Brooklyn Tweed and The World's Best Mittens

Brooklyn Tweed has done it again! See those incredible mittens? They're his.

And if you want to see them up close, visit his blog. At the risk of sounding like a fangrrl, they are the most exquisite handcrafted objects I've ever seen. You know how mittens are often big and floppy, kind of like clown shoes for your hands? Not Brooklyn Tweed's mittens. They actually look elegant. Elegant mittens! Who would have thought such a thing was possible. Look at the intricate cabling, the stitch definition, the abso-freaking-lutely everything.

I'm telling you they're a work of art and the ONLY REASON why I would ever leave the house in this hideously hot weather. I've gotta find a copy of Vogue Knitting Fall '08!

FO: Flip-top Mittings

I’m done! I’m done! Mitting #2 is complete! No more projects requiring DPNs until I’ve forgotten how difficult wrestling with an octopus is!



Actually, thanks to all the good advice from you guys and my Lovely Yarn Lady, I am no longer openly hostile toward double-pointed needles. In fact, I might even be somewhat comfortable with them. I’ve come a long way, baby!

Here are the flip-top mittings fulfilling their destiny: warming the trumpet-playing hands of my Darling Daughter. She’s delighted with her new mitts; she even wore them to sell pancake breakfast tickets for the band. In fact, it’s so cold here that she wears them IN school since they allow her to write and keep warm at the same time.



Jamie, you asked for the pattern. Elizabeth, a.k.a. our own Lizard Knits, found this one for me. She suggested several very nice patterns but this happened to use the right weight yarn. (The yarn I used, BTW, is Malabrigo Bobby Blue, nice and soft and warm.)

Here’s the link to a whole mitten wardrobe and it’s free:

http://www.spunmag.com/article/060421mittens

WARNING: There is one mistake—I’m sure a typo—in the cast-on instructions for the cuff (Step 1). You are told to cast on 32 stitches (which did seem a bit small to me but I always follow instructions the first time around). Then you are supposed to increase 6 stitches so the total count reaches 42 stitches. I’m embarrassed to say that I did this without question and then recounted my stitches about four times wondering where I had gone wrong before I figured out this was a mathematical impossibility. Once I cast on 36 stitches everything worked out.

SUGGESTION: I added a little bit of length to most parts of the instructions (cuff, flip-top, thumb). My daughter may have slightly longer fingers than average but the first mitting was somewhat skimpy on her wrist and hand. If you have small hands, the proportions might be fine for you.

Monica, you were right about the dangers of knitting something handy for the band. DD’s best friend, a piccolo player, has already requested a pair of mittings. I just smiled and made no promises.