From Good To Better, Soon

My mom and sister are coming to town next week (yay!), and in a sudden, impulsive, I-want-it-now moment I decided that for the occasion I wanted to have new mittens. I already bought the yarn for Corazon (Knitpicks' Merino Style in Storm (MC) and Cinnamon (CC)) well before Christmas, and since I had it hanging around I thought to myself, "Hell, I'll just cast on and whip out some mitts without breaking a sweat." Three cast-ons later I am irritated at my own mistakes and dripping like a triathlete.

At least it's not just stupid mistakes. I'm using this project as a chance to really upgrade my fair isle skills, which are good, but not great. I just this evening found this post on color dominance in stranded knitting (interesting stuff, by the way), and it's the reason that I'm pulling out tonight's quarter-mitten. Also I'm having trouble stranding across the space between two dpns without making a nasty little pull that will never quite block out and that I will look at every time I put on the mitten. However, all frogging will have to wait until morning, because right now I am very, very sleepy.

PS - pictures of my bird sweater are coming soon, if flickr ever finishes uploading.