Olympic Mitten-Glove, Take One

The Opening Ceremonies:






















Then a bit of team gymnastics and swimming:





















Beach volleyball, tennis, some more swimming, a little boxing:





















Gymnastic team finals:





















I adore this pattern. I love the flip-top mitten cup that covers the fingers. I may make a half-mitt so that my palms and wrists also have double fabric, but I want to wear them a bit this winter before I decide on that. They may be warm enough without an extra layer, even in these cruel Chicago winters.

This is a fun pattern because it's always changing. And that makes it feel fast. Cuff, thumb gusset, then create the extra stitching line on the back of the hand where the mitten pocket will attach later. A few more rounds, then it's on to the fingers and thumb. Then the mitten pocket, and by that time, you can't believe how quickly it went.

I bet a fast knitter could knock out a pair of these in a weekend. I'm not so fast, and I work a lot of hours, and I'll still have the pair done long before the closing ceremonies.

Team Mine!

I have joined Team Mine! on ravelry for the summer knitting olympics. Only question now is what to knit. We have 17 days. We're supposed to challenge ourselves. Given that my knitting time is about half what it was a year ago, I question whether I could even complete a pair of socks in that time period.

We have some time before we have to declare our project for the team. My top-of-the-head choices are:

1. Most likely candidate: Minnesota mittens. These are the densely knit gloves with the flip-top mitten parts that go over the fingers. I like this pattern because it would give me a double layer of warmth at the fingers -- the individual glove fingers, plus the fliptop mitten part. I'll probably use some purple Jaeger from stash.

2. The lace shell from Veronik Avery's skater set in her book. This was my birthday yarn. I'd like to knit it before the weather turns cold again, but it's not urgent. And frankly, I can knit a mohair lace shirt in 17 days only if I'm nursing a broken ankle and confined to my chair for the duration.

3. Latvian mittens. What the heck. Been wanting to knit them, partly because of some masochistic urge to do stranded knitting on size 0000 needles. And also partly because I think that's the kind of project that can convince me I've got the chops to tackle a Fair Isle sweater someday.

4. ???? Some other option. Any suggestions? Something that can be completed in 17 days would be ideal.

Vote in the sidebar if you care to.