Double Knitted Totoro Mittens

I wanted to try double knitting technique so I decided to knit a pair of mittens for my 4-year old.  I found a great pattern on Ravelry (you need to set up a login account to access this pattern but if you're a knitter or crocheter, you really should sign up coz there are so many interesting patterns available and even forum if you need to know more about a certain topic/technique, what a great place!)

My first attempt was not so good.  It might look pretty alright from outside....

.... from the front....

..... and the back....

..... but inside was wrong! It was supposed to be the knitted side on the inside as well but as you can see from here.... it was very "purl-ed".... =.="

So I learnt from the mistakes made, and mind you, it was quite a lot, I made my first pair of double knitted mittens!  And I wasn't the least afraid to flip over one of them to show you that I've done it correctly!

Ok, maybe not totally correct coz the yarns were wrapped wrongly in some areas and the decreases are not done properly and those horribly done kitchener stitch... but after agonizing for 2 weeks, yeah that's how slow I was in knitting these! I think I'm allowed to be proud of myself for a short while!

I agree that grey was a better color for Totoro but I only had a small amount of it which was just enough to make 1 mitten, so I used green instead which I think looks ok, or maybe it's because I'm so used to it now!

Double knitting means that you're knitting 2 fabrics at the same time, which makes the mittens thicker.  However, these mittens are more suitable for autumn in Sweden, since we all know how tough winter can gets.  The happy 4-year old wore these mittens and accompanied us to go groceries shopping today and they do keep his little hands warm since winter is late this year.

We had a green Christmas this year which is very weird.  Sitting home where it's warm and toasty and the sun shining outside, green grass and birds singing, for a moment I thought it was summer! Has the weather God decided to skip winter and launch straight to summer?!

Enough ranting about the weather, on to my next project - Fair Isle knitting!!

Saving her modesty!

Remember this post? Well, Barbie has been wearing her tunic for some time now and every time I looked at her I would tell myself,"Man, she really needs to put on something more!"

Finally I couldn't stand it anymore so I cast on again to knit her something to cover up those legs!

Well, it does look alright.  Except that....

her bum is still hanging out in the freezing cold! Arggggghhhh! I tell myself that it doesn't matter since this part doesn't show when her tunic is pulled down.  So I left it as it is.  But it's like having a small splinter under my skin and I just cannot get it out of my head.  I know the "hanging-for-their-dear-life-on-half-the-bum" kinda pants is very popular among teens but they're not allowed in our family!

So I have no choice but to take them off, and have them back on my knitting needles again.....*sigh*

After a few more rounds of knitting and muttering under my breath,"Who has got a figure like this?"  "It's just impossible to make anything fit properly!"  "Bet she must suffer from some sort of chronic pain."  "Her waist is so small, it's totally disproportional!"  "Her figure is just abnormal!"  (Yeah, I suppose I was annoyed.... *rolling my eyes*) I ended up with this.

Ok, the waist line doesn't fit her waist but who cares? At least now she's decent!

And when I pulled down the tunic.....

yeah, you can't tell the difference.... =.="