Monday, January 08, 2007

Easily Distracted

I went digging through the stash, looking for my felting yarns, because I have plans to make some new clogs, you know, and guess what I found.

Two balls of Regia sock yarn, one in a mottled creamy colour, No. 5570 ....



... and one in a mottled reddish colour, No. 5571.



They were nicely packaged together in a bag, just the two of them. I obviously intended them for something at some time, but I have no recollection just what it might have been. I really like these monochromatic, nearly solid yarns and wish there were more of them.

Then I got to wondering what they could become, and it occurred to me that they might look nice in a stranded design. Did I mention that I am easily distracted?



Don't my new clogs look nice?

Eunny's wonderful Endpaper mitts. These aren't perfect, but they went much better than my first attempt at stranded knitting nearly a year ago. I changed the ribbing to 2x2 instead of 1x1, because 1x1 is evil, and I didn't bother with the Italian tubular cast-on because I really just wanted to practise stranding.


I really like how the colours in the two yarns play together.


Stranding is much more fun when you don't have to worry about catching floats. My tension over the joins between needles still needs some work, and some of the stitches are wonky, but I like them anyway.



These were gifted (Hi, Norma!) to a coworker who always goes above and beyond, and who is also always cold.

Now, where did I put that clog yarn?

56 people had something to say:

Mama Urchin said...

Wow, I love the colors together and what a really nice gift!

Julie said...

Gah, you just may have convinced me to break down and knit some of those mitts. I'm in the midst of the mittens at the moment though so it certainly won't be too soon. Yum, I love the red and white!

Anonymous said...

oh DAVE—those look incredible—i am trĂ©s jelouse of norma. i love those two colors together—bravo!
(ooh, i talked french AND italian to you in one comment!)

Anonymous said...

Those are beautiful!

Anonymous said...

NICE!!!! Good luck on your clog yarn hunt.. It has to be there somewhere, right? :)

Meg said...

You never fail to astonish and amaze! The mitts look fantastic!

Anonymous said...

Oh YES! That's just what I was thinking when I saw those two yarns (and also, "Where can I get some of that red?") that they should be a pair of mittens.

You did a great job on them. Everyone does wonky stitches in stranded knitting. The magic is when you block them. It evens everything out.

Anonymous said...

I'm envious of those great mittens! I often get distracted by my stash, but the distraction rarely leads to a finished object. Great job!

Anonymous said...

Yup, 1x1 ribbing is totally evil. Your endpaper mitts are lovely though. Sometimes it's good to get distracted.

Anonymous said...

Those are gorgeous! I love the color combo.

And clogs are a four-letter word around here lately, as my latest attempt at felted clogs left me with three fewer skeins on Big Kureyon and two gaping maws of boiled wool for slippers.

Wishing you better luck with the clogs.

HPNY KNITS said...

they are fantastic! the colors really work. from the pics the tension seems near perfect!
the "House Chores ADD" is highly contagious...
:-)

schrodinger said...

ohmygod! Who needs clogs when you can make the prettiest endpaper mitts? Norma is one lucky gal!

CelticCastOn said...

BEAUTIFUL!! Must learn stranded!

Jennifer said...

I love the clogs! :-) I'm working on that pattern right now and am slowly figuring out the stranding thing. Yours looks beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Perfect choice for the yarns. What a lovely gift.

Anonymous said...

What a great idea!

Carol said...

reat clogs..err.mitts!

Acornbud said...

Nice work. My first attempt looks pretty sad. I love the way the color worked out.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful mitts. You're encouraging me to try stranding.

Anonymous said...

Lovely! and great job. I can't wait to try those mitts meself!

Anonymous said...

those are AMAZING. i wish my name was 'norma'.

Anonymous said...

Well, that was a nice surprise! When I get distracted I end up not knitting, but overtweezing my eyebrows or something. Those are beautiful; you have a lovely stranding technique.

I am surprised you prefer 2x2 rib to 1x1, though. I am guessing you are an English knitter. I say that only because I switched to continental last year, and ever since then, I find 1x1 to be faster and more rhythmic.

Either way, they are quite the lovely mitts.

Leanne said...

Lovely mitts, indeed. I'm sure your coworker is thrilled!

Angelika said...

I think I got some of the same yarn in my stash. I think I need to take a dive and see what I come up with. Beautiful stranding. Now lets see those clogs.

Anonymous said...

