Wednesday, November 26, 2008

I was very brave.

Yes indeed, I was incredibly brave the other day. No, it had nothing to do with Amoryn's immunization shots.... It was all about mittens. MITTENS!!!!
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Elizabeth Zimmerman's mitered mittens, to be exact. I got some cool yarn a the knitting retreat, & decided to make a pair of mittens in the worsted & a scarf out of the sport weight. (Non knitters: mittens, heavy; scarf, light.) (Worsted is good.)
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And her pattern calls for basically knitting a tube, then cutting a hole & putting the thumb in after the fact. Sounds simple, right?
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EXCEPT THAT YOU CUT A HOLE IN THE MIDDLE OF PERFECTLY GOOD KNITTING!
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I thought, I can do this, cast on, & knit two mittens at the same time*. I cast off, bound in the raw end, and placed the markers, picked up the scissors, and started hyperventilating. I had to do some deep beathing & have a collaborative phone call with mom. I reasoned that I would know how to mend a hole in a mitten, so cutting a hole shouldn't be too bad, because I know how to fix it.
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EXCEPT THAT IT'S CUTTING A HOLE.
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IN A PERFECTLY GOOD PIECE OF KNITTING THAT I JUST WOVE ALL THE ENDS INTO.
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There was a lot of deep breathing, it's true. I don't think the man understood why I was freaking so hard. It's just so... Unnatural.
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Anyways, I'll get to the graphic photos - caution- this might offend some readers of a sensitive nature.
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The innocent mittens, as yet unaware of what's in store for them. The two stitch markers should have been a clear tip-off that something was up.
Mittens: Doo-de doo-de doo. Nothing happening here.
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Mitten: Whatcha doing? ..what? Hey! AHHH!
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It's just not natural.
Mitten: Oooooohwoh ow ow ow.
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Although that is a groovy thumb-hole.
Mitten: You mock my pain.
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And the picking up & knitting not too bad at all...
Mitten: I agree. I still think you're mocking me, but you're knittting at the same time, so okay.
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Ta-dah! The finished mittens of happiness. It was a journey that had its share of trauma, but in the end, I've learned something, grown as a person, and I have new mittens.
Mittens: Wheeeeeeeeee!
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*-Using two circulars, I knit two mittens at the same time. Perfect way to get around "Second Sock Syndrome". (Non-knitters - just let this go.)

1 comment:

Unknown said...

You are incredibly brave, and I hope I can follow you're example! The mittens are in my queue due in late winter...(maybe not ready until next winter, but I have to prepare for these...)