Trying to Stay Warm

It has been so cold here this January that the schools have cancelled 4 days, not for snow, but for cold! So I have been working on keeping people warm.

In December I was distressed to discover that C did not have anything to cover her cold fingers! I found a free pattern on Ravelry for 2 needle mittens with pretty cabled cuffs; C and I perused the stash and decided on a pretty sparkly yarn, and I started knitting the smallest size of the pattern, that said it was for children to adults. There was no size or gauge information in the pattern, so I was flying by the seat of my pants, and the first mitten turned out big enough for me!

So I started over. I had C trace her hand on a piece of paper so I could check my progress, even while she was at school. I removed 1 or 2 repeats of the cuff pattern, several inches of length, and at least 4 stitches in the thumb and ended up with this:

 

 They are still not any too small. I went ahead and finished the 2nd mitten in the larger size, and put them aside; when C & P's Meme came to drop them off (She has been living in Florida) I was able to give them to her.

 I made these some time ago, I don't remember if I showed them before or not:

 

 I had finished the knitting a couple of months ago, but I had never sewn in the ends, with stranded mittens there are usually quite a few ends, and they got shuffled to the bottom of the pile. I felt awful this morning when DD2 was leaving for work, and looking for something to cover her fingers (it was below 0, she did need something) and the mittens were not ready, so today, I took advantage of my knitting time and sewed in the ends. I think they turned out so pretty!

 In January I have been participating in a mystery KAL (knit-a-long) in my "I make mittens" ravelry group. We got the first clue on January 1, and the 7th and final clue last Saturday, and I finished them today! They are by the same designer as the mittens above; which is why I knew I would like the pattern without seeing it ahead of time.

 

 They were inspired by the book "The Secret Garden" and were a lot of fun to knit. Quite a few people on the group site took pictures of their mittens with their pets, so I decided to join in as well.

 

 (I got Danny and Jake to cooperate by holding treats in my hand. I don't even think they noticed the mittens.)

 I also made a warm beanie for DFSIL for Christmas, but it left the premises before I got a picture, with a request for more. I also have a request from C for a pair of slippers, and a scarf, mitten, and hat set for an indoor snowman, so as you can see, I'm behind.

 I better get knitting!