girdwood

I just finished up a set of hat and mittens for Daniel. Bless his heart, he gets really excited (still) when I make things for him, and he kept asking when they would be done. The other night as I was weaving in the last of the yarn ends on the mittens, I said to Stuart, "Look! These are done!" and he laughed and said "Just in time for summer, right?"

Daniel was more than happy to pose for pictures this morning. 

The pattern is Girdwood hat and mittens, by Mandy Powers and it is totally addictive. I think it took about three days to make the hat and less than a week for the mittens, even though there are two of them and I hate doing the thumbs.

It helps that there is a different pattern on the palm of the hand from the back, so it keeps you on your toes.

Here's the set, all matchy. My only regret is that I didn't think to do the little strip of red on the hat as well.

Anya wanted in the pictures, too, see? 

Also, I think she wants her own Girdwood set, too, because she likes to do things just like Daniel. She probably wants the exact same colors, too, but where's the fun in that??

Pattern: Girdwood hat and mittens by Mandy Powers (linked above), "big kid" size

Yarn: KP Wool of the Andes (dark blue heather, lake ice heather, and a bit of firecracker heather). I had to break into the second skein of the dark blue for the mitten thumbs, and I bet if I'd put the red on the hat I wouldn't have had to. I like KP WoTA for this kind of thing. I have a big bag in lots of colors for just this purpose, picking up small color work projects when the mood strikes.

Sticks: size 7 circulars (and DPNs) for the hat, size 4 DPNs for the mittens. I didn't swatch, but fortunately the gauge worked out just fine. Daniel's got a little room to grow into the mittens, but not the hat, so we'll see what actually fits him next winter.