Monday, June 9, 2008

Knitabulous and the four mittens



Once upon a time, Goldilocks was walking through the ravelry forest, when she came upon a swap thing. She signed up to be a participant.

As she continued on her journey through the tangled woods of knitting patterns, she came across a house made of mittens, nestled in a glen in the middle of the forest.

Enchanted, she went inside. In front of the warming fire, an old woman named knitabulous sat knitting in a rocking chair.

"Come in Goldilocks", said the old woman "I am your secret knitting partner. Sit down my dear, and I shall knit you some mittens."

Goldilocks sat, entranced, while knitabulous knit the mittens. Soon, one mitten was ready. Goldilocks tried it on her hand. It looked lovely, all red and twisty. But, alas, it did not feel very comfortable on her delicate hand.



"Oh no," said Goldilocks "This mitten is far too twisty".

"Never mind dear", said the old woman, "I have another idea". Her fingers flew at the needles, and before long a second mitten was ready. Goldilocks loved the look of this second mitten, and excitedly tried it on.



"Oh no, I am sorry knitabulous", she said "This mitten is way too big".

But knitabulous did not flinch. "Do not fear. I shall knit you another." She said.

The third mitten was completely different, and Goldilocks thought it might be the one.


The fit was perfect, and Goldilocks would have been happy enough, but knitabulous was still a little worried.

"This is okay, goldilocks, but it is too easy to be worthy of a princess such as yourself. I know that this is your first swap, and I want it to be special for you. I shall try one more. If this final mitten fails, then this black one will just have to do."

Finally, the fourth mitten emerged. Knitabulous was clearly enjoying this last one more than the others, for she sped through the knitting, and finished it in a speed which surprised even herself.

Goldilocks tried on the final mitten.



"Oh, kind and generous old woman, you have made my day. This is the mitten I love. It shall keep my hands warm on winter mornings and I shall always remember your awesomeness whenever I wear it. Forever more will you name be revered in my household and and my firstborn daughter shall be named 'knitabulous'.

The old woman just smiled, and rocked, and made the princess a matching mitten, wrapped the gift in a muslin cloth and bade Goldilocks a kind farewell.

And the moral of the story is;
I think the only thing you can control about a swap is the quality of the gift you send, so it's good to be proud of it.

THE END

11 comments:

Ann said...

I will be happy with any one of the 4 mittens as they are all so lovely. I am also knitting mittens for my daugthers as the weather is getting colder & mittens are the best to keep their fingers warm.

Anonymous said...

Oh, Ailsa... Your swap partner would be happy with any of those choices, I'm sure! They all look v cool. Looking forward to 'camp' and seeing you soon... cough, red wine, cough...x

Anonymous said...

The last comment was me, I f---ed up the URL doodah!

Figtree Handspinners & Weavers said...

Okay, it was Mel McCabe. and I can't work this thing!!!!

Rose Red said...

They are all great mittens - but the endpaper mitts are truly the best - I wish I was your pal!!

metal and knit said...

I have to agree the endpapers are the best and I must get my last one done soon it is such a quick patten when you dont get interupted.

MadMad said...

Oh, that is too funny! We are our own worst critics, though - I think anyone would be happy with any of them! I'm here to borrow your Dragon scarf pattern that Rose Red borrowed and I've been fantasizing about ever since! But I do get distracted easily... so maybe I'll just keep reading till I find it!

Anonymous said...

Yes, very funny. And I agree, they are all great. We are our own worst critics. You could have the Fourth Mitten Syndrome!!!

Charmaine said...

I love your bed time stories Ailsa!

the stripey tiger said...

How out of it am I? I didn't even realise till today that you had a new blog! :-)

Anonymous said...

And the final mitten fit just right, and made the swap partner very happy indeed.

And the swap partner was so giddy with the excitement of receiving such a delightful package that she tried to stalk you and find out who you are, take photos of the goodies and put them on the computer, and post on the Ravelry swap thread all at the same time and managed to get herself slightly confused. But she will shortly manage to do all these things, and her hands and wrists will be nice and warm as she does so.

The end.