flemmings | (no subject)

Ginkgo biloba doesn't seem to be working today. There was some serendipity find I meant to talk about, but I've forgotten what it was. That might also be due to incipient allergies from newly resurrected leaf mould, or possibly the beginnings of a new cold.

However: my old 90s mittens have moth holes in them, besides being just too big. My lost fleecy mittens came from a church bazaar and luckily the Anglican church up the street from work was having a church bazaar yesterday: or rather, 'craft show'. This last was not encouraging, because craft shows tend not to have homely crafts. Jewelry and notebooks and occasionally soap and candles, but knitting is too recherche in downtown TO. Fortunately this was indeed a bazaar and there was a table of knitted everythings by a woman who lives out of town. So I got a pair of wool mittens, much appreciated in yesterday's raw dank. Not ideal because in the church hall's dimness I failed to note that the backs are open work and the mitts themselves very loosely done; but for double-bagging purposes when the temps are near freezing, quite sufficient.

Note that the neighbourhood potter from my young days is still pottering forty years later, though now she does blue glazes instead of (what I think of as) her trademark brown. Is distinctly possible that she's younger than me because I wrongly remember buying her stuff in the very early 70s whereas she didn't start potting until '74.

Today good citizen me raked a bunch of leaf carpets out of the street gutters where they will not freeze in Tuesday's returned cold. My virtuous deed until it starts snowing and I commence shovelling people's sidewalks again.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You should charge for shoveling other people's sidewalks. 2 Lattes for fluffy snow, 4 with extra shots for ice!

What's your hand circumference? I may have mittens for you.

Nice idea. But the infirm elderly probably can't pay and the indifferent affluent wouldn't. Anyway, two doors down has taken on the role of good samaritan and shovels my sidewalk now as well so I have energy to pay it forward elsewhere.

Hand circumference is what? At the widest with thumb in or thumb out?

Around the hand, above the thumb, but not including it.

Finally found my measuring tape. It's hard to do this with a ruler. It's 7.5 inches, but I usually wear them over gloves so closer to 8" at least.

Ok. I've been reading about overgloves and the ones that seem the most windproof are felted. It'll take a week or two to play with getting the size right.

Heavens, I didn't think you intended to make them, just that you had some that you'd knitted some time and never found a home for. It's Christmas- you must have many people that you're knitting for already.

That said, if it's not huge trouble, I would of course love a pair. And it's not supposed to get really cold until after New Year's, so do take all the time you need.

I have been interested in felting for some time, so this is the perfect excuse to do some testing. The mittens I do have won't work as over gloves, too small.

Excellent then. I look forward to the results of your endeavours. And thank you very much.

So 2 quick questions. Do you want the mitten cuff to fit inside your jacket sleeves or outside them? And do you want ties in the cuff so you can secure them? The ties seem like a good idea, but the more I think about it, the more I think something's wrong, tying strings with mittens on can't be easy ... still, it might be a good way to keep them together when not wearing them.

(Has to think) Outside, I guess. I put my mittens on last and have to keep taking them off. My current (falling apart but lovely) coat has velcro at the wrists that keep them closed anyway, and I hope any other coat I buy will have the same.

Ties I'm not seeing. You mean like children's idiot strings that tie the mitts together and run inside the sleeve of the coat? I lose gloves when I'm wearing them and take one off, so something that helps after I've taken them both off is probably not helpful. Or have I misunderstood completely?

No the ties would be like elastic bracelets you could pull snug to keep snow out of them, or like a loop you could hook onto something when you take them off. I'll consult some books and see what I can come up with that makes sense.

Eastern European mitts have these huge flared cuffs that go over the outside of your coat sleeve. I thought that was a great idea, which is why I asked. I've only known gloves and mittens to go inside up the arm, which is warm but a pest to get on and off.

I can't honestly say I have a problem with snow down my gloves in the ordinary way of things, but elastic on the insides would certainly help with that. The flared cuffs though-- the east Europeans must have very narrowly cut coats, because the sleeves on anything I've owned-- duffel coat or Michelin-man puffy-- are a good 12-15" in circumference. Remember I wear XL men's sizes in everything. ^_^