The Mitten Factory

Welcome to the mitten factory, where we make mittens all the time. You may remember that I decided last week that everyone in the immediate family was getting mittens for holiday gifts this year (excluding the Mister, who won't wear them, and Rainbow, who already has several pairs from me and gets more as she outgrows them). Two pairs were done several weeks ago, and after a good stash dig, I've got yarn for the five pairs that remain to be knit. I decided to go with the largest sizes first, as they'll take the longest. The current pair is an extra large being knit with some leftover Cascade Eco Wool on size 6 (4.0 mm) needles. I have about an inch of thumb left to knit before I can call these done.

I really love how thick this mittens are knitting up, and I'm tempted (once I've gotten all the gift knitting out of the way) to use whatever Eco Wool I have left to knit some really large mittens and felt them.

Here's the yarn I have selected for other pairs -- more Eco Wool in another shade, some deep-stash Knit Picks Telemark and Merino Style (both now discontinued), and some Valley Yarns Amherst that was in the goodie bags for Stitch and Pitch years ago.

I managed to finish my handspun shawl over the weekend -- the picot bind off took me quite a bit of time -- so that I can focus my attention on gift knitting. I still have to block it (which may just happen this evening), but it felt good to get it off my needles.

I do have one bit of stash enhancement from the weekend, and that was this beautiful skein of worsted weight from Fibernymph Dye Works that I had preordered and that Lisa was kind enough to bring to me at Indie Knit and Spin.

The colorway is called Smooth Sailing, Sunny Skies, and it was sold to benefit Hurricane Matthew relief. I didn't really need another skein of yarn, but I decided to splurge because it was for a good cause, and I'm glad I did, because I really love this colorway. I'm fairly certain I'm going to use it for a hat for me.

In light of all the gift knitting going on here, I didn't want to forget to mention that the Indie Design Gift-A-Long is happening again this year and will kick off next Tuesday (November 22) evening at 8 p.m. EST, with the sale running from November 22 through November 30. I will once again be participating as a designer, and this year I've been asked to be a mod as well, so if you're in the group, you'll likely see me around a lot.

And now if you'll excuse me, I have some mittens to knit!