Franken-finish

I've overcome my fear of fingers.  I tried to knit a pair of gloves once. The fingers did me in and the gloves ended up unraveled and tucked away for something else. The yarn remains tucked away. Somewhere.

I decided to try again when I saw this pattern. The open top fingers seemed less intimidating, even though the tricky bit is the first row of picked up stitches. Even that turned out to be no big deal; I only needed to watch out for the spaces in between the fingers and making sure I left no gaping hole. Not so very different from working a sock gusset, but with far fewer stitches to deal with.

Pattern:  Frankenfingers by Elizabeth Green Musselman, Dark Matter Knits. The pattern includes several video tutorials for the tricky bits.  Check out her other patterns including those for men and boys. She also does a periodic round up of patterns for men and boys on her blog and puts out a video podcast.

Yarn:  Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett, a colorful and long-wearing sock yarn. These mitts are for my husband, who gladly wears brightly colored socks and mitts though most of his wardrobe is neutral. The benefits of working out of the house include please-yourself dressing.

Frankenmitts (ravelry project page)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN DEPARTMENT

I have mostly fond memories of Halloween--candy, roaming the neighborhood after dark, candy, costumes--but still get the creeps when I think of the rubber witch masks my sister and I had one year along with handmade witch costumes. No one did face paint back then or made sure your costume would be visible to drivers and we were allowed to risk suffocation, blindness, and sweat in the name of fun. I prefer to remember the candy.

 Here's a little treat. Long before there was the Monster Mash, there was: The Skeleton Dance. The Skeletons don't arrive until about the halfway point. Yes, it was a more leisurely world for sure.