FO: Ellie

Back in November my friend Taryn asked me to knit a pair of mitts for her.  Now, there are some things you should know about my friend Taryn -- she's a girly girl.  But she does not like fussy things.  She has a gothic style.  But she loves sparkles.  And above all, Taryn loves My Little Pony.  I pointed her to a few etsy shops I knew were reliable, and told her to pick out what she wanted and have it sent to me.  She ended up selecting a skein of Gnome Acres in the Berties Bott's colorway.  A skein of laceweight at that.

After a lot of pattern deliberation, the Yarn Harlot blogged about a pair of mitts she received a kit for at one of her knitting retreats.  The Ellie mitts are written for fingering weight, so I decided to wind the skein into two balls and knit them double.  I also went down a needle size and knit the smallest size because Taryn's wrists are smaller than mine (and I wear a child's watch with ease).

The resulting project was chronicled here as I fought with dropped stitches, tangles, and yarn barf that resulted in cutting one of the two strands and painstakingly winding it back on itself.  But the end result is lovely.  The buttons are the last of my stash from my trip to the NYC garment district back in 2009.  I guess this means a return trip is in order.

Ellie is a sweet little pattern.  The instructions are very clear and it is quite customizable, which is always an added bonus.  Lately I have been touting the value of paid patterns.  This pattern is no exception, and I am pleased to say that the end result was very well received.

Find more splendid FOs over at Tami's Amis!