Spinning day today. I got off to a poor start when the shower refused to work… then spent the rest of pre-spinning time chasing my tail and trying to put an attractive birthday card together. Eventually I shot out of the door at the last minute, minus my spinning wheel but with the Citron shawl, and a parcel that the postie had just brought for me.
I opened my parcel when I arrived at spinning, which was at F’s today. Here’s the box on the kitchen table at Crudy. Note the muffins…
Any idea what’s in it? Here’s a clue…
What on earth could I have been purchasing from Finland?
It’s a traditional mitten kit from Riihivilla. And what do you get in a mitt kitt?
You get yarn, which I can show you, plus a pattern for mittens in a traditional construction and a very scary chart – neither of which I could reproduce here.
Riihivilla produce an extensive range of mitten designs and I found it very difficult indeed to choose just one. Even now I find myself thinking “Should I have got the Twinflower one? or maybe the Willowherb one? or maybe…” They are all lovely.
Anyway – this is to be my next knitting challenge. Colourwork.
I don’t have a strong history with colourwork. A couple of poorly knitted toddler items. One ill-favoured 1970’s long tie belt cardigan (think Starsky!) Both in chunky weights.
I did start a Fair Isle sleeveless pullover for myself. It was for a 34″ bust (!!!) 2ply, in 11 colours. I thought it would keep me busy while I was expecting my second baby. It was pretty damn gorgeous, and I think I was making a fair job of it while I was knitting on it. But I found that being pregnant affected my concentration and I put my knitting away until after the baby was born – when of course I found that I had no time to knit anything at all, let alone something that complex! I popped it into my workbasket and let it lie.
It languished for a long time – especially once I realised that, post-Daniel, I had become a size 16 and the weight seemed less than eager to leave me. Frankly, that sweater wasn’t worth knitting as it was simply never going to fit me.
That was er… 1978.
Anyway, I lost that piece of knitting, and several others ((and all my needles and patterns…)), when my basket went astray in The Great Divorce Debacle, but I often think of my Fair Isle roses, in apricot, cream and blush with great fondness.
I’ve done no colourwork since, so I now regard myself as a complete beginner. That’s why I am starting small and aiming for success with just a pair of mittens.
They are going to be gorgeous mittens, though!
No idea when I plan to make them… They would have been a good Knitting Olympics project, had they arrived in time – personal challenge and all that…
Hmm… I wonder if they will weigh in at around 100gms.