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Thanksgiving Holiday!

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate the holiday!

For those who don't celebrate the holiday, Happy Thursday! Have some pie!

The pups and I have a four-day weekend, and we'll be spending it with our kids from California. We'll be back in blogging-action on Monday—until then, keep your needles clicking!

Glove Gone Wrong

Ooooh! I made such a bungle in the second glove. I attribute the bungle to hurrying toward the finish, with the result being a rip-out of a whole glove-finger. Ow! Glove Hurts! See the black lines that line up from wrist to fingertips on the finished glove?

Somehow I began knitting four whole stitches off of my baseline black stripe, and didn't even see it until I was nearly ready to bind off. Much gnashing of teeth ensued, accompanied of course by the wringing of non-knitting hands. How'd that happen? Luckily, I'm always ready to take a chance on glove. I'm back on track with the pattern now, but I wanted any new knitters reading to know that bungles in knitting are just part of the process. Yep. Sometimes, Your Glove is Like Bad Medicine.

Book Reviews

Sitting on a knitterly fence over purchasing the latest? Here are book reviews from the SeattleTimes of Stitch 'N Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook, Weekend Knitting: 50 Unique Projects and Ideas, Knit Baby Blankets!, Knit Baby Head & Toes! and Knit Christmas Stockings! 19 Patterns for Stockings and Ornaments. Don't miss the egg cosies. Oh what the heck; I'm feeling a bit frumpish, so here they are:

Pups

The pups are very excited because their own personal boy is coming from California on Wednesday night for the Thanksgiving holiday. Whoo-HOO! I'm excited too, and while you can't see, I'm making the same face that Mikey is in this photo:

Happy Wednesday! Are you cooking tomorrow? Have your groceries? Better get cracking those eggs (unless they are going to be wearing tiny sweaters).

No News Tuesday

Hello all, not a single stitch to report here. I'm going to take a pass on blogging today, but will be back with knitting news tomorrow. In the meantime, why not go take a look at Cari's glove? Woofs!

Jack and Della say This Thanksgiving, Give Peas a Chance.

Happy Tuesday!

Big Fat Monday

Warning: The following entry may be disturbing to some Yarn-Dieters. If you are on a Yarn-Diet, please avert your eyes from my conspicuous consumption.

I caught up with virtually a ton of paperwork this weekend, and consequently realized very little knitting gain. I wouldn't let myself knit until I had one or two urgent items cleared up, and clearing them up seemed to take a dreadfully long while. Cleverly, I postponed opening three packages that arrived Friday afternoon, in hopes of being able to trick myself in working hard over the weekend, and sure enough! By late Sunday afternoon I felt quite accomplished and relieved to have finished quite a bit. So! On to the rewards!

I've been obsessing over some Mountain Colors BearFoot sock yarn since I saw Theresa's striping up so prettily in her 18 November entry. My skein (in the "Indian Corn" colorway) from Matt and Rob was in the first package, along with Lucy Neatby's new sock book. Yay! My second package contained some brand new-to-me fingering weight/sock yarn from Apple Laine Farm. Called AppleButter, it is the same blend as Mountain Colors Bearfoot (60% wool, 25% mohair, 15% nylon), so both have quite luscious hands. I'm hoping to use this wool for gloves, and so for once, I'm really looking forward to the swatch process! The Indian Corn BearFoot is on the far left.

I've been on a wholesome yarn-diet for months, and so these skeins plus last week's add up to a regular binge to catch up on what I've missed. Yes. I realize that's not a healthy habit. But look how pretty the wool is!

The third package contained the most exciting stuff of all in the mail-call. Four historically-correct and different versions of Sanquhar Gloves from the Scottish Women's Rural Institutes (SWRI). This packet came from my online overseas buddy Dawn P., who also sent chocolate and some beautiful handpainted laceweight merino. The merino lace is some of Margaret Stove's handpaint, and it's the loveliest blues and greens. I know its going to make a fine pair of gloves. The pattern authors at SWRI say that while the gloves were originally knitted only in black and white, modern Sanquhar gloves are knitted in contrasting colours. So I'll feel free to use my merino lace plus a solid.

