Sunday, February 28, 2010

Done!

All done!

This Olympic Challenge, four pairs of hand wear, was not an easy one. There were times when I thought that I would just abandon the whole thing and go on knitting something else, but then told myself that since I made the commitment I should try to stick to it as long as possible. I was so relieved when last night I put the last stitches on the twined embroidered mittens and could call it a day.
I should have picked the yarns for all the projects before hand, it would have made the task a lot easier. And also if I had not decided to knit something totally new to me: double knitted mittens.


I could not find any information about double knitted mittens but they really were not much different than knitting single mittens. The most trouble I had was with the tension for the inside mittens as they are purled and no matter how hard I tried they did not come out as sturdy as I hoped for.
(I have M'Lou Baber's new book about double knitting, but in case you wonder, there are no patterns for knitted mittens in it, but plenty of other interesting projects. Also there is a hat pattern in Twist Collective and I found good tutorials (video) from there. Actually, excellent tutorials! - I am in a hurry, I don't have time to find the links now... sorry!)

Number three challenge were twined knitted mittens.

It is easy to see that already here I was quite tired of mittens and took the easy way out and just knitted plain mittens and embellished them with embroidery. Nothing new there, and really not so much of a design challenge.

And then finally number four pair were simple linings for the twined mittens. Plain, ordinary mittens with little lace in the cuffs. I was not that happy with myself when knitting these linings but I kept on pushing until the finish and now am glad that I did.

So four pairs of mittens finished, three false starts for the double knitted mittens, one whole day wasted there. Then I did not realize how long the mittens needed to be when being knitted with double knitting, I had to rip twice the top to have the mittens long enough to have enough room for the inside mitten. One evening lost. Two left hand mittens in twined knitting, again one evening lost there, since I had to rip a little bit, not too much, just the decreases in the top. But this added to the frustration.
The embroidery for the most part is done in chain stitches. I have many embroidery books, some old Finnish ones and some more modern. I will try to remember to post a list of books I have for your information. There is some information for quite similar cuff decorations as in the gloves (challenge I) from the last post in the book called "Koreaa virkkaamalla" (in Eng Decorative Crocheting) but I used a little bit different technique.

Now, I will need to go, this post just had to be done today, as this is the final day for the Olympics.

Wool with you,

Lene

63 comments:

  1. Lene your embroidery is really what makes your knitting extra specialand unique and I want to try it. Do you have any recommendations for books on embroidery that would help me?

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  2. Anonymous16:25

    All of them are so wonderfully beautiful! I soo admire your talent and design skills!

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  3. I'm totally overwhelmed over your lovely mittens.
    Ulla

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  4. These are beautiful!

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  5. Beautiful, fine knitting and embellishment. You are too hard on yourself. These mittens are all gorgeous and examples of great skill.

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  6. Anonymous18:07

    Stunning and quite beautiful! I love them all :)

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  7. Oh, how b e a u t i f u l ! Excellent work! - It is always such a joy to read your blog posts.

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  8. Lovely! The embroidery is wonderful!

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  9. Thank you for persevering. Those double-knit mittens are very special!

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  10. Lene... your mittens are absolutely spectacular! What wonderful projects and how lovely they turned out. Your embroidery makes them into something truly special!

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  11. Amazing! 'Beautiful' doesn't do them justice. I've never before seen mittens this gorgeous.

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  12. wow, they are all gorgeous!! congrats on ravelympic gold!!!

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  13. Gold cheers for you, Lene, and congratulations!
    What beautiful and charming mittens, the knitting and embroidery, outstanding!

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  14. Lene, you are an inspiration. I think you've earned a record high score for artistry.

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  15. Anonymous20:24

    Simply wonderful!

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  16. Awasome. They inspire to me. How do you do the embrodery? Directly on knitted yarn or on a paper?. I think is difficult do this kind of embrodery in regular stitches without any special support? Do you can explain the secret?
    Good knitting!

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  17. Suzy in Idaho20:43

    As always you do wonderful work! But I did enjoy reading that you have knitting problems just like the rest of us and keep going to produce an enchanting end product. Sometimes when I make a really silly mistake it makes me laugh at myself and wonder what I was thinking-or not thinking more likely.

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  18. Gorgeous mittens - they all look stunning and unique!

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  19. Wow! Each pair is gorgeous.

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  20. Lene...beautiful work as usual. Such talent & creativity!

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  21. Anonymous23:00

    I'm speechless. They are so gorgeous!!! I've never seen anything like them.

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  22. I agree that you are hard on yourself. These -every one - are just outstanding and beautiful, from the yarn selection to the design, and especially the embroidery. All are delightful. I love the lace peeking above the embroidered one.

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  23. They are all unique and stunning! A Gold metal for you, your embroidery is exquisite too.

