Another Finished Object!

Finally, a quick knit item! I whipped up these flip-top mitts for myself over Christmas. It was so nice to just sit down, pull out some needles and yarn and start knitting. I merged two or three mitten patterns together from past experience, and while I did backtrack a bit here and there to get something just right, it was a relatively quick and worry-free (pattern-free!) project.

They are "underlap" flip-top mittens, which I find are more cozy than the traditional overlap kind. They knit up nice and quick with size US10.5 double-points too. The yarn* is Garnstudio's Eskimo from Norway and I just adore it (purchased from Playing with Yarn on the North Shore this past summer). So soft and the colors are mesmerizing. I'm showing you two photos here (with the beret that I knit this fall) since the flash/no flash dilemma on the digital camera came up again. Both photos show off some of the rich, rich colors to which I now want to match my entire wardrobe. I've got a green Lamb's Pride Bulky scarf lined up on the needles next to go with this ensemble. Just can't decide on the pattern. I keep getting a couple of inches and then tearing it back! Oh well, it's not really cold enough here in Minnesota this winter to warrant such cozy outerwear. Have I complained about our warm winter enough yet?

After the scarf and after Dear Husband's Christmas socks (I couldn't find a way to measure his ankle without him figuring it out so I just gave him the yarn for Christmas!), I plan to knit the Peace Shawl from Fiber Trends in my Craig's List Score Alpaca yarn (mine's in charcoal, but she only has camel left...you should buy this yarn, I'm telling you - it is an absolute steal!). I'm a little worried about it since I've never done lace before, but I'd never done cables before I tackled Jackson's sweater and that came out just fine. Keep on learning...
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Sweet Jackson Story of the Day:

He was playing in his room on his own while I was putting clothes away upstairs. When I went back to check on him, he was standing up at the twin bed in his room playing with something very intently. I snuck in closer without disturbing him to see what he was doing and found that he was having a "Nuk Tasting Event" in his bedroom. There were three Nuks on the foot of his bed within his reach. He would pop one in and then pick up another one, examine it, spit out the first one and pop the second one in. Then he'd pick up the third, examine in, spit out the second one and pop the third one in. Then he'd pick up the first one... This went on and on! (And of course, the camera was downstairs.) He finally heard me giggle a little and turned around and gave me a big grin. My big boy. We then continued our afternoon adventures of clambering around the upstairs on hands and knees chasing each other around while throwing things under beds and playing peek-a-boo.

Life is good.
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*I finished the flip-tops and thumbs in leftover Lamb's Pride and was astounded with the incredible color-match. Lucky for me that I chose to do this too, since I had about 24 inches of the Eskimo left when I finished up. Just barely made it!