Remembrance

Grove mittens, gifted

Now that these Grove mittens in Sweet Grass Wool Targhee are completed, it’s time to give them away.  Lest you think I’m nicer than I am (to gift away something I adore), let me set the record straight:  I have another skein to make a pair for myself.  And the story behind them will help explain how I happily gift them to my office-mate, J.

Her mother died several years ago, long before I knew J. and came to share office space.  J’s mother was quite a knitter ~ the kind who always had something going. Nothing fancy, just functional things that said, “I love you.”  In fact, she was knitting the day she died.  Growing up in J’s house, there was a basket brimming with hand-knitted mittens for anyone to use anytime they headed out the door.  It’s something J has talked about among the ways she misses her mom still.

Plain vanilla mittens

A couple of years ago, I gifted J. with a “Will knit for you” coupon for Christmas.  She told me about her mom and the mittens.  So we headed to my (now so-sadly defunct) cozy LYS on a snowy day and chose the yarn to make her some mittens.  Just plain mittens with long cuffs was what she asked for; plain vanilla mittens were what I made in the alpaca sock yarn she chose.

Fresh snow to test-drive these!

Once I had my grubby little mitts on the Sweet Grass Targhee in the Stash Lounge at the KR Retreat, I knew it just had to be mittens – and exactly which pattern.   And exactly where these mittens  belong: in a basket at J’s house, where they will hopefully be joined by other mittens as time marches.  A remembrance for a knitter I never met, but whose daughter is a dear and important friend.

Note:  Update on blocking this yarn.  I experienced significant bleed while soaking these ~ the water was cobalt blue through several soaks and rinses.  I had noticed some slight transfer onto my fingers on my throwing hand while knitting them.  If you are planning to use this yarn, you might want to be aware of this factor.  It’s not a reason to deprive yourself of the nicest. mittens. ever.

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Tags: brooklyntweed, grove, jaredflood, mittens, sweetgrasswool, targhee