Mittens are the best treat for Mitten Day

I have only a quick update from back on October 14 - 

Happy Mitten Day!

Yep, I tried to celebrate by making a few pairs of mittens for a charitable group up in Maine, The Children's Comfort Tote Project.

From their Facebook page:

"We are trying to gather mittens for children (ages 3-12) transitioning from the local shelter in Augusta, Maine to new homes. The Comfort Totes will have a new pillow, PJ's, dental care items, a nightlight and other comforting items including mittens, hats and a blanket ( hoping some can be afghans..even donated squares 7 x 9 that we can assemble) Does anyone have time to make some squares or a few pairs of mittens or a hat?

For those wondering WHERE to send items please send
Nancy Bartlett
Children's Comfort Tote Project
65 Lincoln Street
Augusta, ME 04330

For those who are wondering WHEN as soon as possible,
our dream is to have the totes filled before 12/31/13."

Two sizes - one 12 yr. old and one two year old. The larger ones are the "No gauge, no swatch mittens" and the smaller are the "Maize" pattern from TinCanKnits.

I'm also making a pair of sock yarn mittens from "Mittens to Fit" using Serenity Sock Yarn. I'm still a little iffy on these ones. They seem a lot of work for, you know, mittens.

Unfortunately, what's holding me back from churning out mittens is a bad, bad cold.
In fact, late last week I remember groaning aloud and saying to my husband, "How could you bring this home to us?' He had it from work (a week of illness), then I got it (I'm finishing up the week) and now Middle Daughter who lives at home has it. Ugh.

I may have to disinfect the whole batch before I send them on . . .

See the pumpkin . . .

eat the pumpkin!

Traditionally, I've made my kids eat a "real meal" prior to going out to make the rounds. This year - vegetable pot pie with cheese biscuit crust - in the shape of pumpkins. Very yummy!

As a former theatre costume shop manager, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.  This year, I was fighting off a cold all weekend until Youngest Child told me that he wouldn't be able to go trick or treating because I hadn't finished his costume. Well, that made me break out the liquid cold medicine and get stitching.

This looks like a particularly busty knight but it just comes from trying to fit a "Youngest Child" sized costume on a "me" sized dress form.

Sir Knight right before he hit the road

with the rest of the neighborhood gang. 

Zombies, ninjas and angels - oh, my!

It was a beautiful evening for trick or treating so they had a long night of it.

But, what about the knitting,  you say. Knitting? Well . . . maybe tomorrow.

Snow, snow and snow.

Bah. I like snow as much as anyone else but it did interfere with my plans to mulch the garden this weekend.

Luckily, most everything was picked up because of the "Quidditch fest" we had on Halloween weekend and as long as I can still get to the bird feeders, I'll be fine.

I'm not resisting temptation any more on the Citron front. Yes, my second skein of Sumptuosity arrived this week and I am champing at the bit.

As soon as this blog entry gets finished, I'm casting on and settling down to watch Coraline with Youngest Child. I loved this movie and my book group read it last year but we just haven't sat down together to enjoy it yet.

I thought I might get finished with the Hedgerow Socks as a 21st birthday present for Oldest Daughter

- yes, she is that old! - but the cold that swept through my house cut down on all productivity, knitting included.

Today's Saturday Seven went out last week to my son's school's rummage sale. Bye bye books and tapes!

Time for another tissue run!

Yep, Youngest Child passed on his cold. He may be back at school but I am out of commission. I have used some of my down time for knitting - but mostly, I've been hitting the cold medicine and the tissue box. As for the weather, the one good thing is that my February Lady Sweater is made of alpaca so it is toasty warm to knit! I am hoping that Maddy over at Chez Maddy has been able to get some "Freezing Day" knitting in place of her "Snow Day" knitting.

I do have some photos - but some reason, the old blog software has been trying to post them sideways - let's hope this works!



I am enjoying this pattern - very memorizable - and once again, loving that Alpaca!





In the meantime, try a little Friday Film. As the mother of an accordion player, I give this two chords up. Now, back to my drippy nose . . .

One thing Diet Cola doesn't kill . . .

is Germs. Don't finish your soda after your daughter says you "owe" her a drink. She was just becoming sick and now, so am I. I am seeing myself turn into one of those old people who yell out their windows, "Hey, you kids, get off my grass!" Except, I'll be mumbling something about "Leave my soda alone!"



One lovely thing about today was that when I make the pizza dough, Mr. Daisy makes pizza. He is very creative and they are always good. Add a lovely green salad and dinner is served.

Since tonight is Pizza Night, there has to be a Friday Film to knit to. This one made my cold seem very minor . . .