NaKniMitMo,Take One

It's still white outside. And it's bitterly cold. I'm pulling for a cold day. What's a cold day, you ask? It's a day on which school is canceled for no reason other than that it's frigid. How frigid does it have to be? We were debating that today in the teacher's lounge, and one teacher claimed -25 after the wind chill, but we just don't know. Maybe the buses won't start. That actually happened one year. Really, I'm pulling for a cold day. But just out of concern for the munchkins. Wouldn't want them to get frostbite at the bus stop. Yeah... I'm just concerned about the munchkins. Heh.

So, I finished the first pair of mittens for NaKniMitMo, and at the rate I'm knitting this month, it just might be the only pair I finish this month. I really have two more pairs planned, plus two pairs of fingerless mitts, plus finish this project, but we'll see how much time finishing the KNITTING FOR SMALL CHILDREN takes.


Photo taken yesterday, when it was much less frigid outside.

The thumbs gave me a bit of trouble. I had gaping holes at the base of the thumb where I picked up the stitches, so I sewed them closed before weaving in the yarn at the end. How did I do?



I modified the tip by decreasing on the sides rather than evenly around. I think it looks neater this way.



These are a birthday gift for Blee, whose birthday is not until next Friday. I'm ahead of the game on this one.

Yarn
Dream in Color Classy in Some Summer Sky

Needles
Size 5, 3.75 mm

Pattern
Basic Mitten Pattern from The Knitter's Book of Handy Patterns by Ann Budd

NaKniMitMo

All the snow has melted. Really. Just as quickly as it came, it is gone, and believe me, the world was a much prettier place with all the snow. I wish it would snow, just enough to cover the grays and browns of a world that is asleep.

It's still cold, though. And my Christmas knitting is not finished. And I have some birthday knitting to do. And I still have not finished this project. Nor this project.

All of this leads to NaKniMitMo, or National Knitting Mittens Month. Carol of Mad for Knit started the movement, and not surprisingly, only a few days later a group was begun on Ravelry.

Mittens or fingerless mitts are acceptable for the KAL, and I will be knitting both. First up is a pair of mittens using Ann Budd's basic mitten pattern from The Knitter's Book of Handy Patterns. My gauge swatch:



The yarn is just lovely. It's Dream in Color Classy, and if you've never worked with it before, I highly recommend that you pick up a skein. Pricey but gorgeous.

I'm not going to make any promises or goals for the rest of NaKniMitMo, because we've seen what happens when I do that. Remember Socktoberfest? Suffice it to say, I have enough mittens to keep me busy for at least a month.