Firstfall convertible mitts: I haz a confused

[meretia]

I've been working on the Firstfall mittens for a while, and I don't get how I'm supposed to make the flap that forms the top of the mitten. The pattern had me slipping the first and last stitches of the non-cabled part of the glove every other round for the last couple repeats of the cable pattern. Now I'm working the cable panel flat and I'm supposed to "pick up a stitch from the mitt, and knit it together with a live stitch on the needle" at the beginning of each row, and there's a note in the section on making the hand that "You are creating two columns of slipped stitches which you will pick up and knit later for the flap, which makes me think I'm supposed to be picking up the stitches that I was slipping when I was making the hand.

But... the stitches I slipped are below the live stitches. The first slipped stitches are considerably below. I can't figure out how I'm supposed to pick them up. I mean, it seems like I'd eventually have to practically fold the hand flap in half to reach them, but then how would I attach the sides? I'm to the point where I just got frustrated and started on the other one since I know how to do that part.




Also it's purely shallow, but does the garter stitch section in the palms serve any purpose? I like the look of the k2 p1 pattern around the cuff better than the garter stitch, which doesn't seem to do much in the finished projects I've looked at on Rav other than look kind of odd in between the cable and the cuff. If it's not going to change anything important, I'm of a mind to pull it all out and do it over without the garter palms.

Comments

[sixbeforelunch]

I'm no help with your primary question, but as for the garter stitch on the palms, I see no reason why you can't change it to stockinette or anything else that doesn't have a fancy pattern that might throw your stitch count off.

[ysobel]

Is the pattern available anywhere? I can't find anything on rav matching "winterfall", and ddging "winterfall mittens" gets me a lot of World of Warcraft results.

[meretia]

D'oh, that's because I was getting the Firstfall mitts mashed up in my head with the town Winterfall in someone's story I was just reading for critique group this week and didn't even notice. Firstfall convertible mitts.

This is a guess, but --

[chalcopyrite]

I suspect they want you to pick up the slipped stitches in reverse order -- that is, if you slipped stitches on rows 1-10, you pick up the slipped stitch in 10 first -- and work your way "backwards" relative to the direction you were heading before. Working the slipped stitch with a live stitch at the start of the row will join that together.

But that seems like it's going to make a lot of overlap, and not make very fold-back-able flaps... hmmm.

ETA: Looking at the link, that's what happens. If you look at the purple pair, you can just about see how the cable continues over the top, and on the grey pair, the cable is working towards the wrist when the flap is over the fingers. The flap turns inside-out rather than just flipping back to uncover your fingers. If you're thinking of ripping it and re-doing with different palms, you could try it out on this mitt to see if it works.

[aunty_marion]

I thought at first that what it meant is that you'll be knitting the stitches you were slipping, not that you're picking up *all* the slipped stitches. But when I looked for the pattern on Ravelry (eventually found it, it's called Firstfall, not Winterfall!) it's unfortunately a paid-for one, so I can't take a look. But there is a comment from the designer on the project page which might help? And having looked at some of the projects, is the third picture here any help? It shows the side view with the join of the top and main part. I think, looking at that, the technique is that you begin to pick up the slipped stitches as you turn the top over, so you're knitting downwards towards the cuff again. So yes, you *are* knitting up the stitches below where your live stitches are, which is what joins the flap to the sides of the mitten... I think.

[ysobel]

Heh, that would do it :)

It's a paid pattern so I can't see it (and I don't like it enough to want to buy my own copy *g*) but it looks like the slipped stitches are supposed to be at the sides, and you kind of ... fold it over and do a flat cable panel that attaches on the sides? I can see it in my head, it's just hard to explain. But you would start with the topmost row of slipped stitches, and work down, rather than starting with the first and working up.