December 7, 2012

Camilla

Camilla

Camilla

After my tension issues with my previous pair of mittens, I decided to try two-handed knitting with my next pair. So, the Camilla pattern by SpillyJane was the first time I tried holding one yarn in my left hand and the other one in my right. Previously I've done all my stranded knitting with both yarns in my left hand, which has its problems: The yarns keep twisting around each other, and when they are used in different amounts and one yarn gets eaten up more than the other, you have to keep adjusting the tension. I've never knit holding yarn in my right hand before, and I don't think my self-taught technique is quite by the book, but it's surprisingly easy. And regardless of how it felt like my right-hand technique was slow, the mittens knit up pretty fast. Maybe because I saved time by not having to untwist the yarns all the time. My tension seems slightly better, but there are still bunching up problems at the points where needles change. So, there is still room for improvement.

Picking the right color combination took some time and frustration, but I'm quite happy with the Wollmeise Pure Wolke WD and Spinaci combo I finally ended up with. I previously thought the Spinaci looked kind of boring on the skein, but combining it with Wolke seems to liven it up. It's surprising how the right kind of contrasting color can make a yarn look a lot more interesting.

The Ravelry project page

15 comments:

  1. I love them, and love the colour combination.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful mittens and nice color combo! I also have issues with my tension between stitches where the needles change when knitting fair isle mitts :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's surprisingly hard to prevent that tension problem, even when I pay particular attention to stitches around the area where needles change.

      Delete
  3. These are gorgeous! Love your choice of colours! Holding one strand in each hand is definitely normal. In fact, that's the method I prefer when working with 2 colours at the same time. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I didn't mean I thought I invented the technique, I just think the way I hold the right-sided yarn is probably not how it's taught to people, based on what I looking up in a knitting book.

      Delete
  4. Beautiful! I'm still working on stranded tension as well. One thing that has helped me keep things more even is knitting with the wrong-side out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've heard a few people mention that, might have to give it a try some time!

      Delete
  5. They turned out beautifully!! Love the colours you chose.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh, you're so right -- the blue totally enlivens the Spinaci. Wonderful combination.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm disproportionately happy with the color combination, lol.

      Delete
  7. Stumbled on these from a ravelry search... So lovely! Beautiful work, friend!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I loooooooove this color combo.

    ReplyDelete