Accumulating Gear

With our departure for Washington D.C. imminent (think tomorrow), I have been furiously knitting warm woolens for my family. I finished off a batch of Duffer slippers for us this weekend. Of course, mine came out a wee bit too small, when I became a bit overzealous with the whole felting process. (Now my mom has a cozy pair of slippers. I think she was quite pleased with my error). Next up has been mittens.

Everyone has coats and gloves. wool socks. hats. long underwear. even brand new knitted legwarmers. but no mittens. When this oversight was pointed out, I resisted a bit. Wouldn't warm, waterproof gloves be sufficient? Nope. There had to be mittens. So, out came the skein remaining after Aine's emergency snow trip hat. Using this easy pattern, I cast on and last night finished her pair. Perfect. Today I plan to work on a cabled pair for me to match my bright orange hat. Then onto the boys' matchy mittens.

And then finally I will be back to my Leaves of Grass blanket. Lots of knitting has been happening, but it is all necessary knitting. This is a foreign concept living in the land of sunshine. Trying to use wool to keep warm doesn't happen often here, but I think it will in Virginia.

I finished up Joy For Beginners which was recommended in the comments on Alicia's blog this week. Laying around in bed provides ample reading time. It was light and full of inspiration to live fully and do something that pushes your comfort often. Fortunately I also had the inaugural issue of Kindred to keep me company. If you don't know Amanda already, check out her blog and beautiful words. Kindred is full of such beauty and feeling among its pages. I recommend it. I even plan on submitting a piece for the next issue.

So what is everyone knitting? Is anyone else trying to keep warm?