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:
Wow, I love the colors together and what a really nice gift!
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!
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!)
Those are beautiful!
NICE!!!! Good luck on your clog yarn hunt.. It has to be there somewhere, right? :)
You never fail to astonish and amaze! The mitts look fantastic!
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.
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!
Yup, 1x1 ribbing is totally evil. Your endpaper mitts are lovely though. Sometimes it's good to get distracted.
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.
they are fantastic! the colors really work. from the pics the tension seems near perfect!
the "House Chores ADD" is highly contagious...
:-)
ohmygod! Who needs clogs when you can make the prettiest endpaper mitts? Norma is one lucky gal!
BEAUTIFUL!! Must learn stranded!
I love the clogs! :-) I'm working on that pattern right now and am slowly figuring out the stranding thing. Yours looks beautiful!
Perfect choice for the yarns. What a lovely gift.
What a great idea!
reat clogs..err.mitts!
Nice work. My first attempt looks pretty sad. I love the way the color worked out.
Beautiful mitts. You're encouraging me to try stranding.
Lovely! and great job. I can't wait to try those mitts meself!
those are AMAZING. i wish my name was 'norma'.
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.
Lovely mitts, indeed. I'm sure your coworker is thrilled!
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.
Those are just delicious! I just love how the red yarn variegates ever so slightly -- it adds such depth to the design.
From my monitor - they look PERFECT!! Can't see one wonky stitch and the slight color varigations in each yarn make them just beautiful!
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
great job - stranding pro! love the colors together. the "almost solids" are my favorite...
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!)
Fabulous mitts! I love the colors together!
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.
That's a great job! Love them, and your co-worker is just blessed!
(((hugs)))
Beauties! Those are on my "soon... very soon" list. Love the red, too!
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.
those look fantastic! it's as if you planned the whole color combo.
Great job on the mitts!
really lovely mitts - stranding is something I keep meaning to try.
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...
Very, very nice. After seeing your mits, I have a reason to purchase some almost solid yarn..Bravo.
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.
Those are some of the prettiest, and most odd shaped, clogs I've seen in a long time... Way to use up the stash!
Lovely!
Wow! You may be easily distracted in a very focused way if you finished these since finishing your fish scale socks! Beautiful!
The mitts look absolutely gorgeous! The colors go together so well.
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
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
Love them! Of course, I'm a sucker for anything with red in it... ;o)
They don't look wonky to me at all!
I like how the color shading turned out on those mitts! Really beautiful work!
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!)
Me again - instead of NorMa I read 'Nora' and suddenly became very excited...
Your clogs are almost cuter than my Fleece Artist socks ;)
The stranding looks great - the practice totally paid off!
How cute are yours!! Now to see if I can figure out how to get mine to work :)
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?
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
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. :)
Those are beautiful, Dave.
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