tiny mitten knit-along

vicki and I decided that we were going to do a mini knit-along, since we both have the Fleece Artist Thrum Mittens kits (mine is a sort of kettle-dyed turquoise yarn with turquoise, plum and lime thrums), so here's my pre-starting post.

I'm actually going to take my kit to my friend's house tonight, so I can weigh the roving and divide it in half since I don't have a scale. I've read on Ravelry that others are running out of roving before they finish, and that'll be ok as long as I don't use all the matching colors on one side. I have some similar colored roving so I can add a bit more if needed. I just don't want it all in one spot at the end of the second mitten.

I'm also thinking about using a different pattern from the one in the kit. People don't seem to love it. I bought this cute Kalamazoo Knits pattern at a local yarn show, but found them on etsy to share. I sort of love the purl bumps, so I'm thinking that I'll do those. Same amount of yarn and same size needles, so I think it'll work ok. The BFL Aran is a bit thicker than a regular worsted like the pattern calls for, but the pattern has a bunch of sizes, so if my gauge is too far off I can just knit a different size. Besides, the K'zoo Knits pattern calls for 5 sts = 1 inch, and the Fleece Artist patterns calls for 6 sts - inch, and my hands would probably be happier knitting the fatter yarn at less sts per inch anyway.

There's also a pattern in the Winter 06 issue of Interweave with longer ribbed cuffs, which I guess is an option if the other pattern doesn't work out. And I found a thrum faq by Yarn Harlot, which will probably be helpful since I've never knit anything thrummed before.

Hopefully it works out that we can both start in a couple of days (the joy of a two person knit-along is that we can start whenever we want). I'm almost finished with my Liesl sweater, and I think that I'll have enough turquoise Malabrigo leftover to do a matching hat/scarf to go with the mittens for maximum warmth.