I decided that I needed some mittens. I haven't had mittens in several years. The last pair that I made were from 2005. They were cozy and warm. But somewhere along the way, I lost one of the mittens and thus no more mittens.

The next year, I also made my first gloves. I really like these gloves and still have both of them. Yay! They've been getting a lot of wear recently because it is very cold outside and because I lost this pair.

The pair I lost were originally knit in 2008 and then had knit surgery in 2009. They were perfect and fit wonderfully. They even had that little ring pocket. Where'd these gloves go? I have no idea. Back in December when it was getting too cold for my fingerless mitts, I went searching for them. I could have sworn that I'd seen them in November and maybe even worn them. But they were no where to be found. I checked my knit goods area, I checked my sock box, I checked old jackets and purses. I checked at home and I checked at work. So they either fell out of my pocket or I left them somewhere (most likely), someone stole them (less likely), they are still hiding in the apartment (least likely).

This is not the first time that I've completely lost a pair of gloves. The first gloves that I made for Kevin were beautiful and warm. He handed them to me one day while he was driving. I had them on my lap, I forgot they were on my lap, I got out of the car, and the gloves likely fell in the street, and no more gloves. His replacement pair has been treated (by me) with much more respect (because I'm not ready to knit a third pair of black men's gloves).

So anyway, I'm making the mittens you see above with Malabrigo Rasta that I got for my b-day. I didn't have any plans for the Rasta and was "saving" it. But I realized, why save it? Why not use it for something pretty that will get a lot of use?

Of course, I could only find one of my size 11 circulars (I think there's a needle thief in my apartment!). The biggest size that I had two matching circs in was 10.5, which is a little tight, but I think works well for warm mittens. Unfortunately what you see above has already been ripped out. Since I'm winging it on the pattern, I guessed at a number of stitches to cast on and went for it. I tried to fool myself, but by the point you see in the picture, I had to admit the mitten was more wrist brace than mitten. It was tight and not comfortable. I'm keeping the ribbing because that's fine, but I think adding an extra 3-4 stitches (about an inch) will make a lot of difference. Overall, what you see in the picture only took about 2-3 hours to knit. I'm hoping for a new pair of gloves by the end of the Super Bowl tomorrow!