I finally found the yarn I had stashed that I made my barn mittens out of, so I could mend one of them. It had worn through near the tip, almost breaking the last couple strands of wool, so I set them aside to mend before that last bit broke, knowing (from hard experience :) that it would be much easier to fix that way. Then I couldn't find the yarn! I ended up tearing apart my studio, and of course found it in the least obvious, most visible place possible--stashed in the cubby under my double wide drum carder, where I NEVER put yarn, so never thought to look there :) Gave my stuff a good spring cleaning, at least. Getting rid of oddments of yarn and knit samples that have outlived their usefullness always makes me feel like I've accomplished something :)
I never quite gave up on finding the yarn, but I did decide I might as well start on a new pair, since I didn't know how long it would take to fix the old ones, and my barn gloves aren't nearly as warm. So I'm using some leftover scraps of space-dyed handspun shetland with a 50-50 white angora/wool yarn I spun from roving produced by Stonehedge Fiber Mill. Long, gauntlet-style cuffs for wearing over coat sleeves, then a simple diamond pattern using the angora yarn for the pattern, changing the background yarn at random intervals to make wide stripes. Not a work of art, but surprisingly pretty. I just have to decide now whether they will be barn mittens or going out on the town mittens :) How does one make a pair of utilitarian mittens with stranded angora for warmth, that aren't too pretty to use in the barn? Did everyone get their Christmas projects finished in time? I got my dh's barn socks wrapped and under the tree Christmas eve. I've switched to using a round toe decrease instead of the traditional paired decreases, because it wears a LOT better, but I messed up a bit and the toes are a little on the pointed side :) I told him I would reknit the toes if they weren't comfortable after a couple wearings. Next spinning priority--getting enough wool precarded so I can spin the warp for the coat my daughter wants. I had hoped to get it done before winter hit. 36 inches of snow later, I guess I didn't get it done it time :) Holly To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
