Knitting Along

I'm still knitting these fingerless mitts.  One of the many beauties of this pattern is that it knits up fast with small amounts of yarn. Now that I've made a few pairs, I'm modifying the pattern by changing the number of cable rows, the direction of the cables, and of course the colors.

These little mitts are great for reading or typing in the winter when you want warm hands, but need to use your fingers. One of these pairs is for a former student of mine who's just started law school at the U. of Michigan. She's a great young woman, who spent 2 years in Zimbabwe in the Peace Corps and who also taught in Atlanta for the Teach America program.
This pattern is perfect for partial skeins of worsted weight wool. When I'm lucky I find odd skeins of Germantown wool at the thrift store. It's no longer being made, but is wonderful to knit with. It's a sturdy yarn with great stitch definition. Of course the thrift store price is usually a bonus as well. I also knit with wool tapestry yarns I find at the thrift store: they come in 40 and 100-yard skeins, enough for a glove or two.
Susan of Plays With Needles and I are both going to knit this sweater, which is in the Fall 08 issue of Vogue Knitting (currently on the newsstands). If anyone wants to knit along, we're recruiting participants. The 40" size requires about 1700 yards of bulky weight yarn and it looks like a straightforward and stylish pattern. I'm hoping to use some stash yarn and some of my recently recycled yarn. If you'd like to knit along, leave me a comment.