Kitty Mitts

I recently told you about my sister's move out to California. A few months after she moved, she couldn't find a job yet and was having a hard time adjusting. Then, to add to an already difficult time, her sweet 14 year old kitty Dorrie, got sick and died.

She was devastated, and I felt so far away and helpless to comfort her. Now, you can probably see where this is going because I already showed you the picture above, but I got the idea to dye her some special yarn in the colors of Dorrie's fur.

Please note! I am not advocating sending dead-cat-matching-yarn to everyone in their grieving process! I doubt Miss Manners would give the seal of good taste. But for Allison, I knew it would be just the right thing. And it was. It gave her a little cheer.

It did turn out perfectly if I may say so myself. Black and white with a little brown and pumpkin orange. I just did 2 skeins, just a tiny special batch, and sent her one and kept one myself.

Now, it's hard to find a project for yarn with such a history. This yarn has been marinating in my stash for a year, waiting for the perfect project. I wanted something a little more special than socks. I was thinking "scarf", but when I saw Carole's fabulous gauntlets, I knew that was it!

Ok, now I'm going to show you a ton of pictures of these gauntlets, because I love them so much! And if you were sitting here with me, I would make you try them on because they feel so good! I accosted a couple people at knitting last week who made the comments that they were almost "energizing" like those gloves that grab your wrists and feel warm and fabulous.

I think the secret is the wrist shaping. It really makes them feel wonderful, as well as look great.
The pattern is Elegant Gauntlets from The Purl Stitch by Sally Melville. Not your run-of-the-mill quick and easy fingerless mitts (I have made a lot of those and love those too!) These take a little longer, but the first part is mindless knit in the round stockinette for several inches, then a little interesting shaping, then a tiny fiddly thumb, then you're done! Great pattern. In fact, when I finally get around to posting my projects over in Ravelry, I'll give these an A+, or a 10, or a giant happy face, whatever you guys do over there.

Yarn: One skein Sophie's Toes color "Special Kitty."

And because I have a feeling that somebody's going to ask: I have never sold this color on etsy. I wanted it to be special for my sis. But she and I have recently agreed that it is a great color, that deserved to be enjoyed by others. I dyed another batch (this new one is more of a black-white equal mix rather than predominantly black like my mitts) and have re-named it "Kitty" and will have a few skeins in the shop tomorrow evening, with some pretty valentine yarn.