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Groovy Kinda Glove

A busy day, but there's nearly always time for a few rounds of knitting. I worked on Sister's Bead Ribbed sock, and also on my very exciting yet not-quite Sanquhar glove:

A close-up of the puzzling and mysterious Thumb Gusset:

Working on something wearable at this gauge (tiny stitches, tiny needles) is both interesting and challenging. I like the idea of being able to knit gloves as much as I like the idea of handknit socks, so I think I'll continue with gloves once this prototype pair is complete. Because I've never knit a glove before, I've had a number of (probably) pesky questions about how to interpret the pattern directions, and my support group has been exquisitely gracious with answers. This knit-along is The Glorious Glove Project, and if you'd like to try your—ahem—hand at glove-knitting, head over here and sign up. Very helpful, very talented, and very generous knitters.

Off-Topic

A few entries ago, Rachael was talking about her new tattoo-to-be, and even had a show-your-tattoo contest. The glove I'm knitting at such a tiny scale reminds me of the intricacies of tattoos, and it seems the back of a glove hand is a blank canvas rich in possibilities. But I digress. I've been thinking about tattoos since Rachael brought it up, because in my observations around Austin, I seem to be the only person without a tattoo! There is some awesome body art on display here, in the most mundane venues. I see tatoos at the grocery store, at the knit shop, at the library, and, of course, on my sister. Everywhere! Since I've been in the process of realizing I'm in the tattoo-less minority, I was immediately struck by this story (via boingboing) about an artist who is seeking 2095 people each willing to have one word of a story tattooed on their person. The story will not be published anywhere else in any form. As of the 18th, 650 people had agreed to wear one word. Isn't that astonishing? The tattooed participants will become living words. What a cool art project. I wish I had more nerves about needles, because I'd like to participate in something this imaginative.

Pups

Della speaks for all of us here when she wishes you a marvelous Friday and a restorative weekend. Hooray for us! We win again!

gLove Hurts

Knitting a glove on 1.5 mm needles (yes! that's 000!) is hard on knitting-hands. I find I have to take frequent breaks to shake out tension in my hands. But that's the only drawback; otherwise, this is a fascinating project for a first-time glove knitter.

Here is the pattern I'm using, and this is what my glove is *not* going to look like:

I mentioned yesterday that I was waiting for my laceweight yarn, in traditional Sanquhar black and white, to arrive. The yarn I'm using, black Wildfoot and red-purple-orange variegated Lang Jawoll, simply doesn't have the high contrast that would show off the patterning. However, I still think it's pretty cool!

Here's the checkerboard pattern above the corrugated ribbing cuff:

See? With my low-contrast yarn, you can't really tell it's a checkerboard. So the black and white laceweight will be a welcome arrival. Wait. In the original Sanquhar glove photo from the pattern site, you can't really tell it's a checkerboard either. Hmmm.

But Wait! There's more!

Cute sisterly initials and little blobby hearts. Upon finishing the knitting up-to-this-point, I realized that I had once again failed to center correctly. I don't mind so much; the hearts were sweet afterthoughts, since this set of gloves will be for my dear sister.

Now, when knitting on four double-pointed steel knitting needles that are size 000, you can expect a number of punctures. Those things are sharp, and as you might imagine without too much difficulty, sharp on both ends! That's why they are called double points! I made an emergency visit to my Local Yarn Shop, where they happened to have two Addi Turbo 000 circulars, so I've switched from the dps to two circulars, and am punctured half as often.

Pups

The pups are getting their own web-hits... the top search words that are bringing visitors to this blog are "halloween costumes for dachshunds." Can you imagine? (It's not just me. All dachshund-owners must be slightly cracked.)

Mikey says it's Thursday; get your toys ready!

Have an easy day; we'll look forward to seeing you here tomorrow.

Yielding to Temptation

I've been watching a knit-along at this Yahoo Group, and today I yielded to the temptation to join in and start a project that is not socks or the Morning Glory Vest by Alice Starmore. More about that later; first, here's this:

Cute! It's true I've been feeling rather like a sock-knitting monkey the past few weeks while I was knitting on socks-deadline, but I never expected to receive an actual mini-sock monkey in the mail! Thanks, Amber!

Now, back to the temptation part of this entry. The Yahoo group I've been following has been knitting Sanquhar Gloves, very cool knitting indeed. I've never knit a glove, much less a pair of gloves . . . and it's too tempting! Mary, in her 12 October entry, detailed her notes on a Sanquhar swatch, and I am using the same free pattern that she is, and aiming for the same 14 stitches per inch gauge. Sanquhar gloves are unique to a small town in southern Scotland, and the distinctive patterning created by the knitters there has been documented through historical records back 200 years. Traditionally, Sanquhar gloves are knitted in black and white laceweight wool. While I wait for my wool to arrive, I'm practicing with some sock yarns and pointy 000 needles, because I've never knitted an actual garment at that tiny a gauge. Here's the cuff, nearly finished:

Pretty sweet! Nanette has finished a pair, and I am eager to see her photos, since to me, she is the Queen of Patterned Mittens.

Pups

Mike and Della say if it doesn't fit, you must reknit.

