I have a backlog of FOs to show off, and I think I’ll start with my most successful this far. Behold, the Meow Mittens.
These mark my first foray into charting a design, and although the template was graciously provided by Hello Yarn, I’m a little proud of myself. (I seem to be having a problem with pride lately. Last night, I unclogged my bath tub drain all by my wee little lonesome, and I’m still basking in the glory.) I charted out the name Lily, in cursive, people. Cursive. No block letters for me, thankyouverymuch. And I freely admit the cats are a little goofy looking, but I’m no artist and cats aren’t my favorite animal, so I wasn’t very imaginative in that aspect. But Lily. In cursive, yo. Gratuitous close up:
Am I Lily? No, dear, my name is Stacey (for the three people who read this blog that I don’t know personally). So these mittens are clearly not for me. These little babies are for a coworker, who loves cats, if that wasn’t abudantly apparent.
And since these were the first FO of 2009, I tucked in a little surprise:
I’ve been knitting a lot more for other people lately, which is a bit strange for me. I’m the definition of a selfish knitter. I don’t look at patterns or dream up designs with anyone but myself in mind, so if I knit for someone else, it means true love. I am a bit more willing to knit for others here in Portland than I was in Las Vegas, most likely due to the appreciation factor. It’s a sad but true statement that Las Vegas is entirely lacking in a creative arts community, and Portland is filthy with artists. Where any sort of creative output in Las Vegas (especially of the crafty persuasion) is pretty much met with “Oh, how quaint. And why are you doing that again?”. Up here the reaction goes more along the lines of “You make stuff? Me too!” Who loves Portland? I do.
And so the mittens were taken to work, oohhed and aahhed over, mass emails were sent out touting their awesomeness, and the orders came flooding in. Knit for hire? Hmm, I’m not so sure about that. But it’s nice for the knit to be respected, appreciated, and even sought after.
Specs:
Pattern: my own, using Hello Yarn’s Generic Norwegian Mitten template
Yarn: Dale of Norway Baby Ull in pink and charcoal gray
Needles: US size 3
Size: About a women’s medium. Lily has smaller hands than I, so I knit them to be a bit snug on my huge man-like hands, and they fit her perfectly.
Gauge: ???? Sorry, I didn’t measure.
Ravelry Link, for those so inclined.
