What a fun knit! I can honestly say that this pattern held my attention for the entire duration of the project. Its been awhile since that has happened. The pattern is chalk full of twists and turns and bobbles and the palm section has texture gone wild. Yes, the pattern is predictible however there are 3 different sections on the front of the mitten and each section is doing a different thing than the others. If you are looking for a challenging knit, this is it.
The entire pattern is charted and split up between 3 separate charts, something I consisider to be a bonus. The first chart is a simple knit and purl combinations that no where near prepares the knitter of what is to follow.
The second chart is segmented off by the front and the palm of the mitten. And while one can clearly see that the pattern repeats and is somewhat predictable, don't let this fool you. This is not some sittin'-by-the-TV kind of knitting. This is you-must-really-pay-attention kind if knitting. I found this out while watching my "Desperate Housewives" and realized that I crossed my braid the wrong way. Luckily I was able to fix one of the mis-crosses but was unable to fix the second mistake. (I keep trying to convince myself that all will be OK.) Once I reached the end of the second chart, I just assumed that we were to do a 3-needle bind off. So, I turned my knitting inside out and proceeded to do just that, when a little voice said "Libby, this is a Jarod pattern and we all know about Jarod patterns. Will you please just read what the next part says?" And luckily I read the pattern because a 3-needle bind-off is NOT what was to be done next. Next, I was instructed to short row across 5 sts decreasing on either end every other row. THEN came the 3-needle bind off.
Chart number 3 is saved for the thumb, whose stitches were placed on some waste yarn in chart 2. Again as with chart 2, one must really pay attention because the front part of the thumb is cabled while the back part is the same texture stitch as the palm.
The yarn I chose to use was Woolmeise 100% Merino Superwash. When I first touched it I fell in love. Right there at my kitchen table me and the yarn had a moment. Tingly sensation and all. The depth of color was...well words can not describe it. And the twist. Lets talk about that for a second. I've never knit with a yarn that had the twist that this yarn has. I was advised to ball it twice to help with the twisting during knitting.
I couldn't be more happy with my pairing of yarn and pattern. It provided the challenge I was looking for with exceptional results!
