My biggest knit-complishment.....

I knit these! Should that be knitted these? Probably. Either way it was little old me, who just a few months ago couldn't even knit a small square swatch (I could knit a very wonky triangle with lots of raggedy patches and holes that was supposed to be a small square swatch). I never would've dreamed I could knit something with a thumb! With double pointed needles no less! (This was my first project with DPN's.) I'm quite proud of me even if I do say so myself :)
It took me quite a long time to knit these mitts mainly because I made a few mess ups and had to rip out rows or start from scratch more times than I care to admit. Truth be told my first mitt was the one pictured with my mug cosy a few posts back but it barely resembles the pattern it's so "unique" and believe me, unique is not a good thing when it's one of a pair. I knit that one mitt and then before starting it's matching mitt decided that I wanted to knit a pair for my good friend Sarah's birthday. I went to the yarn shop and chose this beautiful hand dyed Yarn by Sweet Georgia in Vancouver. The colour is Pomegranate and I knew it would be perfect for Sarah's mitts. The fingerless mitt pattern is by Jane Richmond and I absolutely love it along with every single other pattern that comes out of that lovely lady's brain! Jane Richmond is my knitting icon. I know I haven't been around a heck of a lot of knitwear designers but so far I haven't found another designer who gets it all oh so perfectly right as Jane does. To top it all off Jane is from Vancouver Island and this particular pattern is called Rathtrevor. It's named after a stunning provincial park on the east coast of the island. It's a special place for me, the morning of the first day I ever set foot in Tofino, I woke up in Rathtrevor. We'd been travelling all day and after a late ferry decided we wouldn't make it all the way to Tofino that night. We pulled into the campsite in Rathtrevor in pitch black without a clue where we were. We were ratty and exhausted. We parked up and set up camp with only a flashlight lighting up our very immediate surroundings then fell into bed. The next morning, which  happened to be Neil's birthday, as if by magic we woke up in paradise. In a sun dappled glade of tall trees with deer softly wandering by we followed a little path from our campsite through the trees and out onto a huge and empty stretch of beautiful beach. Rathtrevor is lovely and so are these mitts.

I decided to buy Jane's new book Island, partly beacuase I love all the patterns but also because I love Vancouver Island and the book is full of beautiful photos perfectly capturing that calm and soul soothing essence of the Island. The photography is by Jane's talented brother Nicholas Kupiak. I just love the book, it even feels good, the cover is soft like moleskin. It's a work of art and I don't think there's another book of knitting patterns quite like it. 

Anyway, I finished the mitts on a Thursday and it was Sarah's birthday on the Saturday so I literally wore them for 5 minutes while Neil snapped some photos for me then had to wrap them up and send them on their way to their new home. I was a little sad to see them go but on the other hand it's a really lovely feeling to be able to actually make something for someone special. I can't wait to knit myself a pair or at least finish my slightly unique pair I've already started. Then it'll be onto the next pattern from Island.  I'll keep you posted!