Snow Forest Mittens at last!

Remember how back in February, I had grandiose plans of knitting myself mittens for and in Japan? And then I only knit one, finishing the thumb just in time to rush out the door to the taxi?

Well, thanks to Nerd Wars, I finally finished the second mitten.
It went much more easily the second time around. I knew what to expect of the Latvian braid (a lot of very tangly, grabby yarn), and how to read the charts.
Easily doesn't mean quickly though. But the finished result is gorgeous.

The yarns are alpaca for the light and possum blend for the dark, two happy, fuzzy yarns that are just glorious after a quick spin in the dryer. So fuzzy and warmerific.
Of course, it's not cold enough here for mittens... Guess I'll have to go travelling again!
Where would you take mittens, if you had them?

Is it a hat? is it a tea cozy? It's pink!

 So I thought I was knitting a hat.
Out of some pretty, very variegated acrylic yarn.
The knitting was fun and went quickly enough.
Of course, I didn't swatch for gauge. Why would I?
It was going to be a slouchy hat, so it was going to be fine.
but I rushed, and I was kind of done with the project, so I finished it a bit faster than I should have.
The slouchy beret turned into a beanie. And on me, it looked a bit like a kid's hat. not a flattering style.
Not even my usual stand-in model, the feline overlord, was impressed. What to do?
I was seriously considering ripping back and redoing the crown for more slouch, when I noticed my teapot.
I'd been mentally queueing a couple of tea cozies. On a  whim, I dropped the small hat onto the tea pot.
It's perfect!

So while I thought I was knitting a hat for me, turns out I was knitting a cozy for my tea pot.
And we're both very pleased with the result.