Can you believe it's September? I wonder where the summer went (and I'm not complaining - I'm no fan of summer). It seems like yesterday that Target put out their school supplies (a week after school let out, much to the chagrin of children everywhere) and now that aisle is empty and they're making way for a metric ton of Halloween candy. This time of year is so full of promise... The hot days make way for cooler evenings, people linger longer talking to each other on the street because they know we'll all be too busy soon to do so, the bright blooms of summer have closed up and the mums are starting to show up at garden centers, school buses appear on the road again and we knitters begin to pull our knits out of drawers in anticipation. We're on the cusp of something in September - school is starting, the mercury begins to head south on the thermometer and we begin thinking about the little that remains of 2013. I had to buy a 2014 calendar last week!
It's already beginning to cool down in the evenings here in northern Virginia. We can take longer walks with the dog and our son because we're not weighed down by the heat and humidity. I find myself reaching for a shawl or some fingerless mitts some evenings rather than sunblock and a hat. I'll admit - this makes me giddy. Bring on the snow! Bring on the chill! Bring on the sweater weather! Maybe I'm a little ahead of myself on this, but again, that anticipation is there beneath the surface. Sitting outside with a cool breeze, while knitting and drinking tea? Bring. It. On.
I love the challenge of making a project with 1 hank of yarn. I've talked about it before here on the blog and it's fun to have a certain number of yards and a certain project in mind and watch it come together. I grabbed a hank of Cascade's Souk from the pile, in a lovely autumnal color way called "root veggies" with purples, oranges and greens. I knew I wanted a pair of fingerless mitts, or "wristers" as I like to call them for walking during colder evenings. I wanted a knitted fabric that would withstand the rubbing of the leash against my hand (garter stitch) and show off the gorgeous color changes of the yarn. I love variegated yarns with gentle color changes and this yarn did not disappoint!
Starting with a simple garter stitch rectangle, then kitchenered up partially to create a thumb hole, I knew it needed something more to add a bit of feminine flair. I was delighted with how much yarn I had left (220 yards per hank!) after knitting both rectangles, so I knit up 4 lace edgings (2 for each wrister) and attached them to the lower end. The soft blend of silk and wool made this mitts both strong and warm and I love how the colors flow into the next with a gentle change rather than an abrupt stripe. Something I greatly appreciated on the Cascade website was that each color had been swatched up so I could see how the color change would happen, taking the mystery out. Often when I buy variegated yarn, it's a bit of a crapshoot how the colors will knit up. Sometimes you can picture how it will look, sometimes not. I found that super helpful!
I got quite a few compliments on these easy-to-knit wristers while walking the dog. There's a lot of knitters in my neighborhood so they always want yarn and pattern details. I love the look on a knitter's face when they find out they can knit a project with just one hank of well-priced yarn! With 14 color ways to choose from (and you can omit the lace edgings for a guy) I think I'll make a few of these for holiday gifts!
Free Fleur-de-Lis Wristers pattern available here.