malabrigo mitts

I decided I wouldn’t do much, if any, knitting for holiday gifts this year. Between knitting and spinning projects for myself, paid sample knitting, and keeping up with the weekly motif swatches, my available crafting time is pretty much booked up.  Since I like to have knitting as a relaxing and inspiring hobby that benefits me, it’s counterproductive to overdo it with too many deadlines and responsibilities to others. So, I decided on few, if any, handmade gifts this year… no biggie, even a dedicated crafter has license to catalog-shop every now and then, right?

No sooner did I make this decision, than my sister put in a request for a knitted gift. Isn’t that always how it works? Still, if someone is savvy enough to request a specifically knitted item, you know that they are the “good” type of knit-gift-recipient… the kind who appreciates what they’re getting, enough to come back and sweetly ask for more.  How could I possibly say no?

Besides, it was an excuse to knit with Malabrigo! Like I needed any encouragement for that… I’ve been knitting with Malabrigo a lot recently, but can you blame me? It’s still the softest and smooshiest selection in its price range. I never regret choosing it for a project. Even better, I was able to knit this whole project up from my stash- no new yarn or pattern needed! I used the basic glove formula from the Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns for the fingerless gloves, and combined the “Chapel Stone” Malabrigo with an odd skein of Noro Kureyon and some basic mitten shaping for the convertible mitten-tops.

It’s nice to do a project by-request from time to time. I dug up some stash yarn that might have otherwise gone unused, and I had the pleasure of knitting a quick-gratification project while enjoying the certainty that the mittens will be going to an appreciative new owner. Furthermore, I turned the experience into a little exercise of my newest hobby… (don’t laugh) rubber stamping. I had a blast making up a little “care instructions” gift card to go with the mittens! (More on that endeavor later.) So even though I wasn’t planning on any gift knitting, this project has been a successful “three-fer”… a delightful knitting project, a stash buster, and a chance to exercise my new stamp crafting ideas. I love it when it works out so nicely!