It's a Sickness

I have a confession to make: I can't stop knitting mittens. They are the perfect thing for instant-gratification knitting, and after all the thin yarn I've been using lately, using worsted feels like I hardly have to put any effort in at all.

I cast on for another pair of Waiting for Winter Mittens on Tuesday night, and even considering that I didn't have as much knitting time as normal the last two nights due to spending some of the evening doing preparations for the festival this weekend, I already have one mitten done and a good start on the second.

I'm using the skein of Spud & Chloe Sweater leftover from Rainbow's sweater for these. It was untouched, so I could have returned it to the shop, but I liked the feel of the fabric after it had been washed so much that I thought it would be wonderfully suited to being a pair of mittens. My LYS is gathering some mittens knit for its mitt-along to send to Laura Nelkin's drive to collect warm winter items for Syrian refugees in Europe. The last day they're collecting stuff is this Sunday, so I'm feeling a bit of pressure (though I doubt I'll have much trouble finishing a second mitten before then).

Meanwhile, I pulled a neglected project out to work on during my lunch breaks this week. Remember the sparkly handspun brioche cowl that I started for my mom way back at the beginning of October?

Trust me when I say that it looks much better in actual daylight, a resource that has been very limited around here lately (if the sun does come out, it's usually when I'm at work). When I do actually sit down and work on this, it grows fairly quickly; the challenge is finding the time. I am looking forward to the long weekend over Thanksgiving to churn it out.

Forgive me if I'm starting to sound like a broken record on this, but I do want to mention just one more time that Indie Knit & Spin is this Saturday. If you are within an easy driving distance, I'd really encourage you to come -- it's a great little show. There aren't a ton of vendors, but the vendors that are there are really great, and I like that it's a show with a lot of selection much not so much that it's overwhelming. I'll be sharing a booth with my friend Amy, and we'll have pattern samples for you to see and patterns to purchase (in addition to my mound of handspun).