Squirrel-and-Robot Mittens

Yarncraft

Laura Cochrane

"To oppose something is to maintain it." –Ursula Le Guin

Currently: NEO.LIFE Alum: Instructables and MAKE

If you’re a slow knitter, like me, you may want to begin on a cold-weather item right now, while it’s still summer. Yes. It’s good to be realistic.
There are many things that tickle me about these squirrel-and-robot mittens that Beth on Six Orange Carrots knit. Each mitten announces in no uncertain terms the year of its creation. Seeing 2010 knitted like this, I imagine someone in the future, looking at these gloves and imagining what 2010 was. I like it when – occasionally – the date is tastefully incorporated into a craft.
UPDATE: Beth wrote to me with the pattern that she used (with slight modifications). It’s by Adrian at Hello Yarn.

6 thoughts on “Squirrel-and-Robot Mittens”

LadeeBee says:

September 2nd, 2010 at 5:41 pm

Whoa these are incredible. I’ll admit I am an experienced knitter but I have not been enticed to do fair aisle as yet, but I think this design will get me there. I like the squirrel. I have been watching squirrels eating butternuts and pears all summer in my backyard. They love to sit on my back porch and leave the green peels from the butternuts all over the place (not to mention their lovely droppings). Anyway, I think a squirrel reminder to get me through the winter is in order.
sixorangecarrots.wordpress.com says:

September 2nd, 2010 at 6:55 pm

Hi hi,
SO happy you like my silly robot and squirrel mittens! They were obsessively fun to knit, and the date and initials are seriously my favorite part. I did want to make it clear, though, that this a pattern I modified only very, very slightly from the original. It’s Adrian’s fabulous Squirrel Sampler Mittens pattern, available from Hello Yarn, that deserves the praise. All I did was swap out squirrel number 2 for, you know, a robot. :) All the rest was pure Hello Yarn magic.
Thanks!
Beth
LadeeBee says:

September 2nd, 2010 at 9:01 pm

OH! Thanks for letting me know. After I went to your blog I realized there was no pattern there. I LOVE the chicken. I am into chickens right now so I thought it was so funny to see you holding one. Your mittens look great, and I adore silly. Here’s to never, ever growing up. Cheers!