Happy Leap Day to all of us following that good ol’ Georgian calendar! Its a day specially designed to give women a chance to propose to men, irritate and annoy those of us with OCD, catch up on the number of days in a solar year. You see the Earth completes a spin around its axis every 24 hours and that’s a day. At the same time the Earth is orbiting around the sun and that’s a year. The problem is that there are 365.2422 days in a year. As Earth dwellers we’re are suck with this cruddy calendar math and every year we fall behind 0.7578 days. No, switching to a lunar calendar doesn’t help. It makes things worse actually. The Islamic calendar is lunar based and they fall behind 11 days every year.

So every 4th year we get an extra day and that makes things mostly balance out. Mostly. Not quite. Actually it puts us 0.0312 days ahead so there is this strange rule that goes if the Leap Year is divisible by 100 you skip Leap Day… unless its also divisible by 400 in which case you don’t skip it. And yeah, all this fussing around makes it REALLY hard for me to pretend that I’m normal and don’t have a raging case of OCD. But I’m coping.

The point is, we get an extra day to play with. Tomorrow we get an extra second as well, but that has nothing to do with Leap Day. It has to do with atomic clocks and navigation systems run by satellites and keeping our emails coming. Or something.

So we get and extra day plus one second to play with. What should we do with all this extra time? Cast on for a new project, of course! Here are little, bite-sized, finish-in-a-day projects. If you blow off everything else you have to do on your Leap Day (and why wouldn’t you?) you can whip these out without loosing any time on whatever your “real” project is.

Let’s Leap into a New Project

Ups and Downs Crochet Fingerless Gloves by Moogly

Type: Crochet

To make these little mitts all you need is 100 yds or so of worsted weight yarn. Does that tell you how quick they work up? And there is a matching beanie for you to make next Leap Year.

 

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Tunisian Shaker Dishcloths by Staci Perry

Type: Tunisian Crochet

How about some Leap Day coasters? With only 20 g of worsted weight cotton in each, you could make a set even! And since they are so small, you don’t really need a Tunisian hook. A regular hook will work just fine.

Don’t feel quite comfortable with your Tunisian Crochet abilities? That’s okay because this is a Staci Perry pattern, so there is a how-to video to get you started.

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Shanti Hat by Robyn Devine

The Shanti hat was designed for a charity hat-a-long. It comes in sizes from preemie to adult and uses up to 190 yds of worsted weight yarn. The charity hat-a-long ended but you can still make the hat. Give it to your favorite charity, favorite person, or just keep it for the next time you need a last minute handmade gift.

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Non-felted Slippers by Yuko Nakamura

Type: Knitting

Are you in need of some foot ovens? Because I think these qualify. Since they are made with just 100 yds of super bulky yarn, you could have your feet in the oven by tonight. Actually this pattern tempts me. Now that I think about them, my toes do feel a bit chilly.

How popular is this pattern? Well… its available for free download in 10 languages and over 3000 pairs have been made and posted to ravelry. I must not be the only one with chilly toes.

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Thermal Boot Cuffs by Julie Tarsha

Type: Knitting

Here is a quick knit to warm up your your legs. If you’re the fashionable type then I’m sure you’re wearing those tall boots with cute leggings and short skirts. Aren’t your legs a bit cold? Thought so. This is a quick and easy boot cuff that you can make to any size you like. You’re going to need 100 to 150 yds of worsted weight yarn, size 6 needles and about 5 minutes a day to knit them.

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Ballband Dishcloth by Peaches & Creme Design Team

Type: Knitting

You don’t have to tell me that I already pushed this pattern in my New Year’s post. I’m perfectly aware of that. I’m pushing it again! Look at how clever this pattern is. It deserves a second push.

You’ll need about 100 yds of cotton in two different colors. Then you’re going to need to protect your Ballband Dishcloth from all the non-knitters who will try and talk you into giving it to them. So as you knit this up practice saying this word: “nooooooooo”. 

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So take advantage of your extra day and treat yourself to the guilty pleasure of a new cast on. Or maybe even 6 new cast on’s. There is something so satisfying about a new project. And no one will tell your other projects that you are cheating on them.