I took a break from work knitting because my 10 year old requested some red mittens and of course the 5 year old needed some too. What knitter could refuse such a request, I ask you? So we went stash diving and came up with a nice bright red skein of Cascade 220 and my copy of The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns and I set to work. I tell you what, that book is a must for every knitter. I have used that thing so much in the 13 years I have owned it.
I made quick work of Emma’s pair (the larger set). I finished them in just two or three sessions. I tried to talk Elijah into a different color for my sake because it is more fun for some silly reason. I mean I was making four of the exact same thing except one pair was smaller, so a change of color would have helped me from becoming bored. 
These were so quick and easy that I got quite a bit of reading done at the same time. I don’t know if you can tell by looking close at my Kindle in the top picture, but the observant among you may have noticed that I am finally getting around to my re-read of the Harry Potter series. This will be the first time I have read all seven books in succession. My last reading was the last three when the seventh book came out in 2007. I am almost finished with The Chamber of Secrets. It is fun to revisit these!
So I think the mittens were a hit and they fit perfectly.
As soon as the mittens were done it was back to shawl knitting. I cast on for Lilyanna Shawl in my Classic Merino Superwash DK in Dusk. It is interesting to knit in that there are several stitches I have not done before but none are difficult to execute. There are also the cables to keep it interesting.
The bottom part of the shawl is what I am knitting now. It is knit side to side and then you pick up stitches on the top side and work short rows in stockinette. I can’t recall ever making one by this method before. So far so good though.