Flippin' Mittens

First, and most exciting, I got a shiny new job at at children's specialty hospital and rehabilitation center in town! It's a nice, clean, friendly workplace, with a large selection of therapy materials & toys and an emphasis on evidence-based practice. Yesterday I worked from 7:30am to 5pm. I'm following another SLP, whose Friday case load, I will be taking over.

One of the most striking things is that I'm introduced to parents and coworkers as "the new speech therapist," compared to my previous title, "my student." My badge even says "Beth W., Speech Language Pathologist." (It's weird that nobody at my new job knows my old name, and it makes it difficult when I forget and initial "BR" by mistake.) It's hard to leave the perception of being a "student" behind and to realize that I'm responsible for having the tools necessary to treat or find out how to treat a wide variety of disorders. Luckily, the therapist that I'm following provided some words of wisdom on treating children with language disorders: "No matter what you give them, it will always be more than they had before."

This week I put down my current herringbone scarf in order to work on mittens. Honestly, I no longer remember what prompted me to make mittens, but I started them on a cold day after investing in a new bright green, wool winter coat. Furthermore, I'm not interested in trying to knit gloves at the moment.


The trouble with mittens is the same trouble one would have with gloves: They are not so amazing if you need to answer a touch-screen phone, or text, or take a picture, or use the internet, or... However, the beauty of being a knitter is the ability to make custom items, in the colors you want, size you want, style you want, fiber you want (wool, alpaca, musk ox...), and added features you want. These are knitted with Lamb's Pride bulky wool/mohair in stockinette and 2x2 rib edging, with a moss stitch cuff.


-吴碧芙