Giri no Otouto no Bōshi to Yubi Nashi Tebukuro (義理の弟 の 帽子 と 指なし手袋)

In my last post about my Giri no Chi Chi no Jiaki no Bōshi (義理の父 の 耳介の帽子), I also mentioned that I wanted to make something for my yarn buddy, B (who also happens to be my brother-in-law too). :) When you have an awesome yarn buddy like that, the very least I can do is ensure he has a styling hat and some mitts to keep him warm with some of the yarn he picked up! ;) So, A & Hubby had helped me pick out a pattern: the Jacques Cousteau hat (Hubby liked it so much, he wants one too now! :P).

So, I measured his head (64 cm) and his hands (right = 27.5 cm (slightly longer than Hubby's left hand) and left = 26 cm (his thumb comes up to the 1st digit on Hubby's right hand). Then, I read the pattern twice, doubled up the yarn I decided to use for him (it was a skein of sock weight yarn that he picked up at Mother of Purl) and determined that I needed to cast on 140 sts (the "men's" size) with my Denise 3.75 mm (US 5) needles and 30" cable.  At first, it didn't seem like it was going to be big enough; then I figured out that my cable wasn't long enough for me to determine if the hat was going to be big enough (everything was scrunched up and when I tried to stretch it out, I was worried it would fall off the needles). So, I transferred everything onto my longer 40" cables (much better). And ... when I stretched out the hat, it see incredibly ... B-I-G! :( I tried on Hubby's head and it was really, really big! *yikes* Thankfully, I was going to see B and would have an opportunity to test it on him before I got too far along. Sure enough, it was way too big! :( So, I ripped everything out and recasted on 130 sts. Again, it seemed too small at first but after my 2nd row, it was apparent that it was (again) too big. So, I ripped it out (again) and casted on the women's size: 120 sts and ... it (finally) fit!! *yay*

So, off I went and completed B's hat. And here's what I did:

1. Cast on 120 sts. 
2. K3, P2 for 35 rows (for about 19 cm (7.5 in)) 
3. *Work 26 sts in the rib pattern, then KKS (27th & 28th sts => 27 st), place marker, P2*, repeat * 3 more times.
4. *Work to 2 sts of marker, KKS, P2*, repeat * Continue to decrease in this fashion until 12 sts remain (that's 26 rows).
5. Break yarn and thread it through the remaining sts, pull tight and weave in ends. 

Now it was time for his mitts. Sadly, I didn't have enough sock yarn (can you believe it?!) left so, we decided (together) to pick up a skein of Malabrigo Rios 128 Fresco Y Seco:

Because I wanted it to "match" his hat, I followed the rib pattern (3x2) on his mitts and using my Denise short tips 4.5 mm (US 7) needles, here's how I did it:

1. Cast on 40 sts.
2. K3, P2 for 35 rows (for 17 cm (6.75 in))
3. *K3, P2, pick up a st from the st below, K, K3, P2 to the end of one side; then K3, P2, K3, P2, K3, P2, pick up a st from the st below, K, K3, P2
4. K3, P2, K4, P2, K3, P2, K3, P2, K3, P2, K3, P2, K3, P2, K4, P2*
5. Continue Rows 3 & 4 until you have added 2 more K sts on each side for a total of 3 additional K sts.
6. K3, P2, pick up a st from the st below, K, K3, P2 to the end of one side; then K3, P2, K3, P2, K3, P2, pick up a st from the st below, K, K3, P2 
7. K3, P2, K3, P1, K3, P2, K3, P2, K3, P2, K3, P2, K3, P2, K3, P2, K3, P1, K3, P2 
8. K3, P2, K3, pick up a st from the st below, P, P1, K3, P2, K3, P2, K3, P2, K3, P2, K3, P2, K3, P2, K3, pick up a st from the stitch below, P, P1, K3, P2.  Step 7 & 8 adds 2 additional P sts.
9. Place 15 sts (8 on one side, 7 on the other side) on a stitch holder for the thumb portion and continue pattern for the remainder of his fingers for 28 rows (11 cm (~4.25 in)).
10. Bind off.
11. Pick up stitches for his thumb plus an additional 4 or 6 sts and continue in pattern, knitting the 4 or 6 additional sts.
12. Continue in pattern and k2tog for the 6th & 7th sts, k, k, k2tog then continue in pattern.
13. Continue in pattern, knit the 6th st, k2tog, k2tog then continue in pattern.
14. Continue in pattern for the remainder of his thumb for 7 rows (4.5 cm (1.5 in)).
15. Bind off.

終わり (Owari = Done)! :) And here's the complete set:

I hope this keeps him nice and toasty on his next trip (or at least it be cold/cool enough for him to use it!). :)