diff --git a/src/modes/item.rs b/src/modes/item.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a5ffea9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/modes/item.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+use crate::{
+    card::Card,
+    modes::{pair::Pair, single::Single, triple::Triple},
+};
+
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)]
+/// An Item is a validated cardset, variant over all different modes.
+pub enum Item {
+    Single(Single),
+    Pair(Pair),
+    Triple(Triple),
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)]
+/// Possible errors from attempting to generate a new Item from a set of cards.
+pub enum ItemParseError {
+    InvalidSingle(Card),
+    InvalidPair(Card, Card),
+    InvalidTriple(Card, Card, Card),
+    InvalidArity,
+}
+
+impl Item {
+    pub fn parse(cards: &[Card]) -> Result<Item, ItemParseError> {
+        match cards {
+            [a] => Single::new(*a)
+                .map(Self::Single)
+                .ok_or(ItemParseError::InvalidSingle(*a)),
+            [a, b] => Pair::new(*a, *b)
+                .map(Self::Pair)
+                .ok_or(ItemParseError::InvalidPair(*a, *b)),
+            [a, b, c] => Triple::new(*a, *b, *c)
+                .map(Self::Triple)
+                .ok_or(ItemParseError::InvalidTriple(*a, *b, *c)),
+            _ => Err(ItemParseError::InvalidArity),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+use std::fmt::{self, Display, Formatter};
+
+impl Display for ItemParseError {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
+        match self {
+            Self::InvalidSingle(a) => write!(f, "invalid single {}", a),
+            Self::InvalidPair(a, b) => write!(f, "invalid pair {} + {}", a, b),
+            Self::InvalidTriple(a, b, c) => {
+                write!(f, "invalid triple {} + {} + {}", a, b, c)
+            }
+            Self::InvalidArity => write!(f, "invalid arity"),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl Display for Item {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
+        match self {
+            Self::Single(x) => write!(f, "{}", x),
+            Self::Pair(x) => write!(f, "{}", x),
+            Self::Triple(x) => write!(f, "{}", x),
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/modes/mod.rs b/src/modes/mod.rs
index dd779fb..01f2538 100644
--- a/src/modes/mod.rs
+++ b/src/modes/mod.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 use crate::card::Card;
 
+pub mod item;
 pub mod pair;
 pub mod single;
 pub mod triple;