FO Friday: Vanilla Fingerless Mitts

Happy Friday the 13th! I have a pair of Vanilla Fingerless Mitts to show you today :)

Vanilla Fingerless Mitts (link to Project Page)

Pattern: Vanilla Fingerless Mitts by Claudia Donnelly (free Ravelry download)

Time Frame: January 23, 2015; finished February 3, 2015

Yarn: Purl Essence Tranquil in Honeysuckle (it was a mill end I found at JoAnn Fabrics)

Needles: US #7 (4.5 mm) Signature DPNs

Size: I followed the DK directions though, honestly, they're the same for both Worsted and DK so it doesn't matter.

Modification(s): I used US #7 (4.5 mm) needles, while the pattern calls for US #6 (4 mm) or #8 (5 mm). For the thumb gusset increases, I used a backward loop cast on rather than the M1 indicated in the pattern. It's easier for me to do. Also, when I picked up the stitches for the thumb, I only used 16 sts instead of 20 sts. Otherwise, it's done to pattern specifications.
 
Thoughts: This is a great basic pattern, much like Susan B. Anderson's (Waiting for Winter Mittens & Fingerless Mitts). It can be modified for length, gauge (by changing needle size since the directions are the same, regardless which size needle you use), and if you wanted to, you could add a pattern of some sort (cable, all over, whatever). The only real problem I had was the laddering issue, which is fairly evident (in my opinion)...but I think that was more of an issue with the yarn and DPNs rather than the DPNs themselves. I don't normally have laddering issues while working with DPNs. I had the same problem when I made Elefante, which was made from the same yarn. I was also a bit surprised by the pooling. I wasn't sure what was going to happen with this yarn. It's extremely variegated and, perhaps it was the pattern, but I didn't have the pooling issue with Elefante. So, I was surprised when this pooled the way it did. I think it's pretty fabulous, actually. I know not everyone likes pooling. I just hope the recipient loves them :) They were shipped off to Wisconsin on Tuesday.

Here are a couple more photos.

I hope you're all having a lovely Friday the 13th :)