Love Locks and Splash knit mitts

How has the weather been where you are? It's been pretty cold here. I suffer from Raynaud's syndrome and when the weather is frosty my fingers can get very painful.

The other day I wanted to take pictures of the love locks on the Butterfly Bridge for a local "Photo of the Month" project. By the time I got back to the office I'd lost all feeling in the ends of my fingers. I had to wrap the camera strap tightly round my wrist for fear of dropping it in the river from the bridge.

I don't know how it happens but I manage to make holes in the fingers of my gloves really quickly. I decided I'd make myself a pair of fingerless gloves for my lunch hour walk along the river.

I'm not much of a knitter, I knit continental style, holding the wool in my left hand. It means that I sometimes a twist in my stitches but I wanted a close textured fabric to keep the wind out. My daughter had given me a ball of King Cole Splash in lilac, for Christmas that needed a project.  I made it up as I went along. 40 stitches on two 4mm needles starting with couple of inches of rib. Stocking stitch for another inch then increase in the middle over 15 rows to make the thumb shaping. Dropping the thumb stiches onto a holder I carried on knitting until it was long enough to cover my little finger. I picked up the thumb stitches on dpns and finished them in the round.

I lined the mitts with a rectangle of fleece for extra toastyness and joined the side seam with double crochet. It's neater than my sewing and makes a bit of a feature.

And that's it.
Warm hands for my next photography walk.

Sylvia  x