January is ...

MITTEN MONTH!  And mitten month means it's time to join Ravelry's annual NaKniMitMo11 Knit Along (KAL).

Last year I knit three pairs of mittens for the KAL:  Swedish Fish by Spillyjane, NHM #7 by Terri Shea and Aran Felted Mittens by Shirl the Purl.

Today I signed up for the NaKniMitMo11.  It began on 1st January and will conclude on 31st January.  Members simply knit as many pairs of mittens as they want during the month of January.

Why mittens? Well, January is one of the coldest months of the year and mittens are much warmer than gloves. They are relatively quick to knit, and you can be brave in color choices. You can try out different techniques like stranded colorwork, cables, etc. There are almost 3,000 mitten patterns on Ravelry. You always have enough yarn in stash for mittens.  See, a lot of good reasons!

Pictures of finished mittens will be on display in the NaKniMitMo Flickr Group.

I had absolutely no idea which mittens to cast on until today!  This afternoon I received an email from my fabulous friend LaurieM.  Laurie bought me a knitting pattern - Kitty Selbu from Terri Shea Designs!!!  Terri Shea!!  How does she know I love her designs?  How does she know these things??  When Laurie read the story behind this pattern, she couldn’t but want to help, and thought I might enjoy both the pattern and the story.  Isn't she simply wonderful??

So here is the story behind the Kitty Selbu mittens, as written by Terri Shea:

"This traditional Selbu style mitten was inspired by my cat. Not uncommon, right? We all knit for our cats? Poor Baby kitty was wasting away, panting, and just plain failing. A trip to the vet uncovered heart failure - at only three years of age! She received excellent care, and is recovering beautifully, but the bills total led over $2500, plus her five daily medications. I love my cat, and I hope you love your pet enough to have some sympathy, and buy a pattern. Knit mitt tens for the cat lovers in your life.

Sebum knitting uses designs and motifs with specific meaning. I designed this mitten as a charm or prayer, to strengthen Baby kitty and help her to recover. They feature extra long cuffs. I modified the traditional water pattern, to turn it into a heart beat, and if you prefer shorter cuffs, this motif can be omitted. The parade of dancing kitties around the cuff should be self explanatory. The rosette of hearts on the hand back strengthen Baby’s heart, and proclaim my love for her. The life-giving properties of the hearts are strengthened by the budding branches between each heart. Tiny life-symbolizing pomegranates fill in the spaces between rosettes. The thumb repeats a cat, a heart, and a pomegranate.".

What a touching story.  No wonder Laurie wanted to help.  Terri's story brought a flood of memories back to me about my own darling, my sweet, my wonderful little Tallie.  Tallie was a burmilla; the same breed as Sandi Pandi, but chocolate brown.  He died of cancer at the age of 6 almost five years ago - a congenital condition that worsened the older he got.  He and I were very close.  I suspect it was because he was constantly sick and requiring my attention and love all day.  He was in intensive care at an animal hospital, and as organs failed, and one operation lead to another, the final vet bills totalled over $6,000!  And the worst part was, I had no cat to show for it....

So as I knit these mittens, I pray that each loving stitch gives a little more strength to Baby kitty, and that her road to recovery is swift!

GOD BLESS YOU LAURIE!