Want a quick and satisfying project? This pair of mittens will do the trick! They also don’t use much yarn---the mittens use only 45 yds/40 m in the main color and 40 yds/ 35 m in the contrast color.

The idea for these mittens arose because I was smitten with some lovely grey and charcoal heathered Lopi. I knew the colors would look amazing on my Daddy. He always has cold hands, but also needs to be able to use his fingers, so convertible mittens were the solution. So, after a bit of swatching of striped owls, these mittens were born. I really like them. I like that the owl has a textured breast that is flanked by wingfeathers. I like that the striping is balanced. I like that the thumb looks a bit like a branch. I like that I can see the owl’s feet. And I gave the mittens to my Daddy for Xmas 2012. (He’s shown in the third picture.)

The finished mittens are each 10” long and about 8.5” in circumference.

Stitches and techniques used: knit, purl, make 1, knit two together, slip slip knit, cabling two stitches over two others, duplicate stitch, grafting, blocking.

(Note: the matching hat is available as a separate pattern, or together with these mittens in an eBook.)