Janus

January is named after Janus, the Roman god of doorways, gates, beginnings and endings. An apt name for this month. And, as it so happens, the theme for my latest project.

This week, a package from Knitpicks arrived, containing a bunch of yarn for a cardigan I’m planning to make, plus a kit. Yes, a knitting kit. I’ve never knit from a kit before, but I saw the Woodland Winter Mittens kit in the catalog, and because I love me the dark colors, stranded knitting and the cold times of year, I had to try. It’s quite a bargain, too. Yarn for six pairs of mittens, plus the pattern, for under $30.

Each month’s mitten features a different winter-themed scene on the backs of the hands and a different geometric pattern on the palms. So all of the months bear two faces in these mittens, not just January.  The “winter” months in these patterns run from October to March – a bit of a stretch, I know, but if you had to pick six months for winter, those would be them. And “winter” sounds better than “the months where you don’t necessarily sweat every day,'” as they are known in these parts. I really do like all the colors, although I’m a little meh about March. I decided to start with the January pattern since we’re soaking in it right now. Not sure if I’ll be finishing before the end!

I began this first pair on size 1 needles as called for, but quickly figured out that I was under gauge, so I switched to size 2. Things are better now. I’m having a bit of a time with the needle changes using magic loop – I may switch to DPNs to see if that works any better.