RTFM!

Those letters stand for Read The Freakin' Manual, and it's something I say fairly often. I should practice what I preach.

I've finally taken the plunge and started work on Eunny's Anemoi mittens. I've got a few issues with this pattern that are all my own and no reflection on Eunny's excellent skills.

I had problems getting started in the first place because I was intimidated by this pattern! Oh yeah, I'm just that silly. See, Eunny writes a lot of directions, which is good, but I'm so impatient, I don't want to be bothered reading them. So then I skip around a lot getting myself confused. When I first started working this pattern, I screwed up the ribbing because I didn't follow the directions as written. This second try is better. There are some designers I don't trust and there are others whose pattern teach me new techniques as I go. Eunny falls into the latter category.

The other problem is that the largest finished size is 8.5 inches which is exactly the measurement of my hand, leaving me no ease. My first thought was to knit this pattern using some cream and dark gray Shetland weight that I have in the stash. I knew this wouldn't give me a good fit, so I thought to add 4 stitches to the sides and create a dice pattern between the borders. I cast on and started knitting, but it just seemed too small. Plus, I was worried about screwing up Eunny's well-planned design. So instead I decided to try using Quebecois on a 3mm needle. It's really tight but it will make a bullet proof mitten if I can muscle through it.

Now, on to some sweet nothings. I've got to replenish my sock drawer, as there are some sickly specimens in there. Here's a Trekking sock done and the second is on the needles:

The cuff is a k2 p2 rib that is rotated one stitch every fourth round. It makes a nice swirl and gives the ribbing some texture.

I also started socks for Jim using the STR lagoon that I bought for him back in November.