How are you doing with this month’s KAL for Easy Elegant Mitts? If you’ve gotten past the purl bands with the beaded accent yarn, the going from there is pretty straight forward.
I do want to mention the technique used for the thumb opening. It is somewhat unique in being a self-reinforced thumb slot that is similar to a one-row horizontal buttonhole. With proper tension, you will have neatness with no gap between stitches at either end of the slot/buttonhole. The instructions are detailed step-by-step in the Easy Elegant Mitts pattern.
Self-Reinforced One Row Buttonhole Thumb Slot
Don’t try to memorize or understand this technique just by reading it through in the pattern — Get your yarn and needles in hand (or a sample swatch for practice), and follow along in the instructions. I myself use this technique seldom enough that even I have to refer to my instructions to be sure I have everything done in the correct order!
Tip: You can adapt this technique to other projects where you want a horizontal buttonhole. Just adjust the number of no-knit bind off stitches to be the width you want. The number of cast on stitches will always be one more than the number of bound off stitches.
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Someone mentioned you showed how to add circular cast ons. This was before I was a member and I was wondering if it was something I did not know how to do that would be helpful for your projects. I noticed there is no recommended cast on style for the new project, only to cast on loosely. What would you recommend? I would go right to a long tail cast on.
re. Someone mentioned you showed how to add circular cast ons. This was before I was a member and I was wondering if it was something I did not know how to do that would be helpful for your projects.
I think you are referring to the easy center start? We used that for Pinwheel Flower and Lace Doily Beret. The support articles for these are still available (they can be found listed in Previous KALs). As a Premium Member you can also download the PDF version of the article for Easy Cheating Center Start.
Since you are here on the page for the Easy Elegant Mitts project, I am not sure if you are asking your cast on question about this project or another project (you mentioned “new project”, so maybe you mean the January project for the I Heart Filet Lace?).
The Easy Elegant Mitts pattern says to cast on loosely using your favorite method. So yes, you can use long tail cast on. My philosophy on making any cast on a loose on is “the distance between the stitches of the cast-on row is a big determinant in whether there is enough looseness in the cast on edge to stretch out as desired”. More details here – Cast On For a Good Finish.
For making the Self-Reinforced Thumb Slot for the Mitts (the page here where you’ve asked the question about casting on), the pattern specifically gives step-by-step directions for making the 2-Needle Purl Cast On.
If I don’t mention a specific cast on in a pattern, then it means it is your choice to use whatever you want. My personal go-to cast on is long tail, and that is what I use unless I have sufficient reason to use something else.