Cro recently posted about mittens.
It reminded me that I have a pair of woollen mittens of a curious design that my maternal grandmother knitted for me when I was a very young man.
Believe it or not they have had some serious wear in their early days when, for example, mending my bike in the winter and when I've needed my fingers in snowy situations. They still live in my glove drawer but, I confess, haven't been worn in 'anger' for a good few years.
Believe it or not they have had some serious wear in their early days when, for example, mending my bike in the winter and when I've needed my fingers in snowy situations. They still live in my glove drawer but, I confess, haven't been worn in 'anger' for a good few years.
These are wonderful. I have a similar pair by North Face but mine are a bit too bulky to be practical.
ReplyDeleteAdrian, they are doubtless warmer tough.
DeleteI doubt I've ever had a pair of mittens. I may have had when I was a little girl...may have...I can't remember.
ReplyDeleteI sure wouldn't have needed them today...it was so hot and humid here...followed by wild storm late this afternoon. Rain, strong wind...and just light hail (thankfully). The humidity is a killer. I hate it.
Lee, I can't imagine you ever would need mittens.
DeleteFncy keeping them all these years. Anything my grandmother knitted for me is long gone now, although the little yellow, knitted skating dress (with matching knickers) she made me when I was thirteen probably wouldn't fit me now.
ReplyDeleteI recall having to go to the 50s unheated lido in knitted trunks. It's hard to learn to swim with one hand and limited leg movement. The other hand was employed to keep my modesty. Pulling up ever expanding trunks is not easy at seven years old, harder if the trunks try to reveal my private bits if I flapped my legs.
DeleteAll is well, in later life I got a mixed gas diving ticket so I didn't sue for compensation. It wouldn't be right to sue ones own mum no matter how incompetent she was as a knitter.
JayCee, I've kept them simply because I couldn't bear to throw them away and I can't imagine anyone else would ever need/want them.
DeleteAs it happens, only yesterday did I buy a pair of mittens. I wasn't looking for them. They just presented themselves. With my name on them. I don't even suffer cold hands. Yet their [the mittens'] colour gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteMittens/gloves. If there is one disadvantage to them is that they come in twos. And you can bet your last bit of leather or stitch on the knitting needle that you will lose one. Which is fine. One does lose things. What is not so fine that the remaining, now single, glove will keep reminding you of the lost one. That's when you have to cut your losses and bin the redundant one. Even if your little sister had knitted them for you.
U
Ursula, touch wood I can't recall losing a glove bur pairs of socks is an entirely different matter.
DeleteI have some similar. They're very handy (see what I did there? 😃) when I need to use my phone.
ReplyDeleteVery punny, Jules! I hadn't thought of that.
DeleteI don't like wearing gloves and for years after arriving in NZ resisted wearing mittens. Juat like I resisted wearing a singlet in winter. It's hard to a girl from the tropics to adjust to a cooler climate. I don't need them often but have a pair in the glovebox of the car. I only seem to need them when driving. I like the multi purpose bonus flap on yours.
ReplyDeletePauline, I wear gloves a lot but I rarely use mittens. I do have some very warm ones for snow conditions but can't recall when I last used them. It snowed heavily here in 1987 - I remember that.
DeleteSome outdoors people wear that type of glove when hiking. I have a pair but I don't wear them.
ReplyDeleteRed, I rarely hike in conditions that cold any more.
DeleteYour grandma must have been psychic to know what you would do with them.
ReplyDeleteSusan, my grandmother was a very practical lady.
DeleteI haven't owned mittens in quite a few years, it just doesn't get cold enough up here but when we move I'll probably buy some nice possum fur ones, those are nice.
ReplyDeleteAmy, I can imagine warm gloves would be required in parts of South Island.
DeleteThat's an ingenious design. My grandson Boo Boo is still wearing his; I think he likes the eccentricity of them.
ReplyDeleteCro, all I can say is 'Good for Boo Boo.'
DeleteMy Mum makes them, too, but I usually wear gloves that cover my fingers, too; I can not think of any activity in my daily life where I would need my fingers to be out in the open when it is cold enough for gloves.
ReplyDeleteI love it that you still have the ones that were made for you many years ago!
Meike, I was doing a job outside the other day and it was almost freezing. My hands were pretty numb when I'd finished but I'm not sure that the mittens would have made a huge difference because my fingers were the parts in contact with the cold metal I was working on.
DeleteThey have kept well. No use for mittens here.
ReplyDeleteDiane, they've kept very well - no cloth moths around here!
DeleteHeart and hand warming!
ReplyDeleteYes, Maywyn, I like your point.
DeleteIf your grandma could only know that her knitted mittens have lasted so long she would be very happy.
ReplyDeleteI think she would, YP. And that would make me happy too.
DeleteBear has a pair of military gloves that have the same "flip top" feature. The thought of mittens being "worn in anger" is going to have me giggling the rest of the week!
ReplyDeleteMarcheline, now that you mention it, it is a strange saying.
DeleteYour grandmother was clearly prescient in knitting those open-topped mittens. These days they would be perfect for mobile phone users who don't want to completely remove their mittens while texting their friends. But I'm guessing she didn't quite have that in mind when she made them for you.
ReplyDeleteMary, that's a perfect idea. You are correct, though, they were made long before mobile phone days.
DeleteI am on the lookout for a pair of these what I used to call 'milkman's' gloves/mittens. Out in the early morning with The Dog requires gloves but the ability of opening and using a black plastic poo bag quick on the draw needs barefingers! Lesley
ReplyDeleteLesley, now that you mention it I remember that's what out milkman used to wear. For a second there I almost remembered his name. He had a local farm. Strange. As I get older I keep recalling names from the pas quite randomly. Odd as I am the only person I know who, not long after we married, could not recall my wife's name when introducing her to someone.
DeleteI've never seen any quite like these. I do have some which leave the fingertips bare, but they don't have that extra "lid" to pull over that yours seem to have. I have sometimes used my "open" (knitted) mittens when out taking winter photos, as it can be tricky handling the camera with proper thick gloves or mittens on. When it's below zero I otherwise usually wear leather mittens with fur inside. (But then I have to take them off if I want to use the phone or camera...)
ReplyDeleteMonica, keeping hands warm when photographing has always been a bit tricky. I've never found a satisfactory solution although we rarely have weather that cold here any more.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete