Chicago Blues Mitten

The first blue mitten is finished, and it came out nearly perfect! But! (there is always a but, isn't there?) I am now in anxiety as to whether I used more than half the skein of yarn! And if so, whether I will be able to match it in order to finish the second mitten! For some reason when I made the Maine Mittens, I had no worries about having enough yarn, and I ended up with a small ball of yarn left over. But this time I doubt myself. I wanted this one to be a smidge longer. Did I overshoot? Will I end up without enough yarn for the thumb? Or the fingertips? Oh me, oh my.

I wanted to be able to measure the first mitten carefully, and I had noticed on the previous pair that the position of the thumb determines where the mitten sits on your hand. So it is helpful to have the thumb in place before you decide where to start decreasing and end the fingertips. So I did this rather complicated maneuver--I put the body stitches on two dpns with point protectors on both ends, and then I picked out the waste yarn and knit the thumb--but I didn't want to break the yarn from the body of the mitten, si I left that attached and pulled yarn from the opposite end of the skein. It was quite a tangle, with two dpns stiffly holding the fingertips, plus two long circular needles, plus a skein of yarn attached from both ends. But it worked! I did the entire thumb at Starbucks this afternoon, and finished up the hand tonight.

So the Chicago Blues Mittens are halfway done--if only I have enough yarn left. If not, I'll have to run to Michaels and hope to God they have some left. I don't even care if it's the same dye lot. The thumb could be slightly different. Oh please God let the yarn hold out!!