St. Paddy's surprise

[altivo]

Handwarmers
Originally uploaded by Altivo

Guess what arrived in a surprise package all the way from Sweden, courtesy of vimsig and bonnie_tiler: handknit hand and wrist warmers. These fingerless gloves or mittens are great for doing tasks that require finger dexterity even in chilly conditions. Perhaps not sub-zero, but certainly the weather we've had lately. And the color is perfect for the day.

Also in the package: some chocolate eggs that didn't live to hatch, I'm afraid, and a cute tiny yellow chick made of wire and chenille. A delightful and useful surprise. Thanks!

Geek news for today as well: I got a Matrox Millennium II video card off EBay for ten bucks, and stuck it in the Alpha I have running at work. Finding cards that will work with the Alpha's Open VMS operating system is difficult and expensive, but the Matrox is fine with Debian Linux and that's what I have running on that box. I have plenty of spare CRT monitors and keyboards lying around at work, so now the machine can be booted and the BIOS settings adjusted without using a null modem cable and another PC.

The Alpha at home has an S3 Trio 64 video card in it, which does work with OpenVMS but has so far resisted being configured in Linux as anything other than a text display. That card worked with X back on XFree86 release 3, but support was dropped later. Bah.


Today's weather has ranged from sunny (briefly) to gloomy clouds (most of the day) to sleet and even snow (briefly while driving home.)

Oh, and the twig pile culprit has been identified, I think. I saw a squirrel go into the hole over the top of the twigs. The hole must be deeper than I thought, and gray squirrels are more diverse in their nest building habits than I realized.

Comments

[schnee.livejournal.com]

Those handwarmers look lovely. ^^

[altivo.livejournal.com]

The photo can't convey the feel of them. They are quite soft for the weight of yarn used, like rabbit angora. Almost silky to the touch.

[schnee.livejournal.com]

MMmm... that sounds great, too. ^^

[murakozi.livejournal.com]

I've always been a bit surprised at how difficult it is to find insulated fingerless gloves, or decent fingerless gloves in general. In the summer, I end up using mesh backed gloves that're actually intended for weight lifters. In winter, I end up swapping between those when doing tack or such (and having cold hands) and regular work gloves for stuff that requires less dexterity.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I've found what are called "Michigan mittens" or "Minnesota mittens" at WalMart and Menard's. Those are fingerless gloves with a mitten top that can be folded back to expose your fingertips. A bit of velcro holds it out of the way until you get so cold you have to put it back over your fingers to warm them. I really like that arrangement and use a pair all the time for doing chores in winter. They are knit, with leather pads added to the palms which is great for carrying water buckets.

I've also knitted these myself, but I imagine that's not an option for you, so check WalMart when the winter clothes are in stock.

[saythename.livejournal.com]

Hey, those are cool. My kid would like those, but in black. XD

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Heh. I think vimsig correctly estimated that I would never wear black. I don't even own any black socks. I'm fascinated by the yarn she used, though, and waiting for her to tell me just what it was.

[vimsig.livejournal.com]

I made them triple stranded - one mohair and two cotton so they should last you a while - the cotton is guarenteed for 19 years (or so it braggs on the label)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I looked closely but didn't figure that out. Thank you. :)

It was particularly correct that they came on St. Patrick's day, considering the color.

[vimsig.livejournal.com]

um - typo - that should read 10 years

I am pleased that you are pleased with them - I would knit some for your pal but my poor ol' eyes baulk at working in dark tones

[altivo.livejournal.com]

That's a nice thought, but he would need "idiot strings" to keep from losing them. He has lost so many gloves around the place that I am finding random gloves all the time. ;p

These are much too nice to lose in the garden or forget up in the barn loft. I'm especially pleased with the texture. I'm going to have to get a little kid mohair and experiment with it. I've already grown proficient at spinning cotton, so I could ply the two together and try knitting with them.

[alaskawolf.livejournal.com]

lucky pony :) those hand warmers are a great and useful gift

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yes, I expect to get some use out of them.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

They look like they're woven out of freshly cut grass O.O so green and colourful. They look like they'd be nice for cat to sleep on too :)

A squirrel ay? I saw a funny video on a squirrel that was abandoned by it's parent and was following a worker around a worksite. The worker ended up befriending the lil guy and taking care of him, he enjoyed scritches very much.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

If I find cat hair on my new mittens I'll know who to blame.

Squirrels can do an incredible amount of damage to your hand in a flash. They have big sharp incisors like a beaver or a platypus, and powerful gripping paws with strong sharp claws. They have the intelligence and personality of a rat (which makes sense, they are rodents and more or less arboreal rats) which means they learn quickly how to get what they want, but can have a powerful temper if you cross them.