Project spotlight: Keep your mitts warm

Next up in my series of festive round-up posts on a making-filled (but not recording-filled) 2019: This toasty pair of mittens! (Photo also conveniently pictures the GirlyKnits Bra Top pattern, another make from this year)

As with most things I make, there's a story behind almost every part of this project. The yarn is a 100% wool sock yarn, from my hometown's annual Church Yard Sale. I don't live in my hometown - I don't even live in the same country! - and I don't participate in church anymore, but somehow I always seem to be home during this annual fundraiser. And it is a part of my past, and community, and I do always end up volunteering and donating (by way of purchasing things) in this annual event. This yarn was OLD (like, 1960s label old), but seemed in good shape, stored well, by someone who clearly had a passion for the materials. And there was lots of it. But it's also very specific yarn. It's not soft, it's not right for sweaters, and it hadn't sold after the full weekend. It would be a sin to leave the yarn unloved - so I bought it. About 30 skeins worth of it. And travelled across an ocean with it taking the bulk of the room in my suitcase. Who needs clothes??

Knowing how much I loved my Brooklime hat, which was made in similar yarn, I decided to bookmark three skeins for something similar, and eventually settled on a classic mitten pattern: The Corbett Brook Mittens, which coincidentally were made in similar colourways to the ones I had chosen.

It was a surprisingly quick knit, and a great way to practice the Fair Isle technique. I love how satifying it is to create a pattern, row by row.

I mean - it even looks cool from the back!

The one downside of using old, secondhand yarn is that it was incredibly splitty - and I wan't looking forward to sewing in all the ends. Luckily, I was able to hide most of them in the sewn-up cuffs (#ConfessionsOfaKnitter), so in the end it was only a minor hiccup. While the yarn is old, and scratchy, it's perfectly warm and cosy for winter mittens. Now they're a constant companion in my bag to get through the cold days, and a happy addition to my winter wardrobe for 2019!

Happy stitching,
Molly x