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  24. You definitely deserve a medal. Your mittens are inspirational and look warm and useful!

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  25. Anonymous02:37

    My favorites are the twined mittens with the lining mittens.

    margieinmaryland

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  26. Ah, so many questions from your formidable achievement. For example: why line twined mittens? Aren't they supposed to be wind-proof? Is this an indication that, while 'wind-proof' they're nevertheless not that warm? I am really wanting to hear about the relative warmth of DK v Twastranded (ahem) mittens: now that you've made them, how do they WEAR in the cold? Oh, and they're THINGS OF BEAUTY, all.
    Cheers, Linda

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  27. Anonymous05:09

    They are so beautiful.
    I love seeing your embroidery on the knitting.Its stunning.
    Congrats on staying with it till the end of the games.

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  28. Mady05:23

    Very fine, indeed! I think you made beautiful mittens with lovely special touches. If I had created them, I'd be very pleased. Please enjoy them.

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  29. Amazing! They're all beautiful! And I think most of us would NOT consider embroidery the easy way out....

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  30. They're beautiful! Who would have thought a humble mitten could look so lovely?

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  31. Exceptional in every way!

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  32. Anonymous17:04

    wow!! these are beautiful and quite the olympic challenge. truly an olympic feat!

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  33. I love your double knitted mittens (and love double knitting in general). I would love to pick your brain about what was different about double knitted mittens compared to normal double knitting.

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  34. What wonderful mittens and the embroidery is so special!

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  35. Anonymous19:11

    Well done! Those gloves are spectacular. I especially love the red ones. You are very talented and it's always a treat to read your blog. I would love to knit something as beautiful as your gloves -- just once before my knitting days are over. Thank you for sharing your creativity and skills with us.

    Tressa in NC

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  36. Beth in Maryland19:57

    I sure would like to know how you did those lace cuffs!

    It's all just beautiful.

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  37. Elaine20:03

    Absolutely gorgeous!! Who knew that mere mittens could be elevated to such an incredible level!? Gold for you, for sure!

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  38. Lovely mittens. I adore your embroidery.

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  39. Anonymous01:15

    Quite beautiful! Each pair is a true work of art! Love the embroidery, but am curious about how you made the cuff which looks like sheared wool.

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  40. waolguin@msn.com02:37

    Lene you have inspired me to try my hand at embroidery on my pair of mittens i am now knitting. I have done embroidery for many years but never on knitting.I love the way you use the simple chain stitch to make all kinds of different flowers. I must say though that your stitches are so consistant as to look done by machine,yet i know done by your hand. You are indeed very talented! Please keep the posts coming..you are my favorite one to read:o)

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  41. Maybe you are not completely happy with knitting the mittens but I think they are lovely! (of course I don't have to do anything but admire them ;-) The embroidery really makes them special.

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  42. Oh they're beautiful!!

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  43. Totally totally totally GORGEOUS! And knitted in just 17 days??? Incredible.

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  44. I`m writing from germany with a little bit school english. It would be hard to find words in german to describe my feelings looking at your blog. You are knitting and stitching so wonderful things. Every time when I`m looking at your blog I am asking me, would there be something new? Thank you very much for these wonderful moments.

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  45. Some brilliant knitting can always be expected from you. Have been following your blog for couple of years now and am a huge fan. Just loved the beauties. Happy knitting.

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  46. Your knitting is exquisite, I love comming here for inspiration.

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  47. What beautiful knitting. Truly an inspiration!

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  48. Anonymous19:23

    Well done Lene,
    I think you deserve a Gold medal for your efforts and for your determination when things went wrong - these mittens are truly lovely.

    bizzilizzi

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  49. Truly beautiful. I am sans mots!

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  50. So, so beautifull mittens!

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  51. Your mittens are very very beautiful:-) I really love the embroidered ones.....I love them all:-)

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  52. Lene your mittens are beautiful. Your work is always so carefully and neatly executed.

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  53. I love the embroidery on the mittens. I do embroider, but I haven't done well trying to do it on knitting. I would love to hear more specifics about how you do it - like needle, size, yarn you choose etc. Your results are just beautiful!

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  54. Mitten to die for! Or kill!
    Seriously, I'm in complete awe of your talents.

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  55. Your mittens are just lovely. And this is my most favourite knitting blog!

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  56. Anonymous01:30

    I just stumbled over to your blog from Knitspot, and my gosh - those mittens are gorgeous! I'm adding your blog to my rss reader immediately! : )
    I've actually also had a bit of a mitts obsession recently, but it was more to do with discovering patterns and planning in my head rather than knitting...

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  57. These are just so lovely. I so admire your sense of design and the balance between detail and simplicity. Wonderful!

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  58. The embroidery work is stunning. I wish I could do that!

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  59. Hi Lene,

    You've nice mittens!

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