countdown

When I woke up this morning, it was 10 days to the deadline for socks, mittens, and hats to get to San Francisco in time to make it into the current shipment. I work well under pressure, so decided to try to make one more pair:

It helps when you use big needles and big yarn and the mittens are just 30 stitches around. . . they may not be elegant, but they are thick and warm and virtually indestructible. This picture was taken not long ago, and I am already past the second blue stripe. So I think they'll be ready for their bath tomorrow!

Yarns are Lamb's Pride Bulky and Alafoss Lopi. Follow the instructions for the smallest size of this pattern,* using needles to make a nice firm fabric -- I am getting 4 sts/inch (16 sts/10 cm) with a US size 8 (5.0 mm). I knit loosely, so most people will be happier with a 9 or 10. This will make mittens for a woman's medium-sized hand.

*The pattern works for any gauge, because I wrote it using row counts rather than linear measurements.