I am a bit obsessed with gloves now. I've made myself some fingerless gloves:While making these, I was a bit disturbed by the way you keep having to break the thread and join it in again to make each finger. I started to think about whether it would be possible to make gloves with one unbroken thread. So I made some. Here they are:They are done in garter stitch, so that they stretch across the hand. I used short rows to produce the wrist shaping. They are knitted on two needles, beginning with an invisible cast on at the index finger side on the back of the hand. To make each finger, you cast on six extra stitches at the appropriate end of the row. After as many rows as you need to get across the finger on the back of the glove, you leave the hand stitches on your needle and carry on with the finger stitches to make a narrow strip long enough to wrap round your finger. Then you decrease down to one stitch, reducing from the top edge of the finger, so that the last stitch is at the base. This takes the same number of rows as the back of the finger, so you should end up back where you started, and you just pop the last stitch back on the main needle and knit it together with the first stitch of the hand.You end up with a pretty little 'rosebud' effect. Hopefully you can see it from this picture:When you get past the little finger, you carry on and knit across the palm, picking up stitches at the edges of the fingers as you go, and knitting them together with the palm stitches.The thumb is more difficult, as it is in the middle of a row, but I managed to do it by sort of turning back and knitting the narrow strip back alongside the upper part of the palm, below the index finger, then extending and wrapping round, as with the fingers.Finally, you are back at the index finger side of the hand, and you graft together your stitches with the live stitches from the invisible cast on, to make a seamless glove, made with one continuous thread.I am very pleased with them. Now experimenting with something similar for gloves with full fingers (more difficult, and may prove impossible).I had a lovely time at Peri's Knitting Safari event yesterday, and managed to restrict my spending to only £8 for this lovely merino and bamboo sock yarn - destined to become gloves, I expect!(Picture doesn't do it justice - it's much deeper and more purpley than it looks)
I finally finished my Make it up as you go along cardigan. It now has enough buttons to keep it from throwing itself off my shoulders every five minutes, and I've been wearing it lots.I made the buttons myself, using Chinese Button Knots in braided cord (Kumihimo braiding, slightly adapted to work with six strands instead of eight).Anyway, here's the end result:and here's the back (better picture than the one on this page)Here's a fairly unsatisfactory picture of a button (ooh, that's a bit scary, close up).I'm now half way through a nice pair of fingerless gloves for myself. I like knitting gloves, but I'm a bit put out by all the cutting of the thread that has to go on, and also those infernal holes that will keep appearing between the fingers. I've been idly musing on different ways of constructing a glove. Might play with that when I've finished the pair.I did make it over to Hove Museum, but there wasn't a lot of knitting actually on show. I did like these bits of coral reef
I've been kept busy making some lovely things for my children and for friends who got married last weekend. The wedding gift was this cushion:Here are close ups of a couple of the patterns:I really enjoyed knitting that - had to concentrate the whole time to avoid mistakes - and learned a lot about Aran patterns.Next, I had the pure pleasure of knitting an Adult Surprise Jacket for Pearlie. Allie's now put in an order for one, but she wants it in black or some other boring colour, so I haven't started that yet!I moved straight on to fingerless gloves for both children. I can't find Leo's at the moment, but here are Pearlie's:I made the toggles out of Fimo, and she is very pleased with the finished product (as is Leo with his, which are the finishing touch of his Barnaby Grimes costume).I think I may become addicted to knitting gloves, if only so that I can work out how to stop holes appearing between the fingers - is that possible?Now very busy making Chinese button knots for my Make it up as you go along cardigan. Pictures to follow.
