Cables, Conflicts, and a Free Knitting Pattern

These wooly mitts knit up very quickly.  See below for link to PDF with free pattern. 

It's difficult to have a knitting blog when one doesn't seem to have the time to knit more than a few rows each day, or when mental capabilities taxed to their limits prohibit an individual from actually counting properly.  Last week, I found a pattern for fingerless gloves  in my ever-expanding collection of knitting books and bought some yarn to use to complete it.  I was able to knit one cabled fingerless glove, and then, after seeing one strangely elongated cable that stood out like some freakish giant from the other neat cables, I ripped out all of my work.  On Saturday, I knit and tore out and knit and tore out a lacy scarf, because every row of lace ended up with the wrong number of stitches. 

It is the end of the school year, and last week I was busy grading papers and finalizing exam preparation.  I also had to attend two nighttime graduations (mandatory for teachers) on Thursday and Friday and an athletic banquet to go to for my younger son.  To add to the mayhem, my school decided to throw an outdoor party last Friday afternoon.  I’m also in the midst of taking an online course and trying to arrange, or at least contemplate, some kind of family trip this summer.  Last week I reached a nadir (or maybe an apex fits better here) of exhaustion and was unable to focus properly enough to knit anything that required any manipulation of numbers whatsoever. 

 

Amazingly, this week, with final exams starting today, I'm a bit refreshed, although perhaps I'm having a false burst of energy before I collapse when summer vacation starts--much like those last-minute lucid moments experienced by people languishing on their deathbeds minutes before they succumb to what ails them.  (Readers who enjoy Victorian novels will recognize this phenomenon).  Anyway, while tired, I am strangely reinvigorated this week, so much so that I have started knitting some items for my younger son’s teachers.  Last week was teacher appreciation week, but my flagging energy took its toll on my ability to purchase presents and write notes to teachers.  Hence, I am now doing the sensible thing and am starting to knit several projects to give as end-of-the-year gifts.  (Why not?  I have three weeks.)  Adding to my end-of-year projects, I spent the last few evenings designing a pair of fuzzy fingerless gloves, since I had to abandon the confusing pattern I'd attempted last week.  These mitts turned out nicely, I think.  Here is a link to my pattern:  Cottager's Mitts (PDF)

My sister-in-law was given a bunch of vintage knitting tools
that once belonged to a friend's mother who passed away at 87.
Many of the needles were housed in these vintage girdle tubes.
I had to share this clever way of repurposing.  Of course,
girdles, if they are even still sold in stores, don't come
 in tubes anymore. . . .