Resuming course, captain

So, we've been sick a lot, in the Enabler household, over the last month. The resulting fatigue has sapped my will to knit, despite my overwhelming (ok, tiny) Christmas knitting commitments....(oh, and Tara lent me The Book - which took up some knitting time in an absolutely delightful way).
But we're back on track - and I have the above photo to prove it...

I'm adoring this pattern. I love knitting it. I love the way the thumb gusset(?) is all stockinette, and rises out of the cables like a petal

(I'm not joking. I really think it's pretty). I am NOT thrilled with my own personal job of finishing on the blue mitt. I'm usually a REALLY tight knitter and casting off is a bit of a problem for me - so I used Anne Hanson's suggested technique for loose casting off (july 12 - 2007 - scroll down, I can't find a better way of doing this) - and the result was *gasp* actually too loose (No criticism of the great Anne's technique here -it WORKS - just too well for what I envision for this mitt). I modified it. Still too loose - I'm going to go with a kitchener bindoff (yes, I know the mitt is not actually in rib per se, but I'm thinking I can make it work anyway. Stay tuned) on the green mitt, and if that works - will redo the blue mitt. Obviously I have one more mitt in each colour to get underway - but I figure, if worse comes to worst, I can give each caregiver ONE mitt, with the promise of the other 'soon'. There's also a wee hole at the base of the thumb in the blue mitt (learning curve) - which I'll have to fix before I'll be totally happy with it.
The red ball of yarn lurking in the background is a gift too - but it's just not going to get done for Christmas (and that's OK) - I wanted badly to knit Odessa or Tretta, and have found an excellent victim/recipient - but she's in no hurry. She's actually blissfully unaware of her impending fate.
I'm glad to have this hobby.