CJ's Garter Cuff Mittens..and more patterns to try!

My knitting for the upcoming publication that is still my secret project will be done by tomorrow night, so now I'll be going back to my Gift-A-Long knitting projects. I'm testing out several patterns for my charity knitting rotation, as it's fun to try new patterns.
I've tried Ziyad, a hat pattern by Ranee Mueller of Arabian Knits. Next in line, is CJ's Garter Cuff Mittens, for which I have the main color selected and have narrowed down my contrasting colors previously. I chose from the pile of odd balls and bits, shown below. I will post updates to these soon once there is a bit of progress. I'm not knitting fast, but at least I'm able to knit again.

I'm also hoping to knit Soft Honeycomb Cowl, which is knit flat and can be seamed or grafted, depending on the experience and desire of the knitter. I like that it's knit in bulky, so should knit up quickly which is good for charity patterns.

I'm also going to give two children's patterns a try. Milo Bambino by Georgie Nicholson is the baby size of her very popular Milo vest pattern.  I thought it would make a great layering piece for spring or autumn, especially with the cold temperatures in South Dakota, where the Pineridge Reservation is located.

Lacy Loo by Jenny Wiebe is a cute little tee, with a lace panel knitted in worsted weight. I think this might make another cute layering piece, as well as spring or summer top depending on the yarn used.

No bother boot slippers by Elizabeth Felgate sound exactly like their name. Knit from the top down, in the round and seamless yet no picking up of stitches sounds too good to be true. I'm going to find out, because these will be great for children and elders alike, not to mention moms and anyone else with cold feet.

My own choice of technique to learn this time around is covered in the blog post about Faye Kennington of Ukee Knits. I want to try my hand at stranded knitting with her Christmas Cracker hat.

It is my hope to work on all of these in the next several weeks, which will take me past the end of Gift-A-Long 2017. This is okay, because we can't choose when our bodies will cooperate and when they won't. I have lots of stuff to keep me busy as you can see. I hope they will make useful additions to my charity knitting rotation and they will keep it interesting as well.