cabled fingerless mitts!

i wanted a quick project, and needed to use up some of my leftover yarn, so i made these cabled fingerless mitts. i wasn't so happy with the thumb in the pattern. it took a few attempts before i was happy with the way it looked. i did a little research, and next time will definitely use a slightly different thumb method.









alternate thumb method:
(this is also used in the fetching mitts on knitty, as well as norwegian mittens.)
instead of placing stitches on waste yarn, then casting afterwards, knit the stitches with waste yarn, put the stitches back on the left needle and knit them again with your main yarn. when you come back at the end to knit the thumb, remove the waste yarn and you'll have live stitches on the top and the bottom of the thumb. you just have to pick up a few at the corners, and knit the thumb. it's really easy and looks SO much better.