Pattern: Mitred Mittens from A Knitter's Almanac by Elizabeth Zimmerman
Yarn: Cascade 220 Paints in colour 9925
Size: 48 stitches around and long enough to cover my hands
Yardage: say 60% of the skein (maybe less)
Needles: 3.25 mm

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My old mittens had been darned so many times I knew they would not make it through another winter. I started this pair way back in March but when the warm weather hit decided I could take my time. I finished them up and photographed them just before we flew to Vancouver and had them ready to pull on when we returned home.

My gauge was a bit tight and the knitting would have been more comfortable if I'd used 3.5 mm needles instead. The resulting mittens were a bit tight too but after wearing them for a couple of weeks they have loosened up a bit and are snug but comfortable and do a decent job of keeping out the wind. Today we had a windchill below -30 and it was the first time I'd really felt that I needed the extra protection of having my hands in my pockets. My favourite thing about these mittens is the way the yarn shows off the mitred effect so well. I also think the afterthought thumbs are pretty clever. I was a little nervous about snipping a stitch and unravelling its neighbours but it went okay and the thumbs fit well.

The morning I took these photos we had a very thick layer of frost on the deck. When I was finished taking pictures I moved and discovered I'd melted shoe prints in the frost.