We are wishing you a wonderful Wednesday! See you tomorrow!

So Distracted

So I've set the arm steeks and begun the decreases for both arms and the neck on the Morning Glory Vest by Alice Starmore, and I am beginning to get back into a knitting groove with this project. Yet, I feel a bit distracted still, by Scribble Lace and bead knitting and beaded sock-knitting. Before I forget, I should show you the arm steeks, right?

In context:

So steeky-lovely! I'm not quite eager yet to finish it up, but am Moving Toward Eagerness, and I suppose that's all that's needed to finish a vest this pretty.

The Socking News

Here is the sock I was telling you about yesterday, the Bead Ribbed beauty designed by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer. My version of this design is in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn, color Forest, with teal-lined crystal Size 8 beads. The curious thing about beaded socks is that they are quite comfortable to wear, despite the presence of several hundred tiny glass beads. Is knitting beads into a handknit, handpainted wool sock gilding the proverbial lily? I think so . . . but gild on.

I think these will be very pretty, and I'm glad to rescue them from sock-basket obscurity.

And this pair-to-be, too.

This Opal yarn has lost its label, but I remember it as one of the first Opals available in the US, even before that Opal Tiger (!) yarn. Does that make it Vintage Opal? :-)

I think that for a while I was so smitten with the self-patterning yarns that I would cast on each new one that I received, and then abandon it whenever a New! New! New! sock yarn was announced and available. I moved a big clear plastic 30-gallon-or-so storage box filled to bursting with sock yarns from NJ, and I'm glad I moved it; it feels like a Socknitters Holiday finding "new" socks and sock yarn whenever I dive into the sock yarn bin.

Pups

All pups are well; they have been enjoying the cooler weather we've been having here. Of course, it's a relative-cool...I never thought I would consider 80 degrees cool, but here I am, and glad to have the pups along for the ride.

Jack says RingaDingDing; it's Tuesday. Be cool.

Lotsa Knit Stuff

Lotsa nice stuff happened knit-wise this weekend! First, the birthday guy liked his socks (Regia 5342—Go Yankees!):

The Big Thirteen, so we don't pose like little kids anymore. My nephew is simply the most wonderful young person; I wish you could meet him, 'cause I know you'd agree. I'm very glad that I'm getting to know him.

Mamas, Don't Let Yer Babies Grow Up to Be Knitters

Speaking of wonderful, what's more wonderful than a cowboy? (Were you wondering Where have all the cowboys gone? Have you checked at your local knitting guild?)

This particular cowboy was at the meeting of my Texas guild, the Austin Knitters and Crocheters, and he was knitting his lushly cabled Sweater Project. David is creating a beautiful sweater, is an excellent knitter, he reads my blog, and likes my dogs. Yeah! He's way-okay in my book.

David is the first knitting blogger I've met in person, and meeting a person you've heretofore only read about is quite an unusual experience. Until Saturday afternoon, David and I had never met, yet we had lots to talk about since we read each other's blogs. How curious, though, to sit down next to a stranger and know that you can ask about the big date Monday, or how the knitting chart software is coming along, or how Mom's big dogs are doing up in the Hill Country. I really enjoyed this real-time encounter, because it was like meeting an old friend. Thanks, David, and thanks to all knit-bloggers and blog-comment-ers—it's wonderful to know you are out there, sharing your lives and your knitting.

Re: the guild, I liked it. There are a larger number of members than in my guild in NJ, so there is a feast of show-and-tell items. At this meeting, there also was a workshop on knitting a bead bracelet. It took me the nearly the entire length of the meeting to string my beads, but once that was done, it was knitting-flying.

Here's the knitting, on 0000 pins:

A little close-up:

And here's the finished bracelet on Sister's wrist:

Cool, huh? This is fun knitting, once the bead-stringing is over. I made two bracelets from this kit, and I think they would make great little holiday gifts with a much lower time investment than knitting socks.

Socks?

Yes, after nothing but socks last week, more socks! I thought my sock-basket was cleared out, but over the weekend I found a pair I had started for Laura sometime last year: The Beaded Rib Sock pattern from Jackie E-S. These need to be finished, because they are very festive, and because Laura wants them.

And, I found an Opal sock in a very lovely stripe pattern, half-knit in golds and browns. These need to be finished because I want to wear them. And! I found two more pair, small, and each at the 1.5 socks stage. Since I can't remember why these socks were abandoned, it should be easy to just pick them up and go directly to sock pair-completion, but I may be able to talk someone else into finishing them, especially while she's in a bit of a weakened state.

Martha asked about the roll-top on many of the socks I've knit-blogged about recently. I began doing this after seeing Sande Francis' sock photos on the internet, and I sometimes prefer this style to doing a ribbing. It's an easy top-down start, makes a cute little comfy roll, and stays up just fine — no slouching or slipping in my experience.

Pups

Mike, Jack, and Della had a lovely weekend with plenty of romping time. They especially liked the Dracula Dachshund card that David got for them.

The pups have been thinking about Halloween costumes, but they hadn't realized there was a fanged and caped vampire-dachshund they might emulate. Wot tricks! Wot treats! Woof!

Jack says it's Monday! Hurry along now, and have a great one.