The pattern designs are Shepherd's Plaid, Midge and Fly, Prince of Wales, and Duke design. I'm so pleased and happy with this trade that it wasn't until just a few moments ago that I realized that none of these patterns are charted...it's all row by row directions. I'm going to chart them, because I can't imagine doing fine wool colorwork with written directions. Spoiled, aren't I. If you have charting tips, please send them along.

Pups

Little Jack says It's Monday. Boil your cranberries until they pop, then chill overnight.

Make Time for Glove

Too busy with busy-work to finish Laura's Sanquhar-style glove, although she did drop by for a fitting. The free pattern from The ABCs of Knitting website is a good one! I will surely finish them over the weekend; I'm too eager to start the next pair to let these linger as a project.

All You Need is Glove

I have a copy of Dalegarn Nr 130, which has such a dopey-looking knitted thing on the cover that I hadn't opened it. Would a real kid wear this hat?

So, Thursday evening, I finally looked inside, and whaddayaknow? There are a half-dozen glove and mitten patterns inside! You can see thumbnails of all the designs at this website.

I can't remember where I got my copy of Dale Nr 130, so I was searching around on the Dale of Norway site for a clue. You can imagine my surprise when I found this:

Dale of Norway Pirates??? Pirates??? I stopped looking for a vendor for Nr 130 and immediately began searching for a vendor for Nr 133, Kaptein Sabeltann - Strikkeoppskrifter for barn. Everyone needs a pirate sweater. If you'd like to look at the designs in this edition, go here, select the Dalegarn link, and then (very important) select Norwegian for your language choice. Then, from the right-hand column, select the news item that reads 21.10.2003 Skip o' hoi! Nye flotte design med Kaptein Sabeltann og sjørøverskuten. From the Kollections page, select the thumbnail photo of Nr 133, and you'll be rewarded with a PDF to enjoy. Skip o' hoi indeed!

Pups

The pups have had a grueling week of romping in the sunshine, rolling in leaves, chasing the neighbors' dogs along the fenceline, eating puppy treats, and taking naps. I join them in wishing you a wonderful Friday and a restful and relaxing weekend.

Little Jack says it's Friday! Come and Get Your Glove!

And Now For Something Completely Tiny

I ordered a little kit and an extra set of needles from Carol's Sockery last week, after seeing mention of it on Nanette's blog. Tiny little needles (4-inch long 0000s) and tiny little sock earrings. It arrived Monday, and I wasn't planning on knitting the sock earrings anytime soon, because I want to finish Laura's gloves. Ah. Best-laid knitting plans, and all that. While working on the fingers to the Sanquhar-style gloves, I found my attention kept wandering to the sock-earrings kit. What could it be like to knit an inch long sock, complete with turned heel and gussets? And, I needed to send something cheerful for the upcoming holiday season to the pups' grandmother in California—what could be more festive than little Christmas Stocking earrings? I ask you! Could you resist?

A closer look:

Cute! My variation on the kit includes a purled cuff, and a slightly longer leg. (It's a Christmas stocking, after all.) I used some Socka scraps and my new shorty-needles. Very inexpensive fun for a knitterly evening!

Glove is All Around

Hey! More cool stuff! Look what I won on e-bay!

It's a vintage Patons booklet that is all about gloves. Only 15 cents at the time of publication, which the seller thought was sometime during the 40s. I'm happy whatever the year of publication is, because I'm still riding down the Freeway of Glove. This booklet, according to the seller's blurb, includes "Plain gloves, Half diamond gloves, Ripple stripe gloves, Gloves with frilled cuffs, Fair Isle gloves, Angora gloves, Plaid gloves, Opaleen gloves, Mitts in fair isle and more."

Am I lucky or what? (What on earth can Opaleen gloves be?)

Pups

Thursday! Thursday! Thursday! Mike and Della say keep your eye on the Friday-prize.

Have a wonderful day!

