GLOVING IT

Last year an artist friend of mine commented on how her hands got cold in her studio and how it would be great to have a pair of fingerless gloves.

Always on the lookout for a knitting project and having just discovered a fairly new knitting store, Looped Yarn Works, close to the office, I had a great excuse to shop! I ended up knitting her a pair of fingerless mittens out of a really cool yarn. (Sorry, forgot to take a photo!)

Since knitting those mittens, I've put some serious thought into knitting gloves. My grandmother knit gloves. I remember that she used safety pins to hold the stitches for each finger. It seemed intricate--and fascinating. How did she do that? So in the back of my mind I've always thought about knitting gloves, but they seemed out of reach. Sweaters were more to my comfort level.

Well all comfort must be tested, so a couple of months ago, I tried my hand at a pair of fingerless gloves. (Getting close, Grandma!) I checked out some patterns on how to do the fingers and then set off on my own.

Ah, you are thinking, was that a good idea? Shouldn't I have gotten familiar with the "how to" before sprinting off on my own?

Perhaps. But all of the patterns I saw used sport weight or heavier yarn and I had my heart set on using sock yarn. Smaller needles, smaller stitches, less bulky ... an entirely different experience.

The first digit to be knit was the thumb, which was done by adding stitches. You have to keep the thumb "hole" open while continuing to knit in the round until you get to where you start the fingers.

The fingers were a bit tricky, but once I got the hang of it, they moved along fairly well.

I had a ball of Berroco Sox metallic (color 1366, Mangosteen)  that I was thinking of using for socks, but decided it might make a pair of fun gloves. The first glove was for the left hand and it turned out not too badly, so I followed the pattern for the second. Too late I found that I'd knit another left hand glove! It was obvious as there was a front and back to the glove (cable on the back, which doesn't come out very well in this photo). Also, I really did not want to rip it out down to the thumb.
Fortunately it doesn't take a lot of yarn to knit a glove. I now have two lefts and one right. A pair and then some! During Hurricane Sandy when just about everyone in the DC area was home, I took time to work out the pattern. Click here for the PDF.

glovingly yours,

Reah Janise

BLUE SHAWLETTE

Holden Shawlette knit with Wandering Wool.

I'm in the midst of several knitting projects. Two are sweaters for my nephews who live in Ohio. Because I want to make sure they fit, last week I mailed the body of the sweaters, loosely stitched together at the sides and shoulders, to my sister-in-law to have the boys try them on to make sure they fit and also to get her to measure arm length for each with the boys with the sweaters on.

In the week since mailing off the sweaters, I started and finished a shawlette using a skein of Wandering Wool's North Country Sock yarn. The colorway is Lapis Lazuli. The pattern was Mindy Wilkes' Holden Shawlette.

I used size 5 needles and was able to get in one extra row, but ran just inches short of being able to do the picot finish (which takes a very long time both to do and to rip out). Argh! It still looks wonderful and I hope the person who gets this as a gift will feel the same.

The previous shawlette I'd knit with this same yarn (and pattern), different colorway, used size 6 needles.

I'm excited to start my next shawlette project, which I've already planned, and which will use one of the Scottish yarns purchased just for making a shawlette.

cheers,

Reah Janise