Initially, I eagerly cast on and knitted with the chunky Malabrigo, using my basic bag pattern. I envisioned the bag and thought it would be great. Knitted up, it was definitely gorgeous… but…. I had second and third and fourth thoughts about it.
The first problem with the bag was that the size 13 needles I used produced stockinette gauge close to what I’d use for normal knitting…. Which meant that size 15s would be better for felting knitting. But I didn’t like size 15. Or the size 15s I would have used, anyway. Bamboo 16″ 15s I did own, but bamboo and wool I hate. Hate hate hate.
More important than that, was the fact it definitely was really pretty. Prettier than I thought it would be. In other words……. indecisive. I felt like I needed to do something different. But what?
I could knit a delicious hat with it. I’d been generically thinking for some time about a simple roll brim hat that was mottled, like I’d seen in Exquisite Little Knits. For as long as I’ve knit, I’ve never made a simple hat. And mittens. What about mittens? I liked those super mittens in Weekend Knitting. I could do that.
What did I decide to do?
I tried on the bag. No, really.
And then I ripped. Without regret. Though I waited a night first, just to be sure. Consider twice, rip once, all that.
And I might have knit a hat. And mittens. There was enough yarn for both, hooray!
Because new bulky outerwear means it will be cool outside now. Right? Right.
I love them so. Just simple stockinette both of them, yes, but with so much character. Textured stitches would have just gotten in the way. So soft and fuzzy… I know I’ll get a lot of use out of them, especially on my early morning walks.
I made the cuffs on the mittens extra long, so I could tuck them into a sleeve without worrying about cold seeping in. The stockinette is called for in the mitten recipe, but you know what? It’s perfect. And it fits my needs. I love the looseness of the mittens, the way they don’t confine me at all even while staying put on my hands. I’m surprised the cuffs truly don’t roll at all, but they don’t. Physics is a strange creature.
The hat is long enough to cover my forehead comfortably, yet short enough to be without danger of getting into my eyes, which has always seemed an elusive thing. It’s just snug enough that it will stay put in the wind, and isn’t that the important thing, when walking along and typing on Benkei?
They’re just right, in every way.
And I love them. I can almost believe that fall will come and I’ll need them.
