Mittens Mittens Everywhere!

As you may know, I have an order for 15 (count them!) FIFTEEN pairs of fingerless mittens. They’ve been ordered as holiday gifts for the staff at a Northshore (Boston area) veterinary practice owner to give to the staff. Lovely gift, right?

Well, I’m a crazy knit-aholic who doesn’t know how to say “no” … and of course, I said “yes”! I have pair number 12 on the needles. I’ve knitted half a pair that are too big to send for a woman and too girly to be for a man so they’ll be frogged. Another pair used up too much yarn so I can’t finish the second mitten. Will also be frogged (or I may find some more of the same yarn to finish mitten number two … after Christmas). So, technically, this is pair number 13 but one pair is not for sale!

I’m using two or three patterns and they’re all getting some fairly major alterations. One pattern was too small for my hands so I had to make it bigger. One pattern (with cables)  called for 1-3 repeats before the thumb gusset (and the left and right mittens were different) but I made them the same after the first few attempts at finding the right length. A third took way too long to sell for the price that I quoted but they’re lovely and finished and they’re going into the sale. One pattern is really boring in “plain” wool so they need to be embellished (which I’ll do time permitting!)

Lesson learned: mittens take about six hours to knit … depending on the pattern used … and hands get really sore when knitting six hours a day every day. Hands need rest. Next time, I have to say “no” to an order that would be so taxing on my body. Offer certificates, perhaps, for knitting after the holidays? But for today, I’m grateful for the order and the loving confidence that the AVC has in my knitting skills – thank you to the universe for providing!

Gone knitting.