I’m in the mood to knit Annetarsia! How about you? The PDF for “Annetarsia Knits” goes live on Monday, the Craftsy sale is bringing lots of new students to “Next Steps in Intarsia” , and I want to knit along with everyone that I hope is picking up their colors and giving Annetarsia a whirl.

I decided to cast on for the Plaid Mitts, from the Craftsy class.  They are a nice, quick ITR project, and I could use some new mitts, for next winter.  For the class projects I used Vanna’s choice, a very nice Lion Brand acrylic yarn.  But some students were wondering if they could use wool, so I decided to make this set from Cascade 220, of which I have quite a large stash.  The yarn for these mitts is left over from when I knit the Dizzy scarf for the book.  So, when I wear them, they will coordinate well with the scarf, and remind me of Dizzy and the book.  All good things!

My yarn gauge for Cascade 220 and size 8 needles is .78 (This will make more sense to you when you take the class or have the book).  This gauge is slightly smaller than the yarn gauge for Vanna’s Choice, which was .84.  This difference means that with the class yarn I needed more yarn to knit 100 sts, than I do with Cascade 220.  But it isn’t a big difference, and when I re-did the calculations, the only yarn supplies I ended up changing were for B and C.  Those yarn supplies went from 4 1/4 yd to 4 yds each.  Everything else stayed the same (remember that I always round up).

I measured out the yarn supplies, and knit the cuff. I’m using the Magic loop method, and all of my yarn supplies are in butterflies, except the short bit of MC for the chart, which are loose strands.  I measured all of the supplies for BOTH mitts.  So, when the chart said 2 are needed, I cut 4.  This way, I’m completely done with yarn prep, and can start knitting the second mitt as soon as the first is bound off.

Yarn supplies, from left to right, are A, B, C and D, with the MC small sections wound above them The cuff is knit, with the MC, on a 24″ circular needle, using Magic Loop method. I’m ready to knit Row 1 of the chart!

Don’t miss out on the Craftsy summer sale, which is a great opportunity to load up on new classes.  It ends today, so click on the link and get over there!  Today is also the last day to pre-order the PDF of Annetarsia Knits at a reduced price.  However, if anyone buys it later they will get it right away and not have to wait, which is pretty cool.  The actual books will still be on pre-order until they are ready to be mailed, and I will let you know if I get any news.  They haven’t sent me a postcard, haven’t called…what is up with that?