var agent=navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase(); var is_iphone = (agent.indexOf(‘mobile’)!=-1) && ((agent.indexOf(‘iphone’)!=-1) || (agent.indexOf(‘ipod’)!=-1)); if (is_iphone) { $(‘quicktime_embed-egGDpoArco’).show(); $(‘flash_embed-egGDpoArco’).hide(); } else { $(‘flash_embed-egGDpoArco’).show(); $(‘quicktime_embed-egGDpoArco’).hide(); }

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http://download.publicradio.org/podcast/writers_almanac/2009/11/twa_20091122_64.mp3?_kip_ipx=1941871795-1258897389

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via nytimes.com

They are missing the obvious: Tummies are lovely.

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Blocking. Sorry for the lousy iPhone pics, but my camera has grown feet and wandered…

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Holy picot. It took a good chunk of the afternoon just to pin Girasole out after finally finding enough floor for the job!

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The iPhone Mitts are proving to be such simple, useful hand warmth delivery systems, that I succumbed to pressure to do the math and provide here proof of a worsted-weight version that knits up in a quarter of the time of the fingering-weight wonders…. and here they are:

So instructions: Download the iPhone Mitts pattern, and change the math thusly:

Use Worsted Weight Yarn (in this case my leftover Noro Cash Iroha, and precisely two skeins and 182 meters, US Size 6 dpns

Cast On 40 stitches.

Knit 34 rows before starting thumb gussets.

Work until thumb gussets are just 9 stitches

Cast on just 2 stitches when you resume knitting after putting the gusset stitches on hold.

The whole length of the tube is 90 rows from cast on to cast off row.

Pick up 5 st for a total of 14 thumb stitches.

Work 12 thumb rows after pickup.

These are stretchy monkeys. I knit them to fit my hands, but they easily fit my son-in-law (my man model here) and my husband’s much larger hands.

Having worn them for a couple of days, I’ll observe that the worsted versions are much warmer, of course, but also much bulkier. When the weather warrants it, I’ll gladly upgrade warmth for bulky discomfort, but for 80 percent of winter, I still want the fingering-weight versions. They just let me move my hands more easily, afford my hands more mobility.

By the way, my sister-in-law, Betsy, a new knitter who easily took on the iPhone Mitts for her daughter, would have me note that the convenience of tucking the thumbs into the palm fold and scrunching these babies up onto your wrists while shopping is a really critical feature of the design. “Forget iPhone Mitts,” she says, “These are Shopping Mitts!!” Not much of a shopper myself, I defer to her.

They have been taken up by folks doing fine work outdoors. These range from dog trainers and fishermen to photographers and bicyclists. Skiers note that when you fold the cuff inside, you have three layers of wool protecting your fingertips, which they love, being able to quickly squinch these back to fumble for change or lip balm makes their whole day. Runners note they can use the superwash wool, and not feel bad about using them to wipe noses and face sweat mid-run, just wash them along with their other running gear…

Everyone notes that they are very dull knitting. Mindless. But who doesn’t need mindless knitting? Once in awhile?