Glove Can Make You Happy

I returned to Sister's Sanquar-style gloves with the skulls on the palms, and hope to finish them Wednesday night. After knitting the Ruby River concept-gloves with US3s, it feels quite slow to return to those pointy 0000s. Thanks to a pointer from Nanette, I have some new 4-inch long 0000 dps, and I'll be using them gleefully on the fingers. The circulars are okay, better for me than five 8-inch long 0000s, but still! Knitting on 0000s is a pokey experience.

Speaking of glove, I have a huge crush on the Herringbone Gloves found at Saku's homepage. Saku emailed me the url to the pattern for these gloves, and like the Sanquhar Glove Pattern, this one is also from the wonderful ABCs of Knitting website. It's in Japanese, but the charts are very clear. I think I can cast on 64 stitches, follow the charts, and hope for the best.

Browsing Saku's site, I found mention of two Fair Isle books that I'm not familiar with: This one

and this one.

Any blog readers familiar with these books? Are they available in English? Are they books of charts? Charts in a Japanese-language book wouldn't bother me at all. I'm thinking of ordering them today, but would like some feedback if you have some to offer.

Pups

Tuesday was a wildly windy day, and the pups did plenty of breezy frolicking. I thought Little Jack might take off and fly away with those ears, so I kept a close eye on him.

Della says HoHum! It's Wednesday! Have a nice quiet one, and glove the one you're with! ("Glove the one you're with" is a reader contribution to these glove entries--this one is courtesy of Mary--thanks!)

Have I Told You Lately

Rainy weather here! I had comfy knitting weather and so I finished my Mountain Colors gloves:

I like the Mountain Colors Weavers Wool Quarters; I like it so much that I ordered some more from Rob and Matt and it arrived today. You can see it glowing next to my Ruby River-colored gloves.

That's Winter Sky and Yellowstone, and with them I'll be making some more gloves from Homespun, Handknit.

Glove construction makes sense to me now, and I've been very excited to feel like a beginner again with a knitting project. Fingers and thumb gussets are more thrilling than turning the first heel on your first sock! So I'm ready to finish Laura's Sanquhar-style Skull Gloves, and I've also worked up the cuff in an Estonian glove from Folk Knitting in Estonia. What a great book; I can't say enough nice things about it. A wealth of techniques, a nice little scholarly section, and gloves, mittens, and socks galore. Gloves! Love to glove you baby.

Pups

Jack and Della say It's Tuesday—Strike A Pose!

Can You Feel the Glove Tonight

I almost have a finished pair of gloves! My first! I'm using Rita Buchanan's excellent directions in Homespun, Handknit for Good Basic Gloves.

These have been a reality check for me in glove construction; it's actually easier for me to see how the knitting works at a larger scale--54 stitches, to be exact. These are worked on US3s in Mountain Colors Weavers Wool Quarters, color Ruby River. The wool is a sport weight, and so the fabric is pretty sturdy at roughly 7 st per in. Laura's Sanquar-style gloves are worked on 88 stitches, and that seems very fine to me, but I read in Folk Knitting in Estonia that many Estonian gloves are knitted much finer, up to 140 stitches per glove! My Ruby River gloves would seem quite crude to Estonian knitters, but I like them just the same. Buchanan's pattern is very good, and following it does create just what she says: A Good Basic Glove. They are going to be a pretty pair, even while being quite plain and serviceable, and I am tickled practically pink to be able to knit gloves that fit!

Curiosity Dept.

Have you ever knitted with angora? It's luxurious, and it's on sale right now at Yarn Forward. But where does it come from, really? Check this link for 2003 prize winning English Angoras.

Pups

The pups had a lovely weekend, because my excellent nephew took them for a walk. His legs are not as long as mine, but he walks twice as fast, so the pups had a good time keeping up with him.

Always nice to have a change! Except on Mondays; we hope your Monday sticks to a comfortable status quo.

