Fingerless Mitts and more

You know how you are supposed to let your car warm up in the morning. Much like most of us need a cup of coffee to get going, cars are supposed to be started and then sit idle for a few minutes so that the oil and other car fluids are warm. At least this is what my father told me growing up and my husband tells me now. Well, I have a hard time getting two little ones in the car with their various accessories, blankies, sippy cups, toys, shoes, jackets, and "must have" babies. Not to mention getting myself loaded up with purse, diaper bag, knitting bag, and now my daughter's preschool bag. So forget about taking the time to warm up the car. We load up and head out. This rather long, dull, uninteresting discussion on car maintenance is really just one long justification for why I knit up some fingerless mitts. It is a preemptive argument if you will for my sister. My family has teased her for years about her love of fingerless mitts and leg warmers. I swore I saw no need for them and would probably never be knitting them up.....I am a liar.

The last few mornings have been the first cold ones to sneak up on me and a big reminder that winter is here. I am fortunate enough that I have a garage I can park in it so there is no need to scrape off snow or morning frost. Up until this year I didn't HAVE to be anywhere, especially in the morning when the weather is less than cooperative. Now I have to be up and out for school, UGH. Anyway, talk about a short story getting longer, I hate driving with a cold steering wheel. I'm already bundled up in a jacket but I can't wear gloves or mittens because I have to buckle/unbuckle car seats and help little people. And I hate having to put on and remove gloves........sooooo.......I broke down and made these fingerless mitts.
The yarn is the same berroco ultra alpaca from the Hannah hat. The pattern was kind of a hodge podge of patterns and I just sized it for my own hand. I took the most inspiration from the Vogue Fall 2008 pink sonata gloves. The only detail I did add was for my thumb.


I bound off about 1/3 of the stitches and then the next row I cast back on for them to create a little opening for my thumb to peak out of (those dang carseats need full functioning hands). Of course now that I have a pair (albeit with a little flip top to keep everything toasty), I want more. I want real fingerless mitts with no top in just about every color.

One last little fun thing to share is this video for all the moms out there. This video is short, sweet, to the point, and funny. If you have the time to take a moment then click here and have a giggle.