22 to go

Published on by Jane

I’ve often said that knitting saves me. I think that it just did. In one week, a week that lasted at least a year, I began and completed this pair of fingerless mitts. I finished the first one on Sunday night, and cast on for the second before I went to bed that night.



Each day this week I came home planning to knit a little. Some days I did a few rows or a couple of inches; other days I just stared at the television. On Thursday, which was my weekday off, I made good progress in between the errands and appointments.


Yesterday was a particularly long and difficult day at work, and when I came home I had some supper, fell asleep on the couch, and wisely hauled myself off to bed at 7:30pm. No knitting, not last night!

So when I woke up this morning after a record-breaking 11 hours of sleep, I was happy to to have the time (and the energy!) to knit. All that I had left were the last rows of lace rib and the thumb, and then I could soak the mitts in Soak and watch them dry on my little porch.



Pattern: Delicato Mitts by Anne Hanson
Yarn: Fearless Fibers Superwash Merino sock yarn, “Blue Rain”
Needles: 2.5mm/US 1.5 bamboo dpn’s
Modifications: Not one

I really enjoyed having this little project to look forward to all week. The insanity of the store faded a little bit every time I picked up the needles. Now that they’re finished, I wish it would get cold enough to wear them!

I’ll need another comforting knit to help soothe me through the rest of the month. Only three weeks to go, but we’re all tired and tense, and there’s nothing to do but keep on. I’ve said it several (or too many) times already, but I do think that this is the most grueling August in the thirteen Augusts I’ve spent at the bookstore.

While other people are glancing at the calendar with a little sadness, I am counting the days until Labor Day. Then I’ll start a big project, or really clean my home, or go to the ocean, or excavate my desk, or visit my family, or get a haircut, or go to Target, or just breathe.

11 thoughts on “22 to go”

  1. Well, you create beautiful things amidst your duress. Just lovely. Why is August so bad at the bookstore — are you in a vacation resort town?

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  2. How lovely! That blue looks like it was a soothing knit for you this week. Hang in there – how wonderful that you have fiber to help you “deal.” 🙂

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  3. I know just what you mean about comfort knits, and how delightful that you had such pretty ones to look at! Can’t wait to see what you choose next.

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  4. Living in this area makes me think about my own behavior while I’m on vacation. Do I act badly? Even in my day to day activities, many of the people I encounter have no idea whether we’re local or not for much of the help isn’t! And while I work in a retail store, I’m not on the floor that much so I am buffered from the constant contact. Not everyone is rude or…elitist…or I’m looking for a word, that we owe them something, perhaps more respect than any other customer…but it’s the unending onslaught of customers. I imagine you’d get used to it, but who’d want to?My schedule is such that I go go go for much of the day and then I grab my kids, hit a beach and relax. Sometimes with yarn in my hands, but when the little one wants to build something, or hunt for shells or take a swim, the yarn does come second. Yesterday we didn’t make it to the beach until 6 and stayed til sunset, it was heaven. Maybe the craziness of August lets us cherish September all the more! It’s one of my favorite months out here! See you Wednesday!

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  5. The mitts are absolutely lovely – I can definitely see how they would sustain you. I find myself going to a coffeeshop to knit and read over lunch, in order to add some sanity to my day – and my work is FAR less stressful than working at a busy bookstore.

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  7. There’s nothing like having soothing knitting to take the edge off the day, and you get to admire it later, unlike booze or half a chocolate cake.

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  8. Your mitts are beautiful! Fingerless mitts are such a nice little project for those times when you can only manage a little knitting. We’re almost halfway through August.

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  9. The fingerless mittens are lovely. I am also counting the days until September, although for a different reason: on September 1, a year of inconvenience caused by an inconsiderate housemate and her resulting string of subletters ends. Hooray!

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  11. those mitts are brilliant – isn’t Anne just about the best designer!I, too, seek comfort in my knits when I come from from a frantic day. May the next two weeks simply fly by.

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