My mum's handknitted mittens

When she came to visit over Easter, mum handed me a big bag about 10 seconds after she arrived. Ooo, excitement. Weighing it up in my hands, I thought ... hmm, early birthday present?

I opened the bag and inside there were umpteen pairs of wonderful handknitted winter mittens in every colour of the rainbow. Marvellous! Much better!

They're arm warmers to be specific and precise, as they have thumb holes and the rest of your fingers poke through. They're convenient for driving, opening a jar, patting the cat, or anything else you may want to do in winter without taking your gloves off and freezing your hands.

Now, this wasn't a random thing. No, this was a carefully planned strategy. Last winter, you see, mum gave me half a dozen beautiful handknitted woollen beanies for my market stall, and every single one of them sold in just four weeks. (And all of them were bought by men - at a craft - market, which I thought was unusual.)

Knowing how Melburnians love to layer, this gave me the idea for some armwarmers as well - don't we all love a good arm warmer in winter? I know I do.

But I can't knit, not one jot. My mum on the other hand .... you know how good she is. So I suggested it to her, promised her 100% of the proceeds, and now here were 18 pairs of lovely winter woollen mittens ready for sale. I'm not counting the pair in deep purples and aubergines that I immediately snaffled for myself.


So I put them on the stall on Sunday, and NINE PAIRS JUMPED OFF THE TABLE. You remember how hot it was on Sunday, don't you? All 27 degrees of it? Balmy indian summer day? And yet, even in the warmth of the summery goodness, these mittens were - ahem - hot property.

Clearly everyone loves my mum's unique handknitted mittens as much as I do. Clearly, I'm going to have to ask her for some more ..... so that I have some stock left for when it's actually cold, if I'm lucky. Clearly, I need to convert mum into my personal knitting machine.

Get yours now on Etsy if you don't want to miss out ...... I can't guarantee they're going to last for long!