Recently I’ve gotten back in to knitting and after making a number of baby blankets I decided it was time to break out of my knitting rut and try something new. I discovered the Morehouse Farm knitting yarn website and flipped for the cuteness of their “critter kits.” It took all my restraint not to buy one of everything.

I decided to start with two kits and see how it went. My first project was the hedgehog mittens, which I stupidly thought would be a quick project to knock off over the holidays, in time for JD’s fifth birthday. Did I not notice the cute little quills and wonder how they were made? The pattern is relatively simple but each quill is the equivalent of nine stitches in one. Can you say time-consuming-pain-in-the-***?

Added to that, is the fun of knitting with tiny double-pointed needles (my least favorite type of needle to use.) You also have to really pay attention to the pattern. I kept screwing up, so there was a fair amount of ripping and swearing involved, mostly because of the tight little stitches involved. But it was a good learning experience and I was very happy with the end result. Not bad for my first pair of mittens.

In comparison, this dinosaur hat was a breeze and took no time at all. In fact, it seemed to take longer to sew the points on.

It was a huge hit with the four-year-old recipient and I think she’s been wearing it non-stop since I gave it to her a week ago.

Next up, a scarf for myself.