Those are just delicious! I just love how the red yarn variegates ever so slightly -- it adds such depth to the design.

Anonymous said...

From my monitor - they look PERFECT!! Can't see one wonky stitch and the slight color varigations in each yarn make them just beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Those are the most fabulous clogs I have ever seen!! (though I'm afraid they might look a tad strange on your feet)

Amanda
http://myonlysunshine.typepad.com

Stacey said...

great job - stranding pro! love the colors together. the "almost solids" are my favorite...

Anonymous said...

They are beautiful! I love the way the slight variation looks in the pattern. And your work is so even and tidy looking - you're a pro (and have a very lucky co-worker!)

Anonymous said...

Fabulous mitts! I love the colors together!

Anonymous said...

Oh wow, I can't believe how brilliantly those two mottled yarns work together on that project! I never would have thought of non-solid yarns for a stranded project like this, but I think yours are the favorite Endpaper Mitts I've seen! Great job.

Nana Sadie said...

That's a great job! Love them, and your co-worker is just blessed!
(((hugs)))

Anonymous said...

Beauties! Those are on my "soon... very soon" list. Love the red, too!

lexa said...

Those are gorgeous! You are right, they go very well together. Your stranding looks great. That's something I've not done a lot of. I made Center Square from the new Knitty last month. That turned out quite well.

Anonymous said...

those look fantastic! it's as if you planned the whole color combo.

Unknown said...

Great job on the mitts!

Teyani said...

really lovely mitts - stranding is something I keep meaning to try.

Anonymous said...

They are marvelous mitts! Thank you for some beautiful eye candy and inspiration. Uhm.. which clog pattern do you use? I have your email somewhere...

Anonymous said...

Very, very nice. After seeing your mits, I have a reason to purchase some almost solid yarn..Bravo.

limedragon :-: Harriet said...

Fantastique!! Love the colors together. I've realized since inventorying my stash I need to buy solid/nearly-solid sock yarn once in a while.

Anonymous said...

Those are some of the prettiest, and most odd shaped, clogs I've seen in a long time... Way to use up the stash!

melcauble said...

Lovely!

Anonymous said...

Wow! You may be easily distracted in a very focused way if you finished these since finishing your fish scale socks! Beautiful!

Anonymous said...

The mitts look absolutely gorgeous! The colors go together so well.

Anonymous said...

Hi Dave,
I've been looking for the perfect yarn for Eunny's Anemoi Mittens and think you've hit on a fabuous combo. Could you let me know where you purchased the yarn? I'm in Ontario also, north of Toronto. You could email me at bernol at sympatico dot ca if it's not too inconvenient. I would appreciate any help you can give. I've already googled the earth and checked all vendors and ebay. Thanks for any time and trouble.
Best, Leslie - the knitting therapist

Anonymous said...

Me thinks your toes may catch a bit of a chill in those. And, not to alarm you or anything, but i'm quite certain that the felting didn't take so well...maybe another run through the washer, huh?

On the other hand, the color combination is lovely and i don't see one hint of any "wonk" in the stitching, from here. ;D

Anonymous said...

Love them! Of course, I'm a sucker for anything with red in it... ;o)

They don't look wonky to me at all!

Paula said...

I like how the color shading turned out on those mitts! Really beautiful work!

Anonymous said...

Oh, they are indeed beautiful. I love the subtle colour changes of the semi solid. Absolutely perfect.

PS: I've been trying to leave a comment for 2 days!! (I think blogger is about to self-destruct!)

Anonymous said...

Me again - instead of NorMa I read 'Nora' and suddenly became very excited...

Anonymous said...

Your clogs are almost cuter than my Fleece Artist socks ;)
The stranding looks great - the practice totally paid off!

Anonymous said...

How cute are yours!! Now to see if I can figure out how to get mine to work :)

Beth said...

Next time try the tubular cast on - I used it for the first time with my Anemoi mittens and it's one of the coolest things about the pattern. Pity mine are black so photos won't show just how amazing it is.

So - should I do Endpaper mitts next?

Angela said...

Wow...I love the mitts and the yarns you used. I was going to ask for your help with the stranded knitting (I basically suck at it), but I saw the 58 comments and am now intimidated...

Ang

Angelika said...

Hey Dave, why don't you post your endpaper mitts on Eunny's blog? She is asking for pictures of projects she designed and your mitts would be perfect there. My shawl is posted there too. :)

Stacy said...

Those are beautiful, Dave.