Hello Young Glovers

We continue our decorative-edging-for-gloves practice here; as dear departed Barry White might have crooned: I Can't Get Enough of Your Glove. Nancy Bush's instructions for Estonian methods in Folk Knitting in Estonia are exceptionally clear and informative, and the cast-ons are apparently addictive! This entry is Dedicated to the One I Glove, I mean, dedicated to Estonian cast-ons, Nancy Bush, and Estonian knitters.

First! The "Fringe Cast-on"! Did you ever?

You create the loopy fringe while casting on stitches. Is that going to make a snazzy jazzy cuff or what?

Second! After several attempts, I figured out "Liidia's Braid Cast-on", created in two colors:

This is a very interesting cast-on, as you cast on with two colors, and alternate the front and back yarns, stitch by cast-on stitch. But wait! There's more:

Notice Liidia's two-color braided cast-on at the bottom, followed by a round of purl-bumps in apple green. Above the purl-bumps? Kihnu vits! Similar to yesterday's vikkel braid, but constructed in a different manner, and created with two colors. This cuff has gone beyond swatching in my mind; I'm looking forward to building the N. Bush design "Liidia's Gloves" from my vikkels and kihnu vits.

I feel smugly accomplished.

Booklet Review: Cimdi Durani Gloves Mittens

Nanette mentioned she had just gotten this little book from Schoolhouse Press. I bought it a while ago, and Nanette's mention reminded me that I should be re-reading it now. It's a gorgeous trip through a knitted part of Latvia's cultural heritage: ornamental gloves and mittens. The author of this beautifully photographed booklet calls Latvian gloves and mittens "a fundamental affirmation of identity." Right on! and Amen! There are no charts for the dozens of gloves/mittens presented, but the photos are so clear (and lovely) that you could easily recreate them. Well, maybe not easily, but you definitely could chart them. [I was surfing around looking for the correct Latvian typeface/font to accurately represent the title and didn't find it, but I did find a page where you can read more about the philosophy and history of Latvian gloves and mittens. Check it out here.]

Not a pattern book, but a beautiful tribute to an extraordinary culture and its knitting traditions. If you have a chance to acquire this little book, please do so. You'll love it. The text is in both Latvian and English, and there are little bits of poems and folk songs included. Here's a cheerful example:

"I'm knitting gloves with colorful designs,
God only knows where I shall distribute them —
Whether to my suitors
Or in the white sands of my grave."

Tra la la! You can betcher last Krispy Kreme that I'm going to be distributing my extra gloves with colorful designs to my wonderful mouse-catchin' Sister.

Pups

Mikey knows it's Friday! Time for romps! Have a great day and an excellent weekend.

How Deep Is Your Glove

You know what I'm gloving about gloves? The opportunity to learn new little knitters' tricks, and all on a small scale. It's not the same as casting on 300+ stitches for a Fair Isle or complex Aran and hoping for the best! Instead, learning can occur on a functional yet reasonably sized project. It's very enjoyable to me to be learning new things on 50-60 stitches!

Wednesday's glove lesson was taken from Nancy Bush's Folk Knitting in Estonia (ISBN 1-883010-43-8). First, I worked on cast-ons again; the one in the following photo is the double-start cast-on from yesterday, but worked with doubled wool (Koigu in this case). Handknit gloves deserve a decorative cast-on.

I worked on the braided cast-on referenced by Ms. Bush, but wasn't able to master it. Probably tomorrow, because I'm determined. I was able to figure out the vikkel braid employed in Estonian knitting. In the photo below, you can just make out that the purple stitches are traveling horizontally across the cuff.

How cool is that? It's not what I think of as a braid per se, but it's definitely a good knitter trick. I think it will be more dramatic in black and white, and, when I knit this pair in high contrast colors, I'll be ready, because I'm putting in so much practice time on decorative cast-ons and finishes. I like it when knitting is exciting :-) Exciting as this glove was, however, the cuff and its highly entertaining cast-on and vikkel are destined to be unraveled; I don't like the effect of the two varigated wools knitted together.

