the sound of one hand waving sadly

If you've met me in the last six years, chances are you've seen these fingerless mitts.
I adore fingerless mitts, in general.
As a working photojournalist I wore them in the 80's and 90's,when it looked unusual. I'd get the comment "how punk, niiiiice" .This pair was an extra favorite, improvised 2x2 rib, just before lots of fingerless mitt patterns appeared on the internets to make my life easier. A replacement pair? I'll make Maine Morning Mitts. Or any of the dozen more decorative patterns I've put in my queue when I fell for them.
These have been in tatters for months, I've been too sentimental to do anything about it. I mean, for 10 months a year, for six years, they went everywhere I did, they did some work on every single farm I photographed at for Shear Spirit. They went on hundreds of dog walks, to work in all kind sof chilly settings, to the bullfight in Bogota..everywhere. Until this morning, I must have let one fall and now, there's just this one. So...sad.

Are you wondering what yarn held up to all that wear and abuse? Me too. A long time back, a fiber artist acquaintance closed her studio and handed me a bag of tangled skeins. There was a large, super messy amount of this hand dyed, mohair (I think) dk weight yarn. It took me months to untangle it all. When I took out the remains today, I discovered I'd started a classic Portuguese Fisherman's sweater with it *. (Why? I can't remember!). The back is done. It gave me a laugh, I'd just seen this. I mean, c'mon, if you knit in the late 70's/early 80's, tell me you didn't knit one? Or a few? Out of something hearty and earnestly crunchy if not downright scratchy? Here's my now 18 yo college student in action with his baby version . Awwwww. And for the record, he wouldn't be caught alive now in a turtleneck, a bowl cut or this sweater style.

Look how good the yarn looks knit up. Hmmmmmmmm.

* Just for funs, I looked on Ravelry and you can download this classic pattern there if you missed it's first wave.