Cast-On Cottage: Winners for our Next KAL.

If you voted, I doubt this will be a surprise - the two winning patterns have been in the lead the whole week! But just to confirm (and in case you didn't vote :-), the winners are:

yep, Susie's Reading Mitts

and Linda K's Yummy Mummy Wristwarmers

.

Hope you're planning to join in with one (or both?!) of these patterns. You don't have to participate in person (we meet for knitting at the shop from 2-4pm on Fridays) - virtual is welcome, too (and please post to our ravelry thread to share your thoughts and photos!). We're simply trying to encourage the "community" created by a shared knitting experience.

Me, I'm planning to knit Susie's Reading Mitts. It was an easy decision only because I have just one set of the absolutely fabulous Signature dpns in size 1. And they're booked 24/7 with socks. I have plenty of dpns in sizes 5 and 4 (see below) to cover Susie.

Susie's stated gauge is 5-1/2 st per inch on a size 5 needle. That's a standard gauge/needle for DK weight yarn (including my favorite Blue Sky Alpaca Silk), but the pattern recommends a worsted weight yarn knit a bit tighter. I think a tighter fabric is great for mitts because it wears better and will keep you warmer. Based on my review of the Susie's projects, about half the knitters have chosen a worsted weight, and half a DK (there are a few who have chosen other weights, but I didn't review their projects!) What choices! I think about half the yarn in our shop would work:

kathmandu and elsebeth lavold on the left; spud & chloe sweater in the middle; debbie bliss cashmerino aran to the right

And after a ~~quick~~ (who was I kidding? of course I couldn't pick out yarn in just 5 minutes?) visit to the shop this morning, I have 4 skeins of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in a lovely deep purple ready to go (it's the one on the 2nd bin from the top in the photo above). Please note the mitts require about 200 yds (only 2 skeins), but I'm planning to knit a beret to go with (stay tuned!). I'm hoping to cast on tomorrow for a gauge swatch and I'll report back - I'm also planning to knit the rows before the eyelet turning row in a smaller needle to make the turned under edge fit better. Stay tuned for details on that, too.

I hope there are (at least!) a few of you who will knit the Linda K's (fingering weight) mitts so we can share hands on advice about that pattern, too. Please feel free to speak right up in the comments, or you can private message me on Ravelry (my user name is mere).

Here are the details for the two patterns - please feel free to post question/comments/etc - we really do want to hear from you!!
Susie's Reading Mitts

This pattern isn't quite as old, but it's still very popular. And note that we've got a suggestion about those picot edges that will avoid having to sew them down.