Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Jumping the gun, maybe

I have to say that if I'd intended to shame myself publicly into finishing some projects before casting on new ones, y'all didn't help much with shame generation. There was, instead, a remarkable encouragement of project proliferation. Nevertheless, I felt a bit better about casting on for a new project once I'd finished those others.

Especially since this new project seems to be going exceedingly quickly. Behold, the first Kitten Mitten.
(Modelled by Younger Daughter.) These mittens are more fun than a barrel full of actual kittens. In knitting them, I'm beginning to get a handle on what kinds of stranded knitting I like. To wit: two-color stranded knitting. By this I mean not just two colors per row (although I admit to liking that quite a bit; three+ can get a bit overwhelming), but just two colors altogether. It's not a matter of how it looks - I really love the rich multi-color looks of turkish and fair isle knitting - it's more that with three colors there's fiddling to be done. I can't seem to get into a rhythm with three+ colors the way I can with two. It's very much like beaded knitting; I love the results enough that I will continue to do the knitting, but the knitting itself isn't soothing in the same way that other kinds of knitting (read: lace, and, apparently, two-color stranded knitting) are.
I love these cats (and I love the pin on my bag - another new one). I'm hoping that my niece will love them, too, as these are for her. In theory, they are a Christmas present. (Perhaps now the title of this post will convey some foreshadowing.) But here's the thing. I'm going to see her this week (and can I tell you how excited I am about that? I don't get to see my niece nearly enough for my taste), and I'm zipping right along with the second mitten. Maybe she needs to have them now? You know, just in case of sudden cold weather in Ohio prior to the holiday season? Wouldn't these be perfect Hallowe'en mittens, what with those cats and all?
And check out that fish skeleton! Very spooky, and Hallowe'en is my niece's favorite holiday.

I do realize that we're really nowhere near Hallowe'en, and that, in fact, most of the country is suffering a heat wave of epic proportions. I'll be honest, I'm just really hoping that she likes them as much as I do, and I'm selfish enough to want to give them to her in person. We'll see. I suppose it will depend in part on how much knitting I can get done tonight and tomorrow on the drive north. We certainly have some good audiobooks ready to go (I'm downloading them now); Lene just wrote a blog post today extolling Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage, and was so convincing that I promptly went over to Audible to download it. I've got Younger Daughter convinced it'll be exciting - I'm pretty sure Older Daughter will be quickly won over.

This is our first trip north since Grandmom passed away, and we're heading up for her memorial. It will be wonderful to see everyone, and very strange not to see Grandmom. We get back on Monday and I start teaching on Tuesday, so I will probably be offline until the end of next week. I feel like there should be something better to say to end this post, but can't think of what it might be, so I'll just let it stand at that.

18 comments:

EGunn said...

Those are great mittens! I agree...very Halloweenish. I love the look of two-color knitting (well, I love the look of all color knitting, but two-color in particular). There is something so simple about it, and the designs really stand out much more than in a many-color pattern where it's about the interplay of color as much as it is about the patterns.

Wanderingcatstudio said...

I made my mom make those mittens for me. I saw the pattern and just HAD to have them- but I don't do stranded knitting so I put on my best pouty face and said... "but moooooooom puhleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze?
I'm amazed it still works

Jane said...

We have four six week old kittens at the moment running around causing havoc. These ones will be a lot kinder to the hands, I love them. I can imagine the joy of giving them to your niece in person

Unknown said...

Beautiful! I like the fish skeleton and the palm paw as much as I like the arching cats. Nice Job!

lori said...

I LOVE those mittens! If possible, they're going to my queue. I agree, I like the palm and thumb at least as much as the top, if not more.

And my 2 thumbs up to the Shackleton book, quite an amazing story and well-told. I hope the trip up north gives comfort.

Nana Sadie said...

OH NO! More for the queue...I ADORES them.
lolol
They're delightful!
(((Hugs)))

Mary Lou said...

Oh bring them to give in person. It's so much fun. They are great mittens. I read Endurance and got to see the exhibit at the Museum of Natural History curated by the author. Really fascinating. It would be a good car listen.

FUZZARELLY said...

Just wonderful!

I'm curious about yarn weight and needle size, especially after my latest project.

Lene Andersen said...

I love everything about these mittens. The cat, the paw at the top, the fish skeleton. Totally charming.

17th stitch said...

I love those mittens! You've just convinced me to add them to my queue... I hope my son will want to wear them this winter.

Unknown said...

If we can deliver hand knit Christmas presents late because they are not done in time, I see no problem with delivering the finished ones early. Life is too short to worry about it, and its like a no calorie way to have desert first.

twinsetellen said...

These mittens are already in my queue. Your execution of them has moved them up in the ranks.

But let me tell you, a barrel full of kittens is quite fun, having recently experienced same. I'm thinking they may actually be equally as fun as the mittens.

Nicely done, regardless!

Laurie said...

I have to make those mittens!

"Endurance" is a harrowing tale. I'm somewhat of a nut for anything having to do with polar exploration. Hubby got that book for me as a Christmas gift.

It's nice and hot again here in Ohio. Sowwy...looks like you'll be getting here between lovely cool spells.

AlisonH said...

Oh honey, give them to her then. Then they'll always be connected to Grandmom and you both and happy memories of everyone gathered around.

Rachel said...

Although I am late in commenting on this post I must declare my admiration for your knitting speed and mostly to the end result. I love this mitten!

Bea said...

Kitten mittens rock. Also it rocks to say that.

Katie said...

I absolutely adore those mittens! This is the first I've seen of them and I instantly qued them up! Now to track down some yarn from the stash...

Rachael said...

Fab mitten, super fun!