IK

Nanette tipped me off to a back issue of Interweave Knits containing an extensive article on gloves by my sock and glove hero Nancy Bush. It arrived today, and this issue was the premier issue of IK from Fall 1996. The glove article is wonderful, and features four or five gloves created from different construction techniques, i.e., fingertips-down, cuff-up, etc. The thing that struck me most about this back issue, however, is that it is full of interesting, traditional knitting patterns and comprehensive technique articles. It doesn't read like the current IK at all. I liked the latest IK, but my goodness! What changes have occurred in this publication! The old IK wouldn't have dreamed of dumbing-down your knitting experience.

Pups

Mikey says It's Thursday. You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Gloves You, so keep those needles clicking!

I Want to Know What Glove Is

Homespun, Handknit has a pattern for gloves by Rita Buchanan, who has not only studied Mary Thomas's book as much as I have, but she's also done the math. Using Buchanan's pattern, I worked on what may be the glove that fits perfectly Tuesday evening. You'll note in the photo that the little finger begins before the index, middle, and ring fingers, thus creating a more anatomically correct glove. And the thumb (with a smart gusset) is in the same place on the glove as your thumb is on your hand. Seems only sensible, but you'd be surprised how many patterns and directions I've looked at that place the thumb elsewhere!

If you feel like making glove, check Homespun, Handknit for a detailed and intelligent pattern. The wool I'm using in a skein of Mountain Colors Weaver's Wool, in the handpaint color Ruby River. This is my first experience with Mountain Colors wool, and I must say it is Luscious. Completely Luscious. What a luscious hand! Whoo-wheeee! Luscious!

Working on gloves has made me painfully aware of the inadequacies of the long-tail cast-on. It's a useful cast-on, and the one I use most frequently. But it's not very decorative. I tried a new cast-on with the Ruby River glove, and I like it. It's the "Double-start Cast-On" detailed in Nancy Bush's Folk Knitting in Estonia. It's very elastic, and I think it looks prettier than the long-tail.

With this cast-on, you're creating pairs of stitches that have a double yarn across the front. I realize it's hard to see that in the photo, so please do check the book out at your library; this cast-on creates a wonderful edge for socks or gloves. Tomorrow's glove lesson includes trying "Ludia's Braid Cast-On," also from Folk Knitting in Estonia. Gloves! Who knew they were so fascinating?

Pups

Mikey says it's Wednesday. Keep a song in your heart, and WOOFs at the ready.

Glove Me Two Times

Working on Sister's gloves here. How's your knitting coming along?

While the left glove carries Sister's initials, I decided to place the year of the knitting on the right glove. I like it.

So far I'm finding that for me, the second glove is more interesting than a second sock, and certainly, wildly, wonderfully, more interesting than the second sleeve in a sweater.

I've been reading Mary Thomas's Knitting Book (ISBN: 0-486-22817-7) regarding gloves and glove measurements. What a treasure-trove of information is contained in this little Dover reprint! Still under 10 bucks as far as I know, and still the knitter's greatest bargain for dependable knitting information. Anyway, Mary Thomas says the thumb of a glove gives the glove "character, distinction, and fit," and after working up this pair for Sister, I agree. Thumbs on the side, please. The measurements from the tip of the thumb to the lower knuckle, and then from the knuckle to the top of the wrist, are the measurements that are going to make your glove fit like, well, a glove! I quote Ms. Thomas: "Never underestimate or skimp the thumb measurement, as this is the most important member of the hand, and must accordingly be treated with dignity." Yeah! Sister's thumbs will be perfectly dignified, and mine will be too, because I'm going to be careful with measurements. Palm size is important, but don't be a penny-pincher with the thumbs.

Pups

Mike and Jack say There's No Place Like Home. Hope you have the day off, and that you have time for some enjoyable knitting. See you tomorrow!

A Sunday Kind of Glove

I spent most of Sunday studying glove and mitten patterns. Lizbeth Upitis' Latvian Mittens has a number of cuff variations that are very interesting, including one that is scalloped, while Carol Noble's Fair Isle Mittens and Gloves has basic patterns with colorful variations. I also pressed on with Laura's gloves, but you can see I still have gloving on my mind.

