Special Mittens

As I was babysitting one evening, I sat down with my knitting and put in a DVD for my nephew to watch. Naturally, he was more interested in what I was doing.     "You knitting for ME???"     "Sure! What would you like me to knit?"     "I want gloves!"     I cringed at the thought of those tiny fingers. "Wouldn't you like some mittens instead?"     He tilted his head to the side. "What's mittens?"     I had a copy of Ann Budd's Handy Book of Patterns, so I flipped it open to show him.     "Yes, I want mittens!"     I pulled out 2 different balls of Patons Merino. "Do you want blue or gray?"     "I want both!" Double-stranded and tiny, the mittens flew off the needles. Before I left, I nearly had one finished. The next evening, I finished the other. A week later, after the mittens were washed with lots of fabric softener and blocked, I went to visit again, and gave them to him. He promptly pulled one onto his hand, and I giggled as I watched him struggle with the other one, trying to grasp it with his mittened hand. Just as he was about to throw a fit, I finally stepped him to help. "OOOOH! These are special!" he exclaimed as he studied the mittens on his hand for a minute. I think he liked the way the heathered blue & gray wool mottled in a random pattern. He wiggled his thumbs and smiled. He ran around the home, flopping his hands about, while squealing in delight. Then he pulled them off and threw them around the living room, demanding we play a game of fetch with his new mittens.