Knitting? Who, Me?

It's true... I've crossed over to the dark side ;) I have perpetually cold hands, and would love to have some fingerless gloves or mitts or something that was relatively work-appropriate. That basically means that I could wear them at my desk and still be able to type and use the trackpad on my desktop keyboard. While I've considered just white cotton gloves with no fingertips (worn by marching band members everywhere), they a) will show dirt immediately and always look grungy and 2) probably not be that warm anyway. And there's that whole Mickey Mouse thing...

Basically, I learned to knit as a kid and was not very good at it, so I gave it up as other things captured my attention. I picked up some knit sticks and a ball of ticker tape last winter, just to mess around, and basically knitted the skein and then unraveled it, learning to purl, make ribbing, seeds, etc. I got bored with that, and haven't really knitted since.

Anyway, back to the present: I found what looked to be like an easy-enough pattern for fingerless mitts online earlier in the week at ysolda. They're easy because they're not knit in the round, but rather with the rows running from wrist to fingertip. They're also just knit/garter stitch. What I didn't really consider was short rows, wrap and turn and now my serious challenge: kichener stitch. I get the concept (I even made a sample), but I can't quite figure out when and how to tighten the sewing part. Maybe a fresh brain in the morning will help! [For non- or novice-knitters, when done correctly, this kichener deal makes it impossible to see where the ends of knitting are stitched together -- from the front, it looks just like a regular row of your project. Very cool.]

I will say this: there are a HUGE number of knitting resources available online that include video clips and/or step by step photos showing how to do things. I certainly couldn't have gotten this far without:
The Knitting Fiend (working short rows with wrap and turn)
Knitting Help.com (videos of loose side stitches and kichener stitch or grafting)
Knitting at Noon (provisional cast on)
Wooly Wormhead (theory of kichener stitch, and detail on grafting garter stitch)

So, one mitt is completely knitted, and I think it will fit. There's some guessing involved on my part, so I'm anxious to get it off the needles to see if it really will work. Pictures then...