Cold Hands Warm Hearts - Mrs. Bartlett's Mittens

I love to knit...sweaters, scarves, hats but especially mittens. Knitting mittens is relatively simple and a great project to take to appointment waiting rooms or a get together where you are just sitting and need something to do. Watching TV is a perfect time to knit as well.

There is no left or right so that makes it easy...very little counting is required so if you get distracted no big deal and they are a great conversation starter. Someone always watches and wonders what you are making...some just ask out right and others just watch and when they see the thumb finished...that is their ah haa moment...they exclaim "Oh it is a mitten" like they just discovered the wheel!

I have been knitting this mitten pattern since I was 10 years old in the Coventry Hillhoppers 4-H Club. Mrs. Bartlett my leader taught me how to knit and I am forever grateful. She was patient and kind...two great attributes needed for teaching 10 year olds. She had a pair of embroidery scissors I envied. A gold pair which looked like a stork and when you had to use them to snip a piece of yarn the ends opened like the beak of a bird. When I was old enough to afford a pair I found them in a yarn shop and bought them. They are made in Italy and when I was a young woman I thought I was quite sophisticated using my scissors from Europe. They are tucked safely in my notion bag that I keep in my knitting bag. Whenever I use them I always think of Mrs. Bartlett and the wonderful gift she gave me, the ability to knit mittens for gifts and now I donate them to a winter program here in Rhode Island. Mrs. Bartlett's generosity of giving time to the 4-H program and teaching little girls to knit and cook is a priceless gift...I often wonder if she ever knew how she changed lives forever. Because of her I sit in a waiting room without being restless, I can make a wonderful handmade gift, a conversation between strangers ends with smiles and some little hands in Rhode Island are warm in the cold winters months.

I knit mittens all year round. I buy piles of skeins of yarn in different colors for both boys and girls...so I always have something to grab when I need it. When November comes around I pack up all the mittens and place them in the 'Warm Hands Warm Hearts" bin at our local bank. From there they find their way to some child in need...I am hoping someday I may see a pair on some little boy or girl...it will make me happy and again reaffirm just what a wonderful and generous person Mrs. Bartlett was.

Thank you Mrs. Bartlett wherever you are.

Elizabeth