Birds in Hand

I finished the second Bird in Hand mitten last night. Although it's still drying, I took a picture. The angle is a little weird, but the color is good (except for that weird stain on the towel they're lying on...)

Details
Yarn: Cascade 220 in White (8505) and Raspberry (7802)
Needles: US2 (2.75 mm) DPNs

It's obvious I still need to work on my stranded knitting. I'm normally a loose knitter but, not surprisingly, I guess, my stranded work seems to be knit tight. And my tight knitting has kind of messed with the proportions of these mittens. From the thumb gusset to the fingertips, these are a teeny bit shorter and a teeny bit tighter than I would like. The thumb, though, is at least a half inch too long! The cuff is also too long - something I thought I would never say about a mitten cuff....

If these were to be a gift, I would be disappointed in them. But they're for me, they'll keep my hands warm, and I've learned from knitting them. My next colorwork project will probably be Eunny's Endpaper Mitts, which, in retrospect, I probably should have done before I did these mittens!

I'm not ready to start those yet, though -- I'm working on a pair of Nereid mitts. Have I shown you these? I had some issues with actually reading the instructions, but now I'm back on track.

I've also started another neckwarmer -- you might remember that I have Stonewall and the Woodland scarf both on the needles, but I've also cast on Anne Hanson's Poinsettia cowl in Malabrigo Silky Merino in the most gorgeous blue-green (which, for some reason, they call Green Gray). I tried taking a picture, but apparently there's not enough of it yet to actually be photographed...

And one last thing -- several years ago, when I was afraid of DPNs and heel turning, my friend Dale sat me down and showed me that I could do it. We used Cleckheaton Country 8 Ply, which makes rather bulky socks, but I've worn these as sleeping and around-the-house socks ever since. Last weekend, I stuck them in a net bag with other handknit socks and washed them on the extra-gentle cycle, as I always do. When I took them out of the bag to lay them out to dry, look what I found!

Yes, both the heels are blown out! I'm not a darner, so I guess this is the end of these socks. But I don't think I'll throw them away...