The First Mitten

Almost finished, except for the thumb. A little lumpy at the top, mayhap, but its my first time around. And that's the beauty of handmades, isnt it? Their *delightful* imperfection. And it doesn't effect the fit whatsoever. I do hope I placed the thumb properly, though. I'm flying a bit by the seat of my pants, but its rather exciting as well. I made a pair of the Fetching fingerless mitts from Knitty that also utilized the afterthought thumb, and they, as well as many other hand-covers, were knit cuff up rather than top down. Apparantly, this method is considered strange and exciting. It just seemed most natural to me! No grafting or seaming.

There's a textural difference at the top, which was knit back and forth in short rows to create a pocket or cap configuration before being joined into a round. This is because, I learned years later, I knit strangely. This is just fine since I do everything else rather strangely. But apparantly the terminology is that I am a picker rather than a thrower. I don't know if this makes me Continental or European or whatnot- I only know its the way Grandma taught me. In any event, it causes me to twist my stitches a bit, and I just cannot conceive of how the rest of you people "throw" the yarn around the needle. It takes longer and just confuses the daylights out of me. I say if it ain't broke...