It is 63 degrees outside. I like this weather very much and have no complaints from a personal standpoint, unlike the people who enjoyed the 11-degree days we had a couple of weeks ago. The problem is that the plants are budding, leafing, and even blooming. When we return to our regularly-scheduled winter, they may all be blighted. I don’t know what to do for them — wait till a cold snap is predicted and cover them up? Leave them alone? Prune them all right now?

We may be in for very expensive fruit this summer, but I hope we do not end up with dead trees and perennials as well. The natives also say that we will have a banner year for fleas and ticks if we don’t have any more winter than we’ve had so far. So either way, we can’t be completely happy about this weather.

I am making mittens anyway. During my walk in the snow, I planned a Wedgwood-blue mitten with cables, for my own then-freezing hands. However, #1 son wanted a pair, so I am making his first. He wanted them with no ribbing, so they would be really loose. I didn’t feel that I could do that, even though I had been reading SnB2, so I did the ribbing with the same needles as the stocking stitch. Very loose. And I’m doing the whole thing plain and dark. The thumb is on the other side.

This is Wool-Ease sport weight, on a size 6 sleeve needle. I’ll switch to dpns for the top and the thumb.

If you ever want to make plain mittens with whatever yarn you have hanging around, you should know that it is just the same as making a sock. There is a thumb gusset instead of a heel to turn, but the hand and thumb both finish off just as a sock would, and you can do the whole thing with a little simple arithmetic.