Bitchin' is in the Eye of the Bitch Beholder

Top 10 reasons these fingerless mitts are bitchin', even though they might look quite boring.

10.  They'll warm me this fall and winter.

9.   They're very soft.

8.   I made 'em, and I bet Dave and the whole Bitchin' Mittens crowd thought I had bailed on the project, right?

7.   They're the color of sunflowers.

6.   They've got half thumbs. 

5.   I finished them even though I had absolutely positively no time to knit. (magical!)

4.   They both came out the same size. (after I ripped out and completely reknit the second one. Ahem.)

3.   They are made from stash yarn. (bitchin'!)
 

2.   Even better, they are made from my very first Kool-Aid (and food-coloring) hand-dyed yarn.

1.   And Even Better Still:  They are made from some of my first handspun, as well.  Handspun stash.  Does it get any better or more bitchin'?  I think not.

Here's the backstory:

One day recently I looked down from where I was sitting, looked at some balls of yarn that had been sitting near my computer chair, untouched for over a year, and suddenly something in my wee brain clicked.  It was a color-click, not a project click at all. 

I saw the ball of too-bright yellow-gold that was my very first (successful) wheel-spun yarn.  It is Corriedale, from an "autumn sampler" I bought on eBay, and through beginner's luck it turned out really nice.  Even being humble, as you all know I am, it was almost (heh) hard to tell this yarn from Koigu. I started socks with it once, long ago, but found the colors just wrong together, and just too bright.  It has sat there all this time.  I had no idea what to do with it.  It's fingering weight, and I really did not feel inclined to do charity knitting with it.  There isn't very much of it, either. 

Also sitting there were the balls of the lambswool sportweight superwash wool that were the subject of my very first Kool-Aid dyeing.  They were nice balls of wool that I had bought on eBay, but the original color was an awful shade of beige that even I, an equal-opportunity beige-lover, could not love.  So that prompted me to use it for my first Kool-Aid experimentation.  It came out okay, somewhat mottled, and small balls, all different colors, and again -- sportweight.  What to do with it?  It's been sitting there for at least a year and a half.  The gold was my favorite color, but there wasn't much of it.

In my moment of inspiration, I suddenly saw the two of them together, the colors complementing each other, toning down and brightening up each other respectively, and adding a lot of depth and character to the knitting.  I held the two yarns together and twisted them a bit to see how they would meld.  Beautiful! 

Now I had to come up with something that they could be knitted into.  I went to bed that night with a notepad and pencil, and before I went to sleep, I had designed a lace-embellished neckwarmer that I thought would be great.  I used the leaf lace pattern that I used a couple of years ago in the beaded scarf I did. 

The next day, we wanted to watch a rented movie.  Perfect, I thought, for knitting the neckwarmer, so I cast on.  And I indeed knitted the entire thing during the movie.  And I loved the knitting.  I loved the fabric it was creating -- the two strands held together created a lovely effect, and amazingly it was impossible to discern that it was two strands held together.  I marveled that that could be the case -- that two strands that were so different from each other could marry into such a pretty single-strand-looking marled yarn and fabric. 

But when I cast off and looked at the finished neckwarmer, I did not like it.  I did not like the lace, and did not like the way the neckwarmer fit. The two strands held together approximate, I'd say, an aran weight yarn, and it was too heavy for the lace and too heavy to wear on the neck, especially given the craziness of the large holes created by the lace.  On the one hand, you've got a bulky, super-warm wool neckwarmer for severe weather.  On the other, you've got big honkin' holes in it.  It was a bit too large for my neck, and I really didn't think the lace looked right on it. 

I should have photographed it, but I ripped it out without doing so.  When I ripped it out, I balled it up together, and got what I showed you the other week on WTF Wednesday:     Pretty, hm?  (even for the gold- and yellow-averse?)

Then I had another idea: 

Now, ain't that just bitchin'?
Many thanks to my husband, who was such a good sport in helping to take the photos.

Comments

[Melissa]

Hmm...this reminds me that I have yet to knit any of my handspun. It just all sits in a basket looking at me. Lovely golds you have there; just what I need to get me inspired.

[Molly]

Gorgeous! What a smart idea! I have been avoiding the Bitchin' Mittens craze, but you're tempting me horribly...

[Leanne]

I don't think it would be humanly possible to get any more bitchin' than that. I am humbled by your bitchinness.

[Cookie]

I am not much of a yellow/gold person when it comes to knitting, but I love that yarn and I adore those frickin' bitchin' mittens.

Well done, Norma!

[LaurieM]

I really like yellow on a grey day. And it sounds to be that the yarn knew what it wanted to be.

[jodi]

Dude. You put forward a pretty good argument for their bitchinness, but they were totally bitchin already, no question. And that's a fantastic photo.

[Scout]

Oh I love them!!!

[Lauren]

What a beautiful color, and gorgeous sunflowers to match.

[sandy]

Those bitchin' fingerless mitts will come in handy on those cold fall mornings, when you are not quite ready to don mittens and still need to use the fingers.
I'm loving the sunshiney color.
And your butt. Oddly enough, it made me laugh aloud, startling the rest of the family.

[Lorette]

Bitchin' indeed. Those will really cheer you up when the skies are all cloudy and gray.

