It’s that time again. The children have reconvened to spread merry tumult and germs in the schoolyards, and those of us who work in the schools are settling in for the long voyage of the academic year. For me, a vast new project: shaping our little school’s curriculum for publication. I spoke with my dear friend Curtis today; he’s a newly minted professor unveiling the complex delights of Chaucer and Keats to a cohort of first-years who have almost certainly never worked so hard nor learned so much. I envy them: Curtis is a smart and passionate guide when it comes to literature (and apparently they think he looks like someone hot on TV). I’m going to reread The Eve of St. Agnes this week just so I can pretend I’m back in the classroom with him. Vicarious study of literature is the best I’ll be able to do this year; my two-job schedule won’t permit me time to take classes this term. Remembering the tingles I got when I set foot in a university again last year, I regret it. But it makes me all the more excited for my cousin, who’s going back to grad school after giving over the last seven years to raising her boys. Surely this grand occasion calls for a present.

Wine and Roses mitts from last winter’s Interweave Knits. The yarn is the scrummy Jade Sapphire 2-ply cashmere silk specified in the pattern – we got some in at the store and I knew I was going to have to make these lacy mitts with it. My cousin likes deep aubergine purples, so I think these will be a nice accessory to her fall wardrobe. They’re also a little symbol of her new modicum of release from constant parenting, since silk and cashmere are not exactly the fibers of choice for handling small sticky boys. For one weekend a month when she jets off to California for her intensive classes, she can slip into these luxurious adult handwarmers, and have her fingers free for taking notes and paging through tomes of Jung and Freud.

It’s thanks to Megan the Knitting Philistine and her Fiberlicious yarn photography movement that I thought to pose my work in progress with actual eggplants. It’s also thanks to Megan that the mailman brought me these:

My first order from Good Soapworks of Athens! I could smell them before I even picked up the box. I chose the warm spice and citrus scents I love for dark winter mornings: sweet orange, clove, cinnamon. Since I was out of bed at five this morning to catch Brazil vs. China in women’s World Cup soccer, I got a foretaste of the coming months – rising in the dark when even the cat prefers to stay snuggled in the blankets. It’s a downside of the return to school all too easily forgotten during the summer. But my spicy and soothing new soap will help pry my eyes open and wake me more pleasantly. And speaking of the cat…

My fur is all up in your knitting. Mwahahahaha!

And pssst…speaking of fingerless mitts, the Axel Mitts are now on the Patterns page as a PDF at last. (Thanks for the reminder, Kristen, and for the Rockin’ Girl Blogger nomination!) Happy fall knitting!

Sun! Glorious winter sun. High clouds of carded wool. And wind, bird-buffeting, window-whistling wind. A lovely day to knit in the south window seat, in short. And to post pictures of the finished raven mittens, at last:

I give you the Raven and Cat’s Paw Mittens, designed by yours truly.

Yarn: Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift, 1 skein each of mooskit, port wine, and black

Needles: US#3 dpns

Pattern notes: The Cat’s Paw motif on the backs and the Fly motif on the palms are traditional Estonian, taken from charts in Nancy Bush’s Folk Knitting in Estonia. Likewise the vikkel braid. The vision, the raven cuffs, and the thumb design are my own. And here lies the quandary: Can I offer the pattern here? Nancy presents the Estonian motifs as traditional, but certainly the charts are hers, and the vikkel braids were worked according to her information. In none of the original patterns in the book does she use the Cat’s Paw, but she does use stripey fingers in one glove pattern that probably inspired the striped thumbs of the Raven Mitts. In short, my mittens have their genesis in Folk Knitting in Estonia, but I think they have sufficient elements of originality for me to call them my own.

It begs the question: What does any of our knitting do but stand on the innovations, research, and teaching of those who came before us? It’s a well-known adage that there’s nothing new in knitting. At what point do we get to take credit for our ideas and demand some form of tribute from others who want to use them?

These little fellows, at least, are all my own doing:

And my neighbor declared them one of the coolest presents she’s ever received. That she loves them and that they warm her hands is what makes knitting its own reward, in the end.

Axel fingerless mitts.pdf

Behold, quick-knitting fingerless mitts! I have named them in honor of recently retired cyclist Axel Merckx. They have three crossed cables on the back; the palm is in 2×2 rib like the cuff and finger covering. For extra warmth, you can wear them like this:

They’re a fast, stash-busting project — perfect for toasty hands this fall, whether you’re cycling, knitting, reading, or typing. Click the link beneath the first image to grab the free PDF.

I’m making progress on my raven mittens. Here’s Mitten the First, all ready for a nice blocking:

What is this mitten doing on a workbench, you might wonder? Why, helping to spawn more ravens, since I can’t get enough of them:

  

Bet you didn’t know I could carve linoleum blocks, did you? Mr. Garter didn’t. It was sort of gratifying to hear him exclaim over it: it’s nice to know you’ve got some tricks left in the bag to surprise your spouse after six and a half years together. Anyway, I got all fired up to make cards this year, something I used to do with my mother when I was young. The actual printing is slated for tonight – I’ll let you know how it goes.

Meanwhile, Mitten the Second has advanced to the top of the thumb gusset, so the prognosis is good for these to be ready by Christmas. Whether the other holiday projects will follow suit is anyone’s guess, so back to the knitting!