Thursday, September 08, 2016

One mitten



...fell off my needles and I’m both happy and quite surprised!
Sometimes I have to try hard to find something to make; I fret and frustrate and exhaust myself by looking all over and just cannot stumble on anything interesting. Then, sometimes, accidentally, quite unexpectedly I discover something and it leaves me astounded. Like this mitten yesterday.
I had two balls of TeeTee Saga yarn, 100% Peruvian wool (suitable for felting especially) on my desk. The wool is chunky, 140m/100 grams, on normal circumstances far too thick for me, but for some odd reason I took a long look at it. The yarn has lots of air and compresses when pressed. I picked up 3,5mm needles, way smaller than the ball band recommends (5,5-6mm). There were just two balls and I had mittens on my mind (they are my home coming knitting); mittens benefit from tight gauge. I cast on, knitted twisted ribbing for a few rounds and after looking at twisted cable patterns for a while, disregarded the books and thought about embroidery. Since I had one pair (with twined knitting and handspun) in need of embroidery on my desk already, I decided not to take that route.
Then I remembered the Estonian mittens and the ones pattered with “roosimine”. My yarn was chunky, quite contrary to beautiful, exquisite Estonian mittens, but none the less, I was going to try with big gauge. What a surprise there was waiting for me!
I have been looking at the mitten for quite a while now, and I think it is safe to say that I like it. Even with this huge gauge, this looks lovely; but please, nothing compared to the authentic Estonian ones. So easy to make and so stunning result… The spirit of this one is totally different though, it is cushy and soft and almost looks like a different technique.
The mitten… It is going to be treated as a swatch at the moment, as there are many things that need to be improved. I tried new kind (new to me) of decreases on top and they need some work, plus I adjusted the top shaping and I am not sure how that turned out. The placement of the motifs is little off. I can’t make another to match as I know of all the mistakes, and I am not sure I have enough yarn for two pairs. So I rather use the yarn for making a good pair next and then possibly if I have enough yarn left, I will make another mitten to match this, more or less match, maybe with minor adjustments.
I am so happy knitting today!
Wool with you,
Lene

PS. Fuzzy yarns and photos, impossible combination for my skills…

10 comments:

  1. You are such a perfectionist. Lovely knitting.

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  2. I love these...simple and beautiful...and you've given me an idea for some Christmas gifts!

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  3. I think your mittens look stunning!

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  4. Lovely embroidery and mitten; I hope you have enough for a matching (enough) "swatch." One could use any of the fair isle motifs with their 1-, 2-, and 3-stitch elements for this embroidery technique, I'm sure. A light felting (needle or wash) to anchor the embroidery might be interesting, too. Gosh, you are so inspiring, Lene, my brain won't stop! Thank you!

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  5. I love this happy story about knitterly satisfaction! And the mitten is lovely!

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  6. Beth in Maryland23:07

    Lene, how do you anchor embroidery on a fabric like this? the colors are so different, and I can't detect any weaving-in at all! It's a beautiful effect but I don't know whether I could do it myself.

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  7. Sarah17:48

    Do you have a pattern for the fingerless mitts ??

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  8. Those are both lovely! Is there a pattern for the fingerless mittens?

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