I started back here with an idea.
And finally became this:
Basically, I found a stitch pattern on something else and really liked the way a simple combination of stitches created such a nice spiraling effect. This one is done in worsted weight (my beloved L.P.) just because it's what I happened to have on hand. (Hee hee, I made a punny!) But the leftover bits of that color weren't going to be enough for both pairs so I dug out another bit of L.P. in a different color. So....we can just call that "a design element", okay?
The mate to this one is still on the needles and may have to be put on hold if I don't have time to finish it in the next few days. I'm sure I'll do another pair in the future, probably with some alpaca I've been saving for just the right project. But I'm stuck on coming up with a name for these.
I've ruled out anything with the words "spiral" or "wave" or anything vaguely ocean or weather related. There's just so many already out there! I really liked "Coriolis", and then I realized that Cat Bordhi has a pattern out with that name. I'm not planning to make money from the pattern, or even publish it as a freebie. I'm just looking for something to call 'em.
Someone studying Buddhism suggested "Koan Mitts". According to Wikipedia, a koan is "a story, dialogue, question, or statement in the history and lore of Zen Buddhism, generally containing aspects that are inaccessible to rational understanding, yet may be accessible to intuition". I'm starting to like that more than I did at first. One of the neat things about this stitch pattern is that when you read it, there doesn't seem to be any reason why the stitches should spiral, but they do! And once you see it happening, your intuition tells you that if you just keep knitting long enough, eventually your stitches should spiral completely around in a circle. One of the best known examples of a koan is the question, "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" Seems rather appropriate for a mitt, eh?
My other favorite is "Amstel-Trappen Mitts". In looking at them, the mitts remind me of spiraling stairs. And the best example of that in my personal history is the stairs going down from the studio apartment that I stayed in while on vacation in Amsterdam several years ago. The apartment was on Amstel Street, and faced the Amstel river. Apparently "Aeeme stelle" is old Dutch for "area abounding with water" and that appeals to me greatly! So to me, these are my Dutch staircase mitts.
So what do you think? I'd love to get your opinion of the two front-runner candidates, along with any other suggestions.
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