With the weather getting colder and owning nothing to keep my daughter's hands warm I decided to grab some bulky yarn and knit up some mittens. (Not that she is really willing to keep anything on her hands you understand but it's time for that battle to commence, especially as she seems to be being won over to hats at last.)
I took a look at some mitten patterns and using suggested number of stitches and such from Kate Gilbert's Gifted pattern (which happened to be the right gauge for the yarn and needles I was using) I got going.
I decided I wanted to knit in the round (actually I used my Denise interchangeable circulars -- think that's magic loop method, right?) and fiddled around with where the increases and decrease went, and kitchenered at the end. Also I added a row of holes so that I can thread ribbon or i-cord or something through to tie them on (although her jacket coat does a pretty good job it turns out).
The first one was a little small so I sized up for the second and then knit a third (perhaps I'll get around to knitting another to match the first and gift it). Of course the bigger pair are a little too big but they stay on quite well and will do for now (and then get grown into).
I've also managed to make my daughter a new hat/bonnet that covers her ears and because it ties on (hadn't added the ties yet when I took the picture)cannot be pulled off easily when she tires of it. (Although today we went out of the house and I asked her if she needed a hat and she said yes and wore it the entire time we were out, even while we were in the store which is pretty impressive based on her track record.)
The hat is from helloyarn's top down bonnet pattern which I like a lot and will use again, am tempted to make one for myself but not sure whether I'd actually wear it... Perhaps next time I make one for my daughter I will actually add ears (and maybe even embroidered face) as per the original pattern.
For my own head covering purposes I finally had a go at calorimetry. I wasn't sure when I first saw the pattern that it was really my kind of thing. But then I saw so many versions of it appearing on the Internet I got interested, and I realised that it'd be a useful thing for those days when I want to go outside with my hair up (especially when it's up because I've washed my hair). It's a nice quick and easy knit and I've been wearing it a lot. I'm not sure whether I'll wear at as much when it gets really wintery, or perhaps I'll wear it under my actual hats to ensure ear coverage!! We'll see. I think I will probably make this again, if not for me then as gifts for friends (and possibly family).
