Years ago, my mother made me a pair of fingerless gloves out of an angora and wool blend. They live in the pockets of my padded winter jacket, which makes them easy to find and slip on when I’m walking the dogs or collecting kindling or other tasks in the winter cold. They’ve been going strong for at least 18 years, with no signs of wearing yet, and I still lov pulling them on.

So, when my good friend Kerry mentioned that her hands freeze in winter, I decided to dig out the angora and merino blended fibre I’ve had in the stash for a fair while, and spin yarn to knit her some fingerless mittens. I finished the spinning a little while ago, but with life being somewhat frantic in recent months, it took me a while to get organised to dye it. Yesterday I took the skein into our Spinners’ and Weavers’ meeting, and used the microwave there that we keep for dyeing.

The colour turned out a little paler than I’d hoped, but Kerry likes it, so all is fine! I’m planning to start knitting them today.

And talking of bliss things, I finally uploaded a photo of the completed Bliss Socks:

I also finished another pair of mock fair-isle socks this week. The photo’s not great, but the socks are cosy and comfy!