The Mitten Drawer


I recently posted a feature about two of my old cupboards all decked out for Christmas, pointing out my love for such intriguing pieces of furniture with nooks and crannies meant to hold special little treasures. More often, special to just me.

This morning, with the outside temperature in the single digits, I went to a drawer in one of those cupboards. It is a deep drawer. One of two. It is the one I go to often during the winter. That is because it is full of mittens. Well, not really anymore. Mittens were the intended occupants but that has changed over the years. I didn't realize how much that has changed until I pulled it open and was greeted by a hodgepodge of odds 'n ends of stuff. It was mostly all warm stuff. Like scarfs and gloves. A few woolen socks. A few hats. Knitted hats. But hardly any mittens. Matching mittens, that is. There were quite a few of those small, stretchy black mittens that you can even buy at the grocery store which I always find convenient. That is why there were so many of them. But some had holes in them. Some had lost their stretchiness. 

Usually when I go that drawer I am in a hurry. I don't take the time to really look through the pile of stuff greeting me. But with the outside temperature very cold, I wanted some extra warm, and if possible, matching mittens. 

So, I start digging.

I went beyond the scarfs. Designer scarfs. Some with fringe. Knitted scarfs. Kids' scarfs. There were some knitted, tight fitting toques. A few with a small, knitted ball of yarn attached at the top or to a piece of yarn that made it possible for the knitted ball of yarn to fly around if the child or adult wearing it was going full speed. On this very cold morning I could imagine those small balls of yarn soaring.

There were two baseball caps. One baseball cap slowed me down for a minute. I had not seen it for a while. My son used to wear it to work in a garden of long ago.

When I reached the bottom, I found some Legos. Some playing cards and pencils. Pennies. Nickels. Crayons. A Hello Kitty hairclip. Even an earring that I'd been missing for some time.

I even found some matching mittens. Very warm matching mittens. Just what I needed to start my extremely cold January day. 




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