The clearest pattern so far, at least to me, is the excellent free pattern from the ABCs of Knitting. Very logical, and the fit seems to more closely mirror the actual shape of a hand. The blue and gold cuff is from Latvian Mittens, and is the Kurzeme model with the scalloped edge. The glove-beginning with the fish on it is from the Noble pattern for fingerless gloves, and I think I'm going to have to fidgit with the thumb on this one. One flaw that I perceive in the Noble book is the prescriptive at the top of the patterns: One Size Fits Most. My hands are large, and the thumb opening is definitely not quite right for my thumb. The fish chart, by the way, is from this wonderful Japanese knitter. Check out her marvelous Fair Isles for some Monday knitting inspiration!

Warning! Creep-out Content!!

Squeamish Readers! Please scroll past the following!!!

Now that the screaming has stopped, I can tell you I've been troubled the past couple of weeks by what I suspected was a critter in the house. In all the places I've lived, I've never ever had to share my living space with house-critters. While I fretted, Sister graciously brought over humane traps, peanut butter and cheese crackers, and this is what her efforts yielded early Sunday morning:

The mousey-horror! Sister escorted it out to the wooded area behind the house, and hopefully it is even now regaling its mouse-pals with cautionary tales of terror to be found at my address. Can you believe what an awesome sister I have? Critters in the house give me plenty of anxiety, even if they are little and Laura says they are cute. Gack.

Pups

The pups are no help whatsoever in looking for critters, but they are quite interested in peanut butter and cheese crackers.

It's Monday! Mike and Della hope others play nicely with you.

Glove Jones

(Don't like Glove Jones? Check yesterday's comments for Geane's contributions to goofy glove entry titles)

Still working on Sanquhar-style gloves here. Still eager to work on some more gloves! Still no progress photos. Glove means never having to say you're sorry, though, so I'm not apologizing.

Nephew

My very excellent nephew spent the afternoon here after school yesterday, and he and the pups played fetch until everyone except Della was exhausted!

The pups got a great workout and so did their squeaky toys. Geoffrey is wearing the very first sweater I ever knit, a Vogue Knitting magazine design from way back when:

I was living in California then, and when I saw the magazine at the grocery store, I knew I had to knit this sweater. In addition to yarn, I had to buy needles and I remember the yarn shop owner sold me a snazzy bag to keep all my new stuff in. I didn't know intarsia was hard, so I just jumped right in. I also didn't know it was challenging to substitute yarns, so I made mine out of a Pingouin cotton/rayon blend that I liked. I think this sweater sums up my philosophy pretty neatly about learning to knit, and that is: If You Like It, Knit It! Looking back (and this sweater must be nearly 20 years old now), I think I must have had beginner's luck. You will too! The stuff you love seems to turn out just fine.

Pups

Jack and Della say It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's Friday! Enjoy!

You Can't Hurry Glove

No, you just have to wait when you are knitting with 0000s. Sister's second glove grows, but isn't finished yet. I am eager to cast on the next pair, but I am determined to remain disciplined about finishing Laura's pair. Let's talk about gloves, baby . . . but first! a gratitude-gram:

Hey! You are all very sweet! Thank you for the compliments and comments on my new haircut and color. I have what is known in the trade as Party Hair; very thick, very fast-growing, naturally-occurring Big Wavy Cheerleader Hair. It always feels great to have it under control for a few weeks with a shorter haircut. Thanks for your kind words.

So! Back to my obsession with gloves. Do you have a copy of Handknitting with Meg Swansen? I was looking through my knitting books yesterday for further glove ideas, and whattaya know! Right there in HwithMS are the cleverest gloves ever! The fingers are created from I-cord! Can you imagine? No? Look here. I almost stopped working on Laura's glove to make some I-cord fingers! As it is, these gloves are high on my list as I work through my passionate glove affair. I never fail to be amazed, inspired, and entertained by a pattern, design, or book by Elizabeth Zimmermann or Meg Swansen. Schoolhouse Press rules.

Pups

Little Jack says Forget Your Troubles! C'mon, Get Thursday!

Have a happy one!

