I actually finished these mitts (and took these pictures) a little before Christmas, but I finally had a chance to give them to my friend yesterday!
Pattern: Joy, by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Lichen (from my Ysolda Care Package) in a natural grey, plus scraps of Rauma Finullgarn and Knitpicks Palette
Needles: Size 4 Chiaogoo circulars (magic loop)
Time to knit: A whole lot longer than I expected given how many times I goofed up!
You’d think that my second time knitting this pattern would’ve been a breeze, but it turns out that my pandemic-addled brain is not so great at following patterns. I mean, I wasn’t all that great at following them before (hence often making up my own patterns), but ooof, it’s really not great now. Along the way I knit too few rounds of colorwork, making the first mitt way too short, and then managed to put the thumb increases in the wrong spot on the second mitt (rendering it unwearable) while also knitting too few rounds of colorwork (because I was using the first mitt as my reference, ha!), and, well…in the end I basically knit both mitts twice.
But hey, I like knitting, and it brings me SO much joy to be able to give these to my friend who is wanting to live more fully as her bi self. I love being able to make things for the people I care about, and I love when the people I care about are able to live as their truest, fullest selves.
Of all of the posts I’ve ever written on this blog, I think it is my original post about my Joy Mitts that has been the most widely read and the most…I don’t know if influential is the right word, but I know from what I’ve heard from people who’ve read it that it was deeply meaningful to a lot of folks, and helped them see themselves in a truer light. I’m so glad I wrote it!
I need to keep this post short because I’ve got SO much to do to prepare for Spring semester, which starts in 3 days, and I lost a big chunk of time on Friday in a very, very packed ER (don’t worry, I’m fine now! At least, I think I am?) so I’m even further behind than I intended to be. But I wanted to make sure I shared these mitts now that they’re in the hands (or perhaps ON the hands?) of the person I knit them for. Hooray for Joy!
whit::knits 
Two things! 1: those mitts are so delightful by themselves, but even more so with the meaning behind them. And 2: thank you for sharing the link to the original post. I’m not sure I was reading your blog back then, or maybe I just missed that post (more likely) but it really was a wonderful post. I so appreciate you sharing your true self with us. I especially loved the bit about how you can’t feel safe with a person if they don’t share their values (paraphrasing here). I’m so glad the conversations about gender and sexuality have opened up so much since I was growing up. Even though I really am a “boring vanilla” cishet woman (and I accept that happily!), I love seeing all the different types of love represented in the world these days. Anyway, thank you for bringing a little bit of joy into my day.
I would also like to thank you for resharing that original post. I think I might have read it the first time, but it’s important, and expressed in a way that is worth a second read. I usually identify as “not quite straight,” because I’ve never been with a woman, and have no particular desire to be with a woman, but I think some women are suuuuuuuuuuper hot. I know there’s no official criteria, but to me, that just doesn’t feel quite bi enough to claim the bi label. But I do try to put it out there when opportunities present themselves that you can’t just assume because you see a woman married to a man that they’re both straight (or that those in same-sex pairings are both gay).
And those mitts are awesome.