Here is a photo of the Lucy Neatby Paradoxical Mittens in progress to the point where I ran out of the purple yarn. They are done in J&S jumper weight yarn and size 1 (US) dpns. Check out the completed mitten on the left side. One side of the top of the mitten slopes more deeply than the other just like your hand does - these mittens are anatomical. Pretty cool for a mitten freak like myself.



Yesterday Anne wrote in the comments for this blog that she has a one-armed friend who is seeking single mittens & gloves. She was wondering about the single Peruvian patterned glove I made. I was sizing it for a teenage girl and it is a bit tight for me so I'm not sure it would work for a guy. I do believe I have at least one single mitten in the crafts room somewhere that might work. Please read the comments from yesterday and contact Anne if any of you have any single mittens or gloves needing a good home.



Because I haven't been knitting at my usual speed lately starting next week this blog is going to host the Hall of Losers. The Hall will highlight various knitting projects that have been abandoned. I'll show each sorry, pathetic item and tell you why I quit working on it.



I'm almost done with the first turkey mitten. My row gauge is off with the Country Garden DK so these mittens will go to a guy I think. It is weird because the last two pairs of mittens I made from the A Year of Mittens brochure were too small (in Heilo and Classic Elite Tapestry).

Thank you for your comments on the loss of Snickerdoodle. He was such a sweetie and the house feels really strange and quiet without him. We will find another rabbit or two in need of a good home one of these days when we feel ready. I appreciate all your kind words and I can use this time to check out all the great rabbits available for adoption.



For some reason my comfort zone knitting is colorwork mittens so I started on the November turkey mittens from A Year of Mittens in some stash Country Garden DK.



I'm not quite sure about the fate of the Peruvian Patterned Gloves from the small VK Mittens & Glove book. I didn't like the patterning on the fingers so did each finger a different color. DH calls them the "acid trip" gloves and they really are a bit much. Here is a photo of the scalloped gauntlet of the glove in progress and mind you, the colors look quite muted in the photo. I'll take a photo of the completed glove but I doubt I'll make a second one. I just don't know anyone who would wear them. My gauge is fine and the gauntlet goes almost all the way to my elbow.







The Heels & Toes Gazette issues have also been traded to Karine in Norway.



Debi who reads this blog sent me an excellent link to some really cool mini-sock earring kits you can buy. I'm going to buy one and then I can re-use the glove needles in size 0000. You can also just buy the needles alone if you like. Thanks Debi - I think you've found the only online source of 4" needles in sizes lower than 0. I'm looking forward to making these earrings. Perhaps some mini-Sanquhar sock earrings?

SNICKERDOODLE 6/19/95 to 11/8/03







Snickerdoodle died on Saturday morning. His appetite had been decreasing all last week and I spent a lot of time with him on the floor coaxing him to eat with his favorite treats. On Friday DH came home early and we sat vigil with him, playing Scrabble and making a fire (Snickerdoodle really loved to stretch out next to a warm fire) and telling him how much we loved him. I slept on the floor next to him petting him on Friday night. He died soon after I woke up on Saturday morning.



Snickerdoodle was 8 1/2 years old and my very first bunny. I bought him at the county fair from a rabbitry (long before I'd heard of rabbit rescue groups) and he was so tiny I held him upside down in my cupped hands to check his teeth. We initially thought he'd be a caged rabbit but we let him out of the cage after we brought him home and he shook his head and did this enormous jump landing in the opposite direction. Of course I thought this was some sort of seizure but in actuality it was a binky, sort of the same as gamboling for lambs or goats, and an expression of sheer happiness. He never went back into his cage again.



I was worried about having him neutered so I waited about 6 months too long. By this time he'd run circles around me and he started to nip at my feet. Finally we did neuter him and fortunately I no longer had to wear 5 pairs of socks around the house. Although he was quite bonded with our white cat Bosco I figured I'd get him a bonded bunny friend. I brought home another dwarf bunny baby, Cookie, and they adored each other at first sight. We called them America's sweethearts and they groomed each other constantly.



Cookie died suddenly 3 years later. Snickerdoodle didn't seem unhappy about this at all so we thought we'd keep him as an only bunny and he really thrived. He loved to chase the cats around and growl at the broom and vacuum cleaner. Several times he had skirmishes with my black rabbit Flip who died four months ago. Flip was three times as large as Snickerdoodle but Snickerdoodle would bare his teeth and launch himself at Flip like a ferocious bunny missile. My favorite memory of Snickerdoodle is once when a friend brought me a large box of apples from his apple tree. One day I went into the kitchen and found Snickerdoodle in the box of apples in absolute bunny heaven. Each apple on top had a tiny bite taken out of it.



When Snickerdoodle became ill with pasteurella last month my vet tried to tell me that he was not going to be around forever as he was already quite old but since he'd been so healthy previously I figured he'd be around for many more years. I spent several hours every night on the floor with him. I'd knit and he liked to lick my socks and hang out next to me and occasionally if I was lucky I'd get a bunny nose kiss.



Goodbye Number One Bun - we love you.