Behold......

.........another first..... Mittens!

Mittens.....after a fashion



So why am I motivated to make mittens in April?  (Besides the fact that most of April has been in the 40s ?).  My spinning guild,  Genesee Valley Handspinners Guild, does "exchanges" every year- scarves, hats, and this year Hand Coverings.  It seemed like a good idea when I signed up last fall.  The fiber I got to spin was lovely and that part got done in just a couple of weeks.  But...... I wasn't about to fool around with that nice yarn making attempt after attempt to produce mittens, so practice was in order.  I pulled some of my handspun yarn from the stash and borrowed "Folk Mittens" from the guild library.  How hard could it be?  Sure, I think, give me a book and I can figure anything out.  I picked what I thought was the simplest pattern, with the least complicated type of thumb.  Under the heading "Mittens from Greenland and America" was a lovely pair of white mittens.  Nice, plain design that would show off the yarn nicely and they had the classic mitten shape I wanted - not square and pointy on the tip of the fingers, or with a thumb lying flat against the palm, beautiful though that style can be. 

So here is the result.  A pair of mittens..... which are more fraternal twins than identical twins.  One mitten is definately bigger boned than the other, which is weird since it's the same yarn, same needles, same number stitches, and I don't *think* I'm manic-depressive enough to knit tight some days and loose another.  So.  I pretty much understand the construction of these things (and can find all the mistakes I made and there are many) , but they don't have the same sex appeal as the the mittens in the picture.  OK, these are wool and those are angora, but seriously... the picture in the book has slim, sophisticated mittens.......the Audrey Hepburn of mittens.  My mittens are more Gilda Radner.  And what's up with the yellow thumb??  That's what I get for going back to pick up the thumb stitches after the variegated yarn has moved on in its life to that shade.

One of these things is not like the other......

The "real" mittens are due May 14th. 

I'm hoping to work my way up to Jamie Lee Curtis style.