Putting Summer Away

It's time to put away the Summer clothes and Summer knitting, time to bring out the wool. The change of seasons can be tricky, because it takes a while for the weather to fully turn and settle down. It can be hard to know what to wear because while it still feels almost like Summer outside, it's already woolly sweater weather in the office.

Fingerless mitts are an essential accessory for this time of year. Having perpetually cold fingers rather than cold palms and wrists, it took me a while to come round to this particular article of clothing, but they do actually make a difference in a chilly office. I made Liz's lovely Berry Hill fingerless mitts earlier this year and I've gotten a lot of use out of them, so I decided I had to make more. I just finished knitting up a pair of Hand Charmers. Being full of holes, they probably won't do much to keep me warm, but they're very funky!

Charmers knit from one of my all time favourite Fyberspates
colour combinations. Doesn't chartreuse and orange just scream Autumn?

I was lazy and didn't do the thumb or the provisional cast on - I figured I was only going to wear them lacy bit out, and with all the crazy colours the seams wouldn't show that much.

I also started a pair of Cotton Reel fingerless mitts in pink and orange alpaca. After a couple of inches I decided the colours weren't contrasting enough, so I unravelled and started in cream and brown Habu wool/linen. This time I almost made it through an entire mitt before deciding they were a) too big, and b) too contrasting. At which point I gave up altogether.

I think I'll save the Habu cream and brown for a pair of mittens. Stranded colourwork creates such a warm and toasty fabric, it makes more sense to use this technique on full mittens. I've got my eye on Deep in the Forest mittens, which will look great with lots of contrast, and will also suit the heavier wool/linen yarn.

But that is for later in the season. In the meantime I've gone back to the pink and orange alpaca. I'm knitting a simple pair of stripey fingerless mitts, because I love the wackiness of the colour combination, but the shades are too similar to show off patterns well. The psychadelic combination reminds me of Disney's Alice in Wonderland.

Hooka smoking caterpillar

Cheshire cat

Ok, so more orange than pink, but it's the same general concept

We're enjoying a temporary return to Summer in England at the moment, which I hope will give me the window of opportunity in which to knit up my alpaca fingerless mitts, just in time for the return of cooler weather.