Cloisonee Mittens

While I was trying to decide if I was going to finish the socks, I made some mittens.

Cloisonee Mittens (mine ravelled here) 

I knit them with yarn in the stash, including the purple yarn that caused me such fits.

Okay, that's not fair. The yarn didn't cause me fits. I caused myself fits by being stupid over and over again.

Enough about that. Let's look at mittens!

The main purple is Schaefer Yarn Company Lola in Thistle colorway. I'm not going to link that yarn because the owner of the company is retiring and so I assume all the yarn either is or soon will be discontinued. I do not wish to cause you pain, so I'm not linking you to a webpage full of pretty yarn you can't have.

You're welcome.*

The cuffs are made with Cascade 220 superwash that is--wait for it--so old that the project it was first used for is not on my Ravelry page. I made a pair of Pippi Kneestockings from the first Stitch 'n' Bitch book with this yarn. It was some of the first yarn (maybe the first?) that I bought at a real knit shop, and I remember walking out of that store thinking, "Huh. This is not a cheap hobby."

Edited to add: Oops, I lied. They are on Ravelry, although they must have been added later since I didn't know what dates to put on the project.

Of course, now I know that I need to calculate cost of a project based on hours spent knitting rather than number of skeins purchased. A shift in perspective makes knitting much more reasonable... at least, in terms of cost.

I used colors 829, 848, and 864. At least one (829--the pinky one they call "orchid") seems to be discontinued, but there are so many different colors of that yarn that there'd be no problems finding an acceptable substitute.

I liked knitting these mittens. Worsted weight goes quickly, and the cuffs were fun. It was a good break from the socks. 

Problem is, of course, that I don't think I'll wear them. I've decided I like Proper Mittens. Proper Mittens, to me, are knit in fingering-weight yarn, are stranded, and probably have some sort of fancypants pattern on them.

The sensible reason for liking those types of mittens is because the denser fabric and stranded-ness makes them very warm.

The real reason for liking those types of mittens is that I like fancypantsness. I love the Swirly Mittens and wear them all the time. I have plans to knit Perianth Mittens, provided I can decide what sort of cuff I want to substitute so I can have a couple Estonian braids (also fancypants).

I'm keeping the Closonee Mittens for awhile, just to make sure that I don't really want to keep them, but I imagine they'll become a gift.

Hope you're hobbying** something fun, too!

*Okay, I am weak. Here's a link to Simply Socks. They still have some Schaefer yarn in the Anne, Nichole and Heather lines. Buy all you want, and forthelove, make sure you get enough for whatever project you're contemplating... plus one extra skein. You can't be too careful.

**I just made up that word, and I mean that I hope whatever it is that you do with your spare time is going swimmingly.