Braids

When we were trying to decide on the winter class schedule at the shop, I pitched a series of classes that we are calling the "Heritage Series." Each class focuses on an design element or traditional knitting style from various regions around the globe. Think Irish cables, Estonian lace, Andean colored hats, Norwegian Selbu styles, Swedish bohus designs. One of the coolest things about it is that there are thousands of potential class topics.

My first class in the series is coming up this Thursday, and it is going to focus on knitting traditional Latvian braids. The project for the class is Simple Braided Mitts by Nicole Clark. Mine look like this:

The braid is cleverly constructed by twisting your yarns around each other on the outside (right side) of your work. I love that they look nothing like "normal" knitting. I have been wearing them around the shop a lot and get tons of people asking me if I braided it and sewed it on afterward. 

I used Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in colorways 340002 and 340039 (I hate it when colors don't have actual names.) The yarn is a nice blend of 55% wool, 33% microfiber, and 12% cashmere. If you dislike working with splitty yarns, this is not the yarn for you. It will split if you don't watch it vigilantly. I didn't mind it, but I think I have a very high tolerance. I also work with Spud and Chloe Fine a lot which is frequently accused of being splitty. 

My mitts have fuzzed up a bit with the constant wear they have been getting lately, but nothing that I would call actual "pilling." I made the size small, which in hindsight was a mistake. The sizes are listed as S, M, L. I have very small hands for a woman, so I made the small. I think in reality the sizes are more in line with "Child, Woman, Man." When I bound off, the entire mitt fit in the palm of my hand. Thankfully I had used a ver stretchy cast on and bind off, and a VERY aggressive blocking rendered them wearable. 

I did find a few math errors in the pattern. It's a free pattern and the errors were easy to spot, so I am forgiving. There are incorrect numbers in the pattern concerning the thumb. If you do as instructed to increase the thumb gusset, then all of the numbers in the “Set Thumb Aside” section should be increased by one: they should be 6 (7, 8). All of the instructions for the thumb should have the same changes. The final number of stitches for your thumb will be 14 (16, 18).

Overall, a very enjoyable knit. It only took me about 3 evenings to whip these puppies up and I have enough yarn left over to make a second pair. (I won't, because I don't like making the same pattern twice, but I could.) If you're in the Portland/Beaverton area and want to learn how to make Latvian braids, there are still a few spots in the class.