Swatch 'til You Drop

First, a very happy 2008 to all the S&B blogistas out there. Here's a New Year's Buddha, from the Mummer's Parade, to get your year off to an auspicious start.


And speaking of auspicious starts, here's my swatch for the Latvian mittens. I wanted to use all my colors, which I did (except the white) to see how they would interrelate with one another. I, too, did my swatch on #2 needles which seems too big at first, given how thin the yarn is. But it somehow works out just right. I have 9 stitches to the inch and about 8 1/2 rows to the inch.

The yarn is very forgiving in the way it kind of sticks to itself. Quite a few times I lost a needle out of my stitches (I'm a bit rusty knitting with my left hand, so things have occasionally gotten a little Western) but the loops didn't go anywhere. Just stayed there, nice and round and loopy, waiting for me to stick my needle back in. Sweet.


Here's the inside, just to show that my tension is fairly even and loose. It's something I'm working very hard on. (Heh, she said hard on. . .)
Now on to devising the mitten pattern. Are we there yet? Is that permissible or are we waiting? I defer to the Alpha Knitter. . .