Distracted by yarny objects

Baa-baa black sheep

Well you all had to know that while I like Stephanie's pattern just fine, I would become, um, sidetracked by other needles and yarn at some point while I knit away at that scarf. For some reason, scarves do this to me. Not surprisingly, while I've made several shawls, I don't have a lot of scarves I've knit. Eventually I'll return to this project, but in the meantime, I'm on to something else. Anyways, I'd been minding my own business on Friday when my husband decided to annoy me by starting to clean the house. I didn't want to clean, but felt compelled to do something. So I made up an excuse that I needed to go to the drugstore, which I did, and I left the house.

It was snowing, freezing cold and really blustery and who could blame me if I suddenly felt driven to stop by the yarn store to buy more yarn for a mitten pattern I've been wanting to knit for an entire year? I hadn't planned to go there, but it just so happens that the drug store and yarn store are practically next door to one another. Serendipity, right?

I browsed, trying to spend as much time as humanly possible so I didn't have to clean, too, and came away with two skeins of Stonehedge Farms yarn. For the uninitiated, this glorious yarn is Michigan's answer to Cascade 220. It's around the same price for around the same amount of fiber, comes in a spectacular array of colors just as nice as 220, will felt upon request (and likely also felt when you don't want it to, too), but where it surpasses the staple of our knitting world is in the hand. It is so soft, you wouldn't feel bad clothing a baby in a garment knit from this wool. When this yarn was released, both of my local yarn stores stopped carrying 220. No need for that when we've got the market cornered on better!

I had to eventually go home and pitch in, and had to work a bit at my real job, too, but by Friday night, I had cast on for Meta Mittens, and with the scarf tucked safely aside in a project bag for later work, I began to knit. I'll return to the scarf (I am half way through), but right now, I want these mittens. Immediately!

If you look at the photo, you can see I've adapted the pattern in the cuff. Not wanting anything too boring, I selected a two color Latvian braid cast on. While fiddly, it's not hard, and once again, it leaves me looking like a genius when all I've done is knit one row and purled two. It's a fantastic technique for adding fancy to whimsy, and these mittens are nothing if not whimsical.

Now I can't recall if I've posted my favorite youtube video for this braid before, but I'll post it here in case I haven't. There are several such videos on YT, but I think this one is the most clear and only uses 2 colors at a time. Much easier to understand the technique this way.

Oh, and about last night...around midnight, my sweetie came home from work bearing valentine gifts of chocolate. This took the sting out of watching the WKC Dog Show results. Once again, all is well in the Universe.

...and while I knit this pattern, I can't help but think this pattern would make a really, really cute tea cozy. Me thinks it would.