Secret Project Reveal: Kleenex Mittens!

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen this photo of me working on something secret:

Those were red mittens as a prototype for Kleenex Mittens! Kleenex® Canada wanted a special mitten that had a pocket in them for a packet of their tissues, so that you could use the tissues without taking your mittens off.  It was late in the season, so it was a very quick turnaround, but I really enjoyed the project. I hope they do a commercial in the fall, or reboot this one- watch it here! 

The mittens are a very quick knit, as they are made with a super bulky yarn and designed to be very beginner-friendly. They are knit in the round until the slit for the tissues, then knit flat, then knit in the round again to finish off the top of the mitten. Inside is a pocket where you can slide in a packet of tissues, so there is no exposed skin anywhere- even if there are no tissues in the mitten.

The slit is on the side of the mitten near the thumb, and the pattern has directions for to make a tissue pocket mitten for either the left or right, depending on your preference. I’m kicking myself for not taking photos or a little video when I had the mittens, although I have small hands and knit large sizes as they knew that men would be wearing the mittens in the commercial. I had Guy try the mittens on several times during construction to make sure they would fit!

Pattern is available for free from Ravelry in both English and French: Find it here!

Many thanks to Agnes of readytoknit.com for the French translation, and to Heidi of Hands Occupied who is currently working on turning the knitting pattern into a crochet pattern.

Stay warm, everyone! Hopefully winter will be over soon. And I’ve already been jealously eyeing the spring flowers popping up on the European instagrammers I follow…. sigh.

Pin Ups and Link Love: My Favourite Things This Week

My Favourite Articles and Links This Week

Focusing on wholeness instead of happiness.

If you often get take out for dinner (that’s us! What would we do without our weekly pad thai?) Then you are going to love this tip- I’ve never thought of it before and it is genius. Totally what I’m going to do from now on.

This was a great list of how to spend less time making decisions by finding something that works and sticking with it.

Remember those super handy Kleenex® Mittens? Heidi has done an amazing job of producing a crochet version of the pattern, and they are even cuter than the knitted ones! Check it out here.

My Favourite Pins This Week

This loaded cauliflower casserole is going to be the best side dish ever! Or main dish, I think that’s a totally legitimate meal if you have a double helping. Of you are trying to keep it a little more on the healthy side, you can go easy on the cheese and bacon. Pinterest link is here, and the original recipe is here.

These cookies not only look like the happiest cookies ever, and the recipe is very easy, using a pudding mix for part of the base. They bake up to be soft and moist, and of course work with any sort of sprinkles. Pinterest link is here, and the original recipe is here.  I’m trying so hard to put off baking them for at least a week- Lila and I baked and decorated these cookies last week, and we are still eating them!

I’m super smitten with this adorable DIY pompom necklace. I think I want to make one for(or with!) Lila. The trick for making this look whimsical but not costume-y is to trim those pom poms until they are nice and small. The one time I let Lila trim a pom pom, it ended up the size quarter. She was diligent! Pinterest link is here, and the original DIY is here.

How adorable is this bunny cable stitch?! It would look so good as a border on a baby blanket, a sweater yoke, or even a hat! Pinterest link is here, and the full pattern is here.

This is my new phone wallpaper. I love the colours, and the message really resonates. I hope we all persist when it comes to what matters most. Pinterest link is here, and the original source is here.

Have a great weekend, everyone! James is recovering from an ear infection, and Lila got invited to 4 birthday parties this weekend! We can’t make it to all of them of course, but it’s still both Saturday and Sunday afternoon in party mode. Here’s hoping there’s enough cake for the grown ups, too! I hope that you have a wonderful weekend, and maybe even a bit of cake.