I finished my fingerless mitts on Saturday night  This was the kit that Bryan bought for me while we were in Japan.  The directions are all in Japanese (shocking, I know).  I was able to translate some of the directions, like needle size and cables.  There is still a lot of the directions that remain a mystery.  Luckily the pattern is also charted and it was very easy to follow.  There are some great websites that show translations of Japanese knitting symbols to English.

The website I found that had a lot of translations also had a needle chart.  From what I understood, the needle size converted to a US 11.  That was too big (and it is possible that I didn't convert right) so I went down to a size 9 which worked much better.  I probably could have gone down to a size 8 and it would have been just fine.  They are a little slouchy on my wrists which I actually really like.

The right mitt I seamed up and tried on as soon as I finished knitting it.  I should have sewn the little eye beads on first.  It was much easier on the left mitt.  That is why the beads look a little funky on the right mitt.  I plan on using this pattern again.  I think the mitts are very cute and would make a great gift at the holidays.