts that doesn’t have instructions so, I just refer to the other samplers that do have instructions. Hopefully I can get around to finishing the mate. When I announced in a knitting class that this would be my next project the teacher mentioned that she knows many knitters who have only one such mitten. Therefore, I’m determined to get this one done (but the Phildar cardigan will get done first). I ripped the first mitten two times before getting the right fit. Once I did get the right fit, I noticed that the design wasn’t going to be properly centered. I should have adjusted the chart but I just couldn’t bring myself to rip it out one more time.

Latvians do a long tail cast-on with two strands instead of folding one strand. What a great idea. This eliminates the need to calculate or guess how long a tail should be.

I’m almost ready to start casting on the sleeves for the Phildar cardigan.