The Saga of the Single Mitt

One down, One to go...

Greetings friends!  Snow is in the forecast on the east coast. Six to twelve inches here in central Mass.  There's something magical about the first snow of the season. Memories of hot chocolate and gathering around the radio waiting for the local station to tell us that school was cancelled.  I suppose that should motivate me to get to work on the second fingerless mitt, but if I'm honest I'll tell you that for the moment I'm out of mitten mojo.  It's not that I don't like it.  In fact, I'm pretty darn happy with the way this one came out. It's just that for the amount of work that went into it I should have finished 3 pairs!  Allow me to explain...

I decided that I needed a pair of fingerless mitts to go along with my Slouchy Tassel Cap.  In this month's issue of Crochet World magazine I found the pattern for their Texting Mittens.  Perfect!  I typically have to go down a hook size or two.  So I started out with my H hook and whipped up the cuff.  It was too small.  I don't want to start over so I just add a few rows. No problem. Now I'm working on the palm/body. It's snug, but I soldier on.  It was time for the thumb.  I followed the pattern adding a few stitches to accommodate the changes to the cuff.  After a few more rounds I tried it on.  Great.  I can't move my thumb.  After a fair amount of grumbling I acknowledged that the only was it was going to fit would be for me to rip it all out and start again with a bigger hook. The hook size the pattern indicates.  The one I would have known to use if I had made a gauge swatch.  This time (of course) the cuff fits. And so does the body.  Imagine that. It seems however that I must have gargantuan thumbs, because I need to add several stitches in order to make it fit. Naturally this means several attempts and ripped stitches.  Moving on.  I was confused by the instructions for making the finger hood (you know that piece that keeps your fingers warm when you're not sending urgent messages or getting the keys out of your purse).  After looking at a pair that my mother-in-law gave me I figured out what to do.  Again this meant several tries before I got it right (rip, stitch, rip, stitch).  I stuck to the pattern and made the hood as indicated.  It looked funny, like I had pointy witch hands.  I'd come so far that giving up was not an option.  Maybe I made a mistake? I ripped back and tried again. Nope, still pointy.  OK.  I can do this. I know what I want it to look like, and I know that I can figure it out. What I didn't know was it would take 12 tries to get it right!  So you can see, while I'm pleased with the way my texting mitt finally looks, I think that I need a bit of a respite before I begin it's mate.  I did try to write down the changes that I made, but when I looked at my notes this morning it appears that I was utilizing a form of hieroglyphics in an attempt to make things more clear. Hmmm...

How about a little book chat?  If you've been to visit before you know how much I love books, and if you haven't had a chance I hope you'll take a look at yesterday's post.  I'm so excited to have a new venue to share my book reviews.  Of course I'll still be talking about them here, I have too they're so much a part of me.  But by creating Robin Reads & Writes I can really delve into my reviews without worrying that I'm turning away those of you who come for the crafting.  If you enjoy my reviews, I hope that you'll subscribe to the new blog, or at least click on the link in the header or on the sidebar once in a while to see what's new.

I have reviews for two books in the works right now, and I'll tell you both of these had a big impact on me. I'll let you know when they're ready.  Now I'm reading Defending Jacob by William Landay which has been on the NY Times best seller list since it came out in January. While that's not my reason for choosing it, I do like to keep current with what the masses are reading.  It's been a while since I've read a crime/court drama so I decided I'd give this one a go.  Stay tuned and I'll let you know how it rates!

Today I'll be sharing the saga of the single mitt with these ladies and their link parties.  There are always so many fun and interesting projects to see, that I hope you'll spend a few minutes visiting them.  I always find inspiration, and it's a great way to meet new people.

That does it for me.  I'm off to work and then to hunker down with my hook and yarn and wait for the snow.  My prayers are with anyone who was effected or knows anyone who was effected by Sandy.  Let's hope that Athena (yep, the latest storm has a name already) follows gently in her wake.

Thanks so much for stopping by and spending a bit of your day with me.
Until next time friends,
Be blessed and stitch & read with love!