Notes and Illustrations on Short Wave Mitts

Since some people had problems regarding different parts of the pattern, the following explanations & illustrations can hopefully clear up some of these.

How to pick up stitches from the thumb part

How to graft/do the kitchener stitch

Cut the yarn but leave a long enough tail (I usually take about 5 to 6 times the length of the seam). Put the yarn on a tapestry needle.
For setting up insert tapestry needle purlwise into the first stitch - first on the front needle, then on the back needle.
* Now insert the needle knitwise into the first stitch on the front needle and slip the stitch, then insert it purlwise in the next stitch but leave that on the needle. Do the same on the back needle - then repeat from * until there are no more stitches on your needles.

If my explanation is too wordy, I found a video that shows it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAEIogIli6o


On the stacking of garter stitch ridges - or where to start wrapping and turning
During the first half of the pattern the slope of the MC row goes downwards - that's why I call the CC sections "downwards sections" - the ones in the second half are therefore called "upwards sections".
Each section lies between two markers: left and right. For the downwards sections, the first w+t is at the beginning (right) marker - because you start on your way back (WS). For the upwards sections, the first w+t is on left marker (RS). That means that during the downwards sections you knit the first row till the end and start the “short row movements” in the second row, whereas in the upwards section you first do the short rows and only afterwards complete the CC row.
In the following sketch the blue line is the direction of the CC knitting of the first upwards section and the fifth (last) downwards section.

Is it possible, to do it differently and start the upwards section at the right marker - then the stacks of garter ridges should look like this. The difference in the completed mitt should be minimal - the shaping of the section and the lines made by the MC would be the same, only the stacks of garter stitch rows will look differently.