last may

(when i first spied

the malabrigo mecha

on the shelves at the hub mills store),

it had my full attention.

malabrigo colors,

superwash & bulky all in one skein?

hooked.

i wanted to try it.

i wanted to wear it until it needed washing.

i wanted to (super)wash it and see if it held its own.

i also wanted instant results,

so i first started with another designer’s pattern.

a well written pattern that i thought i could whip through,

but i couldn’t seem to shut my own (loudly opinionated) mind off.

here’s what it sounded like:

“ooh, that’s a cool thumb shaping.  wonder what would happen if i…”

“it’s so great how garter st is reversible…what other stitches are reversible…”

you get the idea.

so, in the end, i designed the ‘rivi mitts‘.

the twisted rib is reversible and the thumb is a variation of other thumbs.

(and the superwash rocks.

did i mention that already?)

test drove them in the house last week.

passed all quality checks.

then yesterday,

the blast of single digit air at the backdoor

sent me racing back for another layer.

stretchy ribbing is sooo flexible.  smile.

they passed the outside chill road test, too.

only took me 7 months from start to finish (ha).

although, truth be told,

i was a bit scattered at the time from simultaneously jumping

through the hoops of ‘the fiber factor’.

all’s well that ends well.

‘scattered’ taken from 11:31 of numbers.