NaKniMitMo, pt. 12: The wrap-up

What a month for mittens -- and what a great KAL! I'm pleased to report that NaKniMitMo was my first true (and successfully completed) KAL, and I had a great time participating. I finished my Bloom mittens this morning:They took me one week exactly, from start to finish...and I had more than enough yarn. I'm always worried that I'm going to run out and I never do (this is a very good thing!)

Those of you who keep track of such things will note that I've bottomed out at 3 1/2 pairs of mittens this month:Of course, that's a family portrait of Bloom, Give A Hoot, Wurst and Bavarois, all together at last.

So that's it for me for NaKniMitMo 2009 -- somehow I think seven mittens is plenty. Plus, I'm almost out of January! This is not an entirely bad thing as 30 January is my birthday.

Don't be fooled just because I cast on for a tam today -- there are more mittens on the way. You're shocked, I know.

NaKniMitMo, part 2

It turns out that I wasn't just playing the wishful thinking card after all, because finished my Give A Hoot mittens today:And, since I finished the second mitten (incredibly) in one sitting I now actually know how long it took me, from cast on edge to tip of thumb! The grand total is four hours -- while reading (and listening; yes, I am a Jane of many talents.) The point is that the first pair of NaKniMitMo mittens is done and now I can move onto one of my own (new!) mitten patterns.
The question now is "big needles or little needles?", as I have a pair of each in the works, but have yet to start either. "Big needles" will go up faster, but "little needles" is colourwork and that just flies off the needles once I get started. I'll have to see what I'm in the mood for.

ETA: Ah, but are the Owl mittens only truly complete when they have button eyes? This is the question!

NaKniMitMo, part 1

Never let it be said that I'm not up for a good ol' KAL from time to time, especially when that KAL involves mittens. Ok, those of you who know me well know that there's no better way to turn me off a pattern than a KAL, replete with deadlines and stress and other fun things like that (why does the Mystery Stole 3 KAL of a couple of summers ago come to mind?) This one, however, is different, mainly because nearly every month is NaKniMitMo around here. A whole month devoted to the celebration of the mitten? I didn't have to be asked twice!

I have a wealth of mitten projects lined up for this month (yes, including TWO NEW SpillyJane patterns,) and so far I'm moving along at a good clip. Let's see how many I can bang out in a month!

Just last night I started Give A Hoot and this afternoon I polished off the first mitten:I suspect that this is a new personal best for me: a mitten in less than 24 hours, with eight of those taken up by sleeping? Amazing! Oh, the things that are possible when one is using 5 mm needles and not teeny 2 mm ones. But a mitten in less than a day? I can get used to this.

With any luck, the mitten's mate should be turning up in some form (hopefully completed) tomorrow. Watch, now that I've said this, I won't even make it past the cuff. We'll see!

Also: check the new user pic! Check it!!