Today the Yarn Harlot made a post that left me feeling quite vindicated. I was starting to worry about all the negative feelings I have about these Interminable Mittens, and that somehow I was being unfair to the recipients of my work (namely my father and brother-in-law, and you know you don’t want to be unfair to relatives that close…) by knitting all these negative emotions into them. But if someone of the Yarn Harlot’s stature can feel that way about a gift, then certainly I can too.
The truth of the matter is that I am on the last mitten, and soon my commitment to Christmas 2012 will be completed. In fact, there is a certain amount of perverse joy in each row, as I realize that this is the last time I have to knit that particular row. I got through the ribbing on the cuff tonight at Tuesday North-Enders, and did a little dance inside realizing that there is no more mitten ribbing to do for quite a while. I started Chart A, and squeed a little (not out loud, of course; one must maintain something like decorum when out in public) with each completed row. Okay, I only completed one row before coming home, but the thought is there.
(Pattern is NHM #6 from Selbuvotter by Terri Shea, in Knit Picks Palette Celestial/Mist and Ivy/Masala. These are mittens 7, 5, 8 and 6 of 8.)
K’s suggestion was to reward myself after the first mitten by winding the yarn for one of the kits I got for Christmas. I told myself that I would absolutely do that, either when I got the mitten done, or when the swift cover I ordered came. The problem was, I finished the mitten, and the swift cover still hasn’t come. When I decided on this course of action, I didn’t say either ‘whichever comes first,’ or ‘whichever comes last.’ I’ve decided to go with the latter, even though that means I’m delaying gratification. I know as soon as I take the swift out of its handy plastic packaging, I’ll never get it back in, and I have nowhere truly safe to put it right now. So I’m watching the tracking number on my swift cover (or rather, Mike is), and though it was sent on Dec. 28, it still hasn’t left its state of origin. I know that tracking numbers aren’t always updated well, so if it still hasn’t moved – or arrived here – by Friday, I’ll contact the seller.
Who knows? Maybe by the time it comes, I’ll have finished the last mitten!
