This project is a combination of a few of my favorite things, KnitPicks Palette for mittens and a Brooklyn Tweed pattern.

When the LOFT Collection came out from Brooklyn Tweed this fall, I dropped my plans to get my Woodland Winter Mitts done on schedule in order to jump these up the queue.

While they didn't turn out exactly the way I had pictured them in my mind, they are really, really nice. Stranded colorwork mittens are one of the things I quite enjoy, they are warm and fun.

- Details -

Project Name: Opal Burnham

Pattern: Burnahm by Leila Raabe in the LOFT Collection

Recipient: Me

Yarn: KnitPicks Palette in Opal Heather and Cream

Modifications:

Adapted needle size to get gauge

New Skills:

Latvian Braid, Sorta. I had used them on my Bevo Hat almost two years ago, but I had to relearn how to make them for this project.

Feedback:

Yarn: As I have said before Palette is a great yarn, I know it gets a bad rap for being scratchy, but it comes in 120 colors and is durable as all get out making it perfect for stranded colorwork in things like mittens. Also it is crazy cost effective.
Pattern: The charts are clear and the overal visual appearance of the pattern is fantastic.

Re-Knit?: Probably not, although my mom was drooling over these mitts so if I want go back to it I might make a pair for her.

There are quite a few knitting patterns out there, like the February Lady Sweater, Clapotis, Monkey & Jaywalker Socks that have been made by so many Ravelers, that they feel like a must-knit. The Endpaper Mitts were for me one of those uber-popular patterns that I needed to try myself. I have found myself with a terrifyingly large stash of KnitPicks Palette yarn, a fingering weight two-ply peruvian wool yarn that comes in 100 colors. As it comes in many colors and is not the softest wool ever milled (as I learned from my Chevalier Mitts, it wears well and felts like a champ) it is ideal for colorwork. To me, and the 762 other people who have done the same, Palette seemed the ideal yarn for the project.

So I started swatching, and swatching and swatching. So either I am the tightest knitter than ever lived or something was different about my swatch, because I ended up using US 6 (4mm) needles for the body and US 2 .5 (3mm) needles for the ribbing. That is a full millimeter difference between my needles and recommended needles. Either way, it means I will never have to buy needles of the multiple 0 varieties (ie. 00, 000, 0000).

Project Name: Endpaper Mitts

Pattern: Endpaper Mitts by Eunny Jang

Recipient: Me

Yarn: KnitPicks Palette in Merlot Heather and Cream

Modifications:

Used Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Cast-On and Bind-Off instead of the Italian Tubular method.

New Skills:

This was only my second go at stranded colorwork, so it still feels like a new skill.

Feedback: This is such a classic pattern, and I know that it is on an archived website, but for something that is so popular it would be easier to read.

Re-Knit?: Probably, as I have lots of Palette, but I will use one of the other charts that have been designed for the pattern.