Sister-in-law's Armwarmers

I'll post after I go shopping and spinning about RGill's Rockin' Eve - which was awesome. I have some kick ass pictures too... but for now here's yet another Christmas project:

I am so happy with the way these turned out. I was a little skeptical about the stripes and the colors and the cables in general… but man… now I want a pair and to make a pair for everyone I know! This pic was taken before I wove in the millions of ends:

Pattern: Natalya’s Gauntlets
Modifications: I added the 8 row stripes – love me some stripes. Very Dr. Seuss. "Oh the thinks you can think if only you try!"
I also somehow ended up with one less stitch on the thumb gusset (I was watching Trainspotting and not paying attention to my first row of increases). So I rolled with it. Then I cast on two stitches across the opening between the thumb and the hand. On the second row of the thumb I K2Tog and ended up with the # of stitches I needed. This worked well because then there was no sewing required afterwards and no hole between the thumb and the hand!
I added 4 rows of K1P1 ribbing on size 5's at the beginning and end of the pattern – I think it gave it a more finished look.
Oh and I knit the whole thing on size 7's b/c I wanted them to be a bit smaller.
Yarn: Knitpicks Andean Silk in Bluebell and Navy. It took almost one complete ball of each. I love this yarn btw. Warmth of wool, sheen of silk, and oh so soft.
Timeline: These took me a over a week of monogamous knitting making them the second largest Christmas project timewise.
What I would Change: I would keep the number of stitches that the pattern calls for at the gusset but I would still pick up some stitches across the thumb opening. I also want to try some other fun stiping patterns or skip the stripes all together in the interest of time.