mitt knitting for winter fingers

With less than twenty minutes or so to us setting off in the van I suddenly realised that I had an urge to knit. Something I'd not felt for some time - probably since pre the lockdown year so it was rather a surprise although not one I was going to ignore.

With no pattern in mind, no yarns to hand, no idea where my knitting pins were or what I was going to make, I hurtled upstairs into the attic resolving to grab 'something'. I was not about to let a creative impulse go to waste. 

With moments to spare and Himself hovering at the back door wanting to lock, I thundered back downstairs with three lumpy balls of yarn of similar but not exact ply, a circular knitting needle (size unknown) and a sheepish grin on my face. Himself looked at me, rolled his eyes and locked the door.

I decided by the time we'd left the village that I wanted to make some mittens for work - fingerless to be precise because, it does not matter how cold it is working out in the garden - I need my fingers out and about and not hiding somewhere snug. So I envisioned a 'roll necked' style of mitten so my fingers could be covered but still able to escape if I needed them to do delicate work.

So with a bit of trial and error I cast on the lightest colour - a soft grey - a cuff and kept myself busy as the miles passed beneath the van. Because I some times struggle absorbing a written pattern, I decided that I would just wing my own pattern and just duplicate each section as I went along.

I soon moved on to the next yarn, one which had originally caught my eye - a soft 'denim' fleck shade - this would be for the bulk of the hand, so I changed from the ribbing to do stocking stitch then in a moment of over confidence, I continued a strip of ribbing up the centre of the back of my hand. Easy I thought - I can do this...

After a couple of hours, we'd arrived and all thoughts of knitting were cast aside for a bit of coastal air and over excited dog leg-stretching.

During quiet moments I continued knitting, then came the thumb ... a bit of head scratching and some experimental increases happened here... there may have been a fair bit of unpicking - but sitting absorbing a view, drinking a mug of tea as the tide came in, or watching the sun go down was looped into each stitch making the process so much more magical.

Then on the last day - the day we were to return, I had earmarked the drive home as the perfect way to complete my mitts. Except I'd woken up with a searingly painful throat and a head that felt like molten lead and eyes that could not focus. Then time fell into a hole and vanished.

Now, over a week later, I have re-found my knitting, re-acquaintanced myself with the mitts, laid a wobbly hand on the more completed one and decided to try and finish them. I just need to stick the kettle on and begin.

Thank you everyone for your kind words and comments - I hear you - take it easy and be kind to yourself came up several times from those of you who know. Thank you sweet people I will heed your advice and I will not beat myself up about how slow I am recovering. Because, although the 'sickness' of it has gone, I still feel like a washed up lettuce leaf just not quite as green! 

I will be testing myself later (again) coz I will have to go back to work at some point - I am actually getting quite bored with my own company!