Because I Can

I first have to thank you all for the kind birthday wishes and warm welcome back into the blogging world.  It's nice to know that you are all still reading after so long.

I don't know why I ever try to make a plan for something as unpredictable as knitting, but I really did intend for all of my sample knitting to have been finished several weeks ago.  I ran into a bit of a complication with the final sweater and didn't finish it until yesterday, but that still means that all of my sample knitting is done!  I can't tell you how liberating it feels to know that I can knit anything I want, at whatever pace I want.  In a strange way, it almost makes me want to knit nothing, just because I can.

But of course that would be ridiculous, so I immediately cast on for a pair of fingerless mitts.  You see, I don't own any.  I can't tell you how many pairs I have given away, but for some reason I don't own any myself.  What makes this so absurd is that I have longed for a pair for years and have never made it happen.  Every fall when my hands start getting cold, I think about how great it would be to own a pair of fingerless mitts.  I plan them in my head, I think about what they would look like, what yarn I would use, but in all the free time I have had over the years, I have never found the time to knit myself a pair.

Until now.  I finished my final sample sweater last night, cast on a pair of fingerless gloves, and by noon today they were finished.  It turns out it doesn't take very long to knit two small tubes.  Now I'm kicking myself for spending all those chilly evenings suffering with cold hands for no reason.

I was weaving in the ends when my little sister asked me to take her sledding, so I bundled up, shoved the mitts in my pocket along with my camera, and we headed out for an afternoon of sledding, fort building, snowball throwing, snow eating, and hot chocolate drinking.  It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

I made the mitts out of a partial skein of Shelter I had leftover from a hat I made a year or two ago (which I also wore today.  I don't think I've ever blogged about it, though.)  I used the Camp Out Fingerless Mitts pattern and modified it rather severely to fit my hands and work with the yardage I had.  They worked out perfectly, if I do say so myself.

They look exceptionally fetching in handspun, so I have a feeling I'm going to be knitting another pair or two before I've exhausted this pattern.  I'm sure they'll be nice to have around.

I'm off to grab a mug of tea and enjoy the rest of my day off sitting by the fire and knitting whatever I want, because I can.  They're predicting 8-15" of snow before this storm is over and I'm quite content to surround myself with wool to wait it out.