Modification for pinkies and pointers

So I finished the girls' mittens last week, and used the Yankee Knitter Hats & Mittens pattern. It's done flat, which was easy and quick to do, and was great for throwing them off track - after all, a flat mitten doesn't really look like a mitten at all, until you seam it up. That enabled me to work on the mittens in front of them, without giving it away. ("Mom, what are you making?"... My answer could have been anything.)

Then I decided that I wanted to make my mom a pair of mittens. I decided to make hers a touch larger than normal, since I wanted her to be able to wear glove liners underneath. Her hands get REALLY cold, and right now she's wearing gloves, that just aren't working. Gloves don't keep your hands as warm, since the fingers are separated and can't share body warmth when they are each in their own little compartment. But thin glove liners under a nice mitten... well this can be quite toasty.

So I grabbed another skein of Malabrigo Rios. It worked so well for the girls' mittens that I wanted to use it again. I didn't want there to be a seam in the mittens for my mom, so I modified the pattern to be worked in the round. I also added a couple of stitches, since I needed it to be a bit bigger than the woman's size, but smaller than the man's size.

I completed the first mitten with the decreases as written in the pattern. I tried it on, and did NOT like it. It gathered in too quickly at the top. Last time I looked, my pinky finger was much smaller than my pointer, and it felt like there was too much mitten above the pinky, and not enough above the pointer. It's not as noticeable in the mittens I did for the girls, and since their hands aren't fully grown, there's not as big of a difference between their pinkies and their pointers.

So I undid the top and ripped back to just above where my pinky was. (Best part about knitting these in the round? I could try it on I went! This would not have been possible if I'd worked them flat.) I started my decreases on JUST the outer edge of the mitten. Gradually, as I had worked more rows and kept trying on the mitten, I got to just above my pointer finger. Then I started decreasing on both sides.Of course, I took EXCELLENT notes as I worked the first mitten. (Totally UN-like me. But I wanted it to be perfect.) And the end result is a REALLY perfect pair of mittens. I hope she likes them and that they keep her warm!