Another Adventure on the Needles

First things first. My November Button-of-the-Month arrived! If you recall this is a birthday gift from my sister, each month she's sending me a button for my collection.



This month's is a black cat (I love black animals), and another hand-made card:



Here's a closer look at the wee cat:



I love this button, it looks old-fashioned and spooky. Thank you Jane!

As for my adventure on the needles, well. You know, nothing can ever be simple. There was a time in my life when everything was exactly as it should be, when ideas would come to me and projects would be executed lickety split. Those days ended, I don't know when, and now, well, if it takes me a half dozen times starting and stopping a project, it doesn't seem unreasonable. Maybe I'm more indecisive now, or maybe my standards are higher, who knows?

I decided a while back that I would knit a pair of mittens for an old friend who will be turning forty in mid-December. I had made her a pair many years ago (very nice Scandinavian style in pale blue and cream) and while she was in her son's school picking him up for lunch, someone SWIPED THEM from the sled. Terrible. Worse is, I've meant to make her a replacement pair for years and never got around to it. Now, time is at hand (no pun).

I thought the Herringbone Mittens at Elliphantom Knits were particularly nice, so off I went. I bought some Smart yarn in red and cream and knit the first one:



Lovely? Yes, even without the pom pom, which I've yet to make. The only problem is they fit me, in fact they JUST fit me, and she's bigger than me. I had to abandon this half pair (they'll get finished and fit my daughter Elly quite well, so she's going to have to wear them, like it or not). So I started another pair. This time I chose Debbie Bliss Rialto in green and cream, and, you know, this yarn is much nicer than the Smart yarn and I think my friend would prefer this colour combo anyway, so perhaps it's meant to be. I'll show them to you when they're all done, poms and all.



One more item, about my cursed landing, I bought another plant for the same spot. I brought in a lovely pink poinsettia for the season. My thinking was that it only had to last a month anyway. A good idea?



Here it is two days later:



Spooky...