Knittin' On

This weekend, I made a pair of mittens for Jabin.

Jabin’s new red mittens.

This means that I have made complete hat/mitten/scarf sets for all my children this year. This is actually the second pair of mitts for Jabin, but the previous pair went missing this spring somewhere in between moving between four houses. (I know they made it to Alberta. Don't know where they are now.)

Actually, come to think of it, Jabin's current set was originally Noah's. However, I started a new one for him this spring, since the ones he was pictured in last January are too small for him. I purposely made the newest mittens bright red so that, unlike the hunter green/navy combination (a colour choice originally made by Jude--he grew out of them before I finished! Oops!), they would not only be easily visible against the snow, but also in the mittens' basket and van.

Oh, my heart!

These are the mittens I made Noah. The photo was taken right after they were finished. They look a little the worse for wear, now--but they are doing the job! (He's got a matching jester hat and zig-zag scarf to match. I don't think I have a photo, and don't have time to take one right now, sorry.)

After I knit the mittens, I line them with polar fleece for extra warmth and windbreak. Since the HIGH yesterday was -23 degrees Celsius, I think you will agree that it's a necessary step! (I still have to line Jabin's, but they are much better than the thin Magic Mitties he has been using since he lost his last good pair.)

The project finished just before beginning on Jabin's Rosy Reds was Jude's Camo Toque, which finished his set. I don't know why the kid is so into camo, other than that his friends are. It must be a boy thing. I'm not going to try to understand it, I'm just going to go with it. Which is why I let him choose camo yarn for his winter warmth gear this year.

Jude in full camo, ready for winter… and bed.

Finishing Jabin's mittens so fast, and therefore finally having a fully be-mittened family, inspired me to whip up an extra few pairs for when the originals are soggy. (Gotta love chunky yarn and bigger needles.) I have tons of Bernat Softee Chunky in child-bright colours, so why not, right? However, just as I was finishing the cuff today, I remembered a few newborn babies in need of shower gifts, so this was immediately transmogrified into the first sleeve of a baby cardie.

Gotta love stripes! I am going to try to knit it in one piece, cuff-to-cuff. No, I've never done it before. No, I'm not using a pattern. Is that a problem? (Patterns are for the bored. Just kidding. Patterns are for the really challenging techniques. Wait a minute--I only try those out when I'm bored. Okay, patterns are for the bored.)

Oh, did I show you this before? It's the new "knitting" bag I got this year. It was a ten-dollar sale purse from Walmart—way too huge to use as an actual purse, 'cause I'd just fill it up, and seriously, is a ten dollar purse worth hundreds of dollars in chiropractor and massage bills? But! Perfect for light, fluffy yarn and bamboo needles! Plus! The bright red colour means that my kids can always find me on the soccer field (since it got a lot of time on the sidelines during soccer season this spring.)

My new red knitting bag.

And have I mentioned that red is my favourite colour?