Living in Southern California isn’t the best for a knitter. Luckily, my love for fair weather is enough for me to forego knitting with copious amounts of extra-bulky wool.

But I still buy the stuff! Well, to be fair, I bought a huge stash of Brown Sheep Wool Company’s “burly spun” wool at some point last year, and it’s been keeping the rest of my yarn stash warm, waiting for its moment to shine.

In honor of my oldest friend moving out of California to the windy city, I decided it was time to break out the heavy wool. I didn’t have enough to make a scarf, so I made a hat (not pictured here) and then decided to try some fingerless mittens. These are a total prototype – I had never even made mittens before, so I was kind of guessing as I went along. They turned out fine in the end, and now I know how to make some good fingerless mittens. Of course my next pair will be more elegant, but for a first try, I think these are okay. I’m sure my friend won’t mind the first time she has to fidget for change when trying to catch the el-train in sub-zero temperatures.