knitting mittens

Yikes! I admire my grandmother even more since trying to knit small mittens. I gave up on the idea of knitting them extra large and felting them. The swatch I knit did not shrink the same in both directions. I tried to rewrite the directions but decided that maybe, just maybe, I should attempt to follow a pattern, instead of writing my own, first. I did some of the ribbing but ripped it out and decided to do a sample ribbing in larger yarn and bigger needles to see if I'm doing it right. But my larger needles are being used right now with a less than successful dishrag (I followed my own muse and it has a few problems!) I knit a few rows each morning while I'm direction traffic in the living room. (i.e. Did you remember to brush your teeth, go make your bed, did you put your homework in your backpack, do you need lunch money? put the milk away etc. etc. etc.)