Every year, at about this time, I find myself suddenly and desperately in need of new mittens. A few weeks ago I darned a hole in my current mittens (I Instagramed the patch job) and thought that would be enough to get me through this winter. Then last week I was carrying a coffee to work and noticed that the inside of the thumb on the right hand mitt was almost completely worn away. Literally, it was holding on by a thread. The left thumb wasn’t far behind.

My darned patch has held up well, but the thumbs were a whole new issue. I could cut them out, pick up the stitches again, and knit new thumbs, but there were other weak spots making themselves known, and a hole in the cuff I’d been ignoring, so… Clearly the best and only choice was to knit new mittens.

I actually love knitting mittens, and was planning a new pair anyway, so I’m pretty pleased that this whole situation meant I didn’t have to justify to myself why I had to buy new yarn and cast on right away. Not that I really feel bad about yarn buying or casting on whatever I want, it’s just nice when doing those things happens to also fill a pressing need.

I went with Classic Elite Fresco for the yarn. I used it to knit these mittens as a wedding gift, and it is so soft and cozy that it seemed a natural choice. It’s also nice a sticky, which is great for stranded colourwork, since it helps the floats stick to the main fabric. It also means that if you happen to drop a stitch, it won’t unravel far (this has actually saved me a couple of times and I can’t figure out what I’m doing that’s causing me to lose stitches, but it’s annoying.)

After casting around for a pattern (my first choice was the Divelish Mittens by Rachel Coopey, but they aren’t available as an individual pattern, at least not yet) I settled on Hodgepodge Mittens by Annie Watts. They are so much fun to knit! The rows are similar but not the same, and the all-over colourwork means my hands will be toasty warm. I’m into the top part of the second mitten now, so assuming this weekend doesn’t go crazy, I should have new mittens to wear on Monday.