My First Mittens

I finished knitting my first pair of mittens today. 100% wool goodness. Amazing feat for me, because I’ve been avoiding the use of double pointed needles like the plague! Turns out, with the help of a good youtube video, found right here, that it’s not that scary at all. I used the Family Mittens pattern, by Carrie Bostick Hoge, found in Issue 3 of Taproot magazine.
Knitting is still a bit of a learning process for me. My first project ended up as an extremely lopsided baby blanket that I gave as a gift anyway, because it was a lot of work and it’s the though that counts, right? My next project was one that made me do a happy dance in the end: a wool diaper cover for the baby that I still wish I could make her wear just so I could admire my handy work. I talk more about that, and my odd obsession with wool, here.
After that project, moves and homeschooling and more moves got in the way and my needles were packed up for awhile. That is, until at the end of this summer when I was thinking about this new North Country we were moving into and how warm things were a necessity and knitting creates warm things, so at that moment knitting gained its place higher on the priority list. My re-entry project was a simple scarf. Best way to ease myself back in, I thought. Boy was that a rough start. I lost count of how many times I knit, pulled apart, and started again. After some practice and an 18 hour road trip, I had a pretty nice scarf in my hands and my confidence was boosted.
And so, there we were. Knitting skills were re-established and it was time for a little growth. A little challenge was in order. With 12 little hands to keep warm, mittens were the next best step. They’re not perfect, but I’m pretty proud. They got a test run this afternoon as we headed to the park for our first sledding trip. I’m happy to report that the mittened hands stayed warm and cozy in the 19 degree weather. And, as for me, I’m warmed up and ready to grab one of the 5 balls of yarn waiting for me and get started on the next pair.