These mitts with the ribbed gauntlets are my favourite for cold weather climates as they come way up the arm and stop snow from going up your sleeve when you’re playing in the snow. Emma likes them because they pull up over top of her jacket sleeves.

These mitts are much faster to knit. I assure you there are two of them, although it looks like I only photographed one!

The school bus stops in front of Elizabeth’s house in Calgary. On my last trip, after the first major snowfall of the year, some of the kids were arriving at the bus stop without warm clothes. Elizabeth found enough scarves and hats to go around, but I thought she would probably need more to get her (and the neighbours) through the winter.

The patterns are combinations of a couple of things I found on the internet. I wanted to use up some of my scrap wool, but it didn’t seem to make much of a dent in my basket.

I took a four-week class at Great Balls of Wool. This is the first knitting class I’ve taken since the winter of 1969-1970 when Dorothy and I took knitting lessons at Sears.

The socks have an invisible cast-on (that took me the entire first class to learn), a crocheted cast-off and an afterthought heel.

They are very comfortable and I was told they could last up to six years. That’s good because they weren’t cheap to make and, when you add in the cost of the class, they are pure gold!

When Stacia and Deloise were here in the Spring we made a stop at Great Balls of Wool. Deloise made a purchase, and the next day we went back again and we all bought something! I made this scarf to go with my Pollen shawl, but now that it is finished I don’t think it goes so well. I’ll use it to brighten up my winter coat.