New project ...

NOTE:  the last entry was actually written in August, but I guess I never posted it, so it says it is from October, but it is not.  THIS entry is from October.  Just to be clear ...
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I have been planning, ALL YEAR, to knit mittens for the Fall Festival Bazaar at our church.  It is now October, the festival is one month away, and I have knit one pair.  One!  So, I decided I should schedule some mitten knitting time ... and then I had a brilliant idea on my way to church this morning. 

I have been making dog jackets (for boxer dogs, or greyhounds, mostly) out of fleece for the last three years.  This means I have lots of fleece fabric remnants.  I have been keeping the remnants with the idea of making sweatshirts for my grandchildren, and have made a few, but I keep making more jackets and getting more remnants!

 So I've been thinking of ways to use up this fleece, and I thought of fleece blankets.  You know, squares of fleece sewn together and lined, some with seams in and some with seams out, etc., etc., etc.  The problem with that idea is, I would rather make quilts, so I don't really need fleece blankets.  I could make the blankets and donate them to the bazaar, OR I could make MITTENS and HATS out of the fleece!!  Brilliant idea, don't you think?  Fleece mittens are quite warm (not as warm as wool knitted mittens, perhaps, but, really, how long are these children going to stay out in the cold???), and can be sewn up quickly in a variety of color combinations - I even found a pattern for frog mittens!  (Picture below and directions found at simplicity.com/t-mitten-commitment-2011.aspx).






I still have three bags to knit and two quilt tops to quilt for Christmas gifts (I am getting a longarm quilting system next week, HOORAY!!!!), but I think I can squeeze in some time to devote to sewing up mittens.  And hats.  Bring on the snow!