This week I cast on two new projects: both for hands other than mine.

The first is a pair of Baba Yaga Mittens, made of Knit Picks Imagination in “Wicked Witch.”  These are for my friend Meg, to match her Flared Lace Smoke Ring.  She really wanted the mittens to be in the exact same yarn and colorway, but did not want stranded colorwork.  I thought that single-stranded imagination would not make the warm and durable mittens she desired.  The solution turned out to be simple: hold the Imagination double-stranded to simulate worsted-weight yarn, and make classic plain-stockinette mittens.  I decided to follow the Chicken Leg Mittens pattern (FREE! on Ravelry), and I was extremely pleased with the novel thumb-shaping technique.  The mittens worked up so fast — I was done just a few days after I started working on them.

The second is a pair of fingerless, palmless Typist Mitts, using my own pattern: Photog Mitts.  My mom asked for a pair of these some time ago, but we only just recently got around to selecting yarn.  Since the pattern uses only 150 yards, we splurged on some gorgeous Malabrigo Silky Merino. I’m done with the first mitt, and I’m nearly done with the second — I’m holding off to check fit on my mom’s hands before I do the i-cord bind-off and finger loops.