Endless Glove

I'm still working on the mate to Sister's glove; tiny needles, you know. I'm moving much more quickly on the second than I did on the first, but it's not ready for a photo shoot yet. Why not go look at Sheila's raspberries and cream Sanquhar glove? Isn't it cool that the Glorious Glove Project is producing such gloveliness? I'm really enjoying the group-knitting, and enjoying viewing the gorgeous gloves that are turning up around the knitting-blog ring.

IK

I picked up my copy of IKs Winter 2003 issue from my Local Yarn Store today. In a lovely bit of timely synchronicity, there's an article on gloves and glove-gussets. The gloves shown in the article are knit on US 7-sized needles, which gives me a little pause, since the Glove Project knitters are all working at US 0 and below. I'm kind of curious as to what type of glove fabric would be produced on US 7s, and will probably try the pattern out. There's also a very interesting article by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts on working intarsia (shudder) in the round on some ethnic footies, so I consider my $5.95 well spent for this issue.

Pups

Della says fly high; it's Wednesday.

Oh! Personal news! I got my hair cut short and dyed a reddish-shade called Cherry Cola. Cherry Cola! Can you stand it?

Cheers! We'll see you tomorrow!

Glove Letters

Many thanks for your kind comments on my first glove success! I appreciate the comments, and must say again how much I have enjoyed working through this glove-experience. Gloves are too cool! Plus, there is the delightful size of the blank canvas aspect...gloves are just the right size to practice peeries and skulls and other whimseys.

Speaking of peeries, did you realize that there are 900 authentic Fair Isle charts in the reprint of The Complete Book of Traditional Fair Isle Knitting?

Sheila McGregor's book has been reissued by (God Bless) Dover, and I just gotta get my hands on a copy. It appears to be available from Schoolhouse Press and also from Marcia's Needlearts Book Store, and I'm going to get one right now.

[sizzle-sizzle-creditcard-sizzle]

I met Sister at the local Y for our Monday evening swim class, and afterwards, she found time to try on her finished glove. It fits perfectly! Therefore, I've been working on the mate, free from fit worries. No point in showing you a photo of it in progress again, so why not go look at CCF's incredible glove knitting? Beautiful work, Carolyn!

Oh! Gloves! They're simply glovely.

Other Knitting

Hohum. The Morning Glory Vest by Alice Starmore is lanquishing at the armhole steeks, and Laura's Bead Ribbed Sock lays abandoned at the heel flap. Oh dear. Glove-knitting has completely turned my head.

Pups

Mike and Della say Go Team Go! It's Tuesday!

Wishing you an easy day and happy knitting.

Glove is a Many-Splendored Thing

I finished all those fingers (seemed like more than five) and so my first glove in the Glorious Glove Project is a wrap. Many thanks to the knitters who created the pattern and then posted it on the internet. My first glove is a Sanquhar-style glove, with authentic Sanquhar motifs on the front, and with historically-correct finger-gussets.

The back, of course, is not-quite-Sanquhar.

I have learned so much from this project, and not just about small villages in Scotland. The pattern can be a little puzzling, but I think that's owing to the puzzling nature of glove construction when you are knitting your first one. As Nanette reported, the pattern is error-free, and my gauge also seemed to change quite a bit over the course of knitting the whole thing. I expect a lot of the bumps to come out in the blocking. One thing that seems like it might contribute to a better fit would be to start the little finger before the ring, middle, and index fingers. I'll try that on the next pair. I think this glove is going to fit Sister perfectly. When I make my pair, I think I'll go up in needle size, from the 0000 to at least a 00, because I don't think I want to do the math to create 14 st per inch on a glove that would fit me and my large hands!

However! All that being said, isn't it awesome? Making a glove is a very cool project, and I want to knit many more. I've cast on the corrugated ribbing for the second to this glove, so Laura will have very elegant gloves to wear here with her shorts and t-shirt. (Weather note: It's November! But it is horribly hot and muggy! Gross!)

Pups

Jack and Della say It Smells Like Monday.

Hope you have an easy one. Enjoy your knitting!