[Theresa]

There's no garment so lovely as one that comes from your own handspun. And a color like that will keep you warm even on the most grey days in Vermont!

[jillian]

You are SO right. I think the fact that it is handspun stash is the most bitchin' part! They are gorgeous and I love the color.

[Jessie]

Yay for beautiful FOs and good-sport husbands.

[Zonda]

Love those!! The pictures are just fab! :)

[moiraeknittoo]

Ooo la la! Those are fantastic! You should see me here at my keyboard - I'm doing a fair approximation of the "I'm not worthy!" thing you've got going on there in the first pic. *G* They're lovely, Miss N!

[Julie]

Love the shot with the sunflower! Great idea. And what a good hubby you have - imagine a man willing to take a butt shot!

[Paul]

LOVE the color! LOVE the yarn! LOVE the finished fingerless mitts!

AWESOME!!!

[Teri P]

Aren't you the clever one? Yes, they are very very pretty! Nice pics, too.

[Vicki]

Wow, Norma, those are so NICE -- and bitchin', too! Fabulous with the sunflowers!

[regina]

Norma, these are truly bitchin'. And that photo: the colors, the composition, the pose -- whoa.

[Dave Daniels]

OK,I was all set to go with a nice and gracious post until I saw the Famous Butt Shot at the end. Not what I was expecting. I thought maybe a photo of Mr. D...
Truly bitchin' mittens, and I love the photography.

[gale (she shoots sheep shots)]

what about # 11: bitchin' photos showing the mitts. Love everything about this post, including the surprise end(ing)!

[cari]

gorgeous photos, m'dear. and yes, that yellow/gold color is quite purty. I must admit, the first photo looks like a really beautiful crime-scene shot. You know...bridesmaid with cold hands is shot from behind on her way down the aisle at an outdoor wedding... Or maybe I just need to get out of the house more.

[Manise]

I love the " I bow down to your royal highness. May my bitchin' mittens be worthy" pose. Love the half-mittens.The color is so vibrant and sunflowery. Nice job!

[Kathleen]

Perhaps I should cease feverishing knitting my replacement mitten and let the real winners win?? (story regarding the replacement mitten to appear one day soon at my blog)

Norma, your fingerless, handspun, stash busting, hand-dyed, gold/yellow, bitchin' mittens are beautiful!

[NORA]

Love the colour! Well done (dyed).

[Carole]

Fantastic! And so HOT, Norma.

[kmkat]

I am totally not a gold or yellow kinda person, but those mitts with the flowers are to die for! Great mitts, great photos!

[Lee Ann]

How I do love you. The bow to the lawn god is particularly lovely :-)

[Lynn]

LOVE these wrist warmers! I tried to make a pair, finished one and promptly ripped it out. These came out nice!

[Julie]

Those are some bitchin' mittens for sure!

[--Deb]

Beautiful!

[Debi]

Coolest mitt pic. EVER! Well done Norma!

[Kathy]

Hey - those match my old bathroom! Great color :-)

[Kristen]

Yes, pretty!

She who doth (usually) find yellow most odious

PS If I had that ass in front of me, I'd likely photograph it too! Hubba, hubba!

[Lucia]

Totally bitchin'. And I speak as a non-fan of yellow. Those are great.

I signed up for bitchin' mittens, figuring I'd be struck with inspiration at some point, but no clonk upside the head yet. Deadline, schmeadline -- at some point inspiration will strike, and there's just no point in rushing it. (Prize, schmize -- I haven't won anything in a cat's age.)

[Diane E.]

Love the yellow,,, we may need mittens sooner than we think this year. Brave chick in spandex!

[jessica~]

He took a picutre of your butt! That's great!!

Those mittens are awsome! I love the color and the brightness. Great photographs :)

[Laurie]

That was an inspirational color combination. The the mittens are beautiful! I think it's a color that will keep you warm, in addition to keeping you warm.

I love my mittlets. I like the way they look, and I like the utility.

Now I need to get up off my a** and do something with my handspun. Eh?

[margene]

Me thinks she doeth protest too much;-) Yes, they are TOTALLY Bitchin'!

[Kim]

Uhhuh, yeah...hubby was a good sport alright. HA!

GREAT mitten shot, woman. So artistic. Very cool. A splash of curls--love it. And the mitts are gorgeous.
xoxo

[Kelly]

Your fingerless mitts are beautiful! Great job!

[Rachel H]

Thanks, Cari. Now I can't look at the first pic without thinking of CSI.

Great mitts. And how cool to use your own handspun/handdyed stuff. Makes me wanna spin something.

[claudia]

That is a great picture, yoga queen.

[KT]

That color is wonderful. It reminds me of Amber-liquid/solid, glowing. It will also match beautiful fall leaves. Good for you for sticking to your guns and getting Exactly what you want. Truly Bitchin'. Jeff Spicoli has nothing on you, man. Way.

[Beverly]

I am not usually fond of yellow/orange/gold , but when you added your sunflowers to the photo...that made me swooooon! Now I'm kicking myself for failure to do any gardening whatsoever this year.

[B.]

So glad you kept your pants on.

[Kirsten]

Gorgeous!

[Judy]

Super picture. Sort of makes me wonder what else was going on there in the grass.

[julia fc]

Hadnspun makes anything bitchin'. Congrats.