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Glove Shack

Wendy is right; I've turned into a Glove-Ho. I don't know how it happened, but there is suddenly more wool around here for gloves than there is for any other type of knitting. Gloves got a hold on me, and fingering-weight wool croons to me: Who's your daddy?

So. I finished the right Herringbone glove today, and I'm very pleased with it. I also continued up the cuff of the Landra glove to see what it would look like.

The palm side of the Herringbone glove is also glovely:

This is going to be one gorgeous pair of gloves, and I need to give the ABCs of Knitting my thanks for the pattern. Minako and Noriko's photos and notes were enormous help, and I extend my thanks to them, too. The second glove should be a snap!

Nanette (who is knitting gorgeous Poetry Mittens) asked if I was planning on knitting every glove in Folk Knitting in Estonia. The short answer: Yes! (The slightly longer answer: Yes! Yes! Yes! and the mittens, and the socks, too! I love that book!)

New Vintage Pattern

I am giddy over my new old Mary Maxim pattern that arrived today from Laurie. Apparently, it was designed with the rugged outdoorsy engineer type that we all adore in mind.

That's right! Oil Derricks! Everyone wants one of those!

Curiosity Corner

Did you see that thing floating about on various websites? No, not Janet's starburst thingie, but the thing where when you're sitting in your chair, and you lift your right foot and make circles with it in a clockwise direction, then draw the number 6 in the air with your right hand, and then your foot instantly and seemingly autonomously begins to turn counter-clockwise? Try it! It's a perfect Friday activity.

Pups

Jack and Della say It's Friday. Follow your nose, or follow your best pal's nose.

Have a wonderful day, and a wonderful weekend. The glove you save may be your own.

Careless Glove

I was careless with my Herringbone glove and left it at an appointment I had early in the day. By the time I realized it was missing, the office was closed. But! There was voicemail for me letting me know it was safe. Anyway, the result of my glove adventure was that I had no glove to knit Wednesday evening. What to do but cast on a new glove?

This is "Landra's Glove" from Folk Knitting in Estonia. Instead of knitting it in five solid colors of Koigu, I'm using a handpaint and a solid from Rob and Matt. This glove pattern by Nancy Bush was named for the Landra family, Taui and Maie. Yeah! Those Landras! The Koigu Wool Designs genius-artists. It's a beautiful design, and I'm not sure that doing it in two colors will do it justice as an homage to Landras. However, I'm going to give it a try. That's a wonderful thing about knitting gloves; they are small enough projects to easily lend themselves to knitter's-choice.

This glove includes the very interesting Kihnu vits braid:

I like it.

Morgan asked about the color numbers of the Koigu PPM in Wednesday's entry. The stippled yellow is P616, the turquoisey-green-purple is P139, and the black with vibrant pinks, yellows, blacks, and blue-greens is What? also P139? Apparently there was a label malfunction at the LYS.

Pups

Mike and Jack say it's Thursday! Knitter's choice!

Have a great day!

What's Up

What's up with your knitting? I only had time to add a single finger to my Herringbone glove Tuesday. Still, I suppose that one finger a day means a pair of gloves in two weeks. That's not so bad. Here's the limited progress:

Not very exciting at this point. Tomorrow I'll add the ring finger and aim for a Double-Start-Cast On for the mate. In the meantime, let's look at my new Koigu loot, all for gloves:

The solids (cream and black) are from those good guys Rob and Matt; the handpaints are from my lovely local yarn shop, Hill Country Weavers (where the Yentala and Cyndilou allegedly hang out on weekends).

Isn't Koigu pretty? Sometimes it's just as pretty in the skein as when it's knitted into gloves. Several of the gloves in Folk Knitting in Estonia specify Koigu. I'm ready!

Yum. Since we have very little knitting news, why don't we go admire Mary Cassatt's Old Woman Knitting? Or, if you prefer, we can go see what's new at the Art or Crap? website.

Pups

Della says It's Wednesday! What are you waiting for?

Happy day, and happy knitting.

Justify My Glove

Steady on with the fingers of the Herringbone Glove; I expect to have a beautiful new pair of gloves by the weekend. In answer to a question asked a couple of times: Why Yes! I *do* always knit gloves with two or more circular needles! In time, I may switch back to double points, but for now, I stay in the circle of glove. With the Herringbone Gloves, I'm knitting the hand on two size 2 Addi circular needles, and the fingers on two size 1 Addi circular needles .

Vintage Patterns

We've been talking about vintage patterns recently, both here and over at Nanette's. Nanette, in fact, has some patterns for men that are awesomely awful. Don't miss them in her Feb. 1 entry.

We've mentioned Laurie at Vintage Knits as a resource for old patterns, but did you know you can visit the American Red Cross Museum and download nine WWII wartime-knitting patterns? Cool. Get your knitting on.

Pups

Mikey's rushing around because it's Tuesday, and he's an empathic pup.

Enjoy your day, and happy knitting!

All in Glove is Fair

The Herringbone Glove progresses, but I've made some changes that I'd like to note here. Tata and Tatao have charted a beautiful glove, so I was reluctant to monkey with it, but it wouldn't have been big enough for me at the given gauge (40sts x 44rows = 10cm; thanks Noriko!). For my big hands, I changed needle size to create a better fit for me, and am knitting more at 32 st = 10cm. I haven't checked the row gauge, but it is a smaller number than in the original pattern. My changes have worked well for me, see?

Fits me like a — well, you know. But if you are using this pattern, be sure to check your hand measurements against the pattern gauge.

Another change I made was to use Nancy Bush's Double-Start Cast On (from Folk Knitting in Estonia) with doubled strands of Koigu, rather than knitting a couple of rounds as directed. I think it's a good change; quite decorative, although it's hard to see here:

A third change was to begin working from the index finger, rather than the ring fingers, as Minako and Noriko have done. This change was because I misread the pattern! Follow the charts and you can't go wrong.

Isn't the palm side glam, with its black boundaries and salt-and-pepper stitches?

Non-Glove Knitting

I've really been enjoying the links to Japanese knitters that I've been encountering. Here's a knitter who creates foodstuff—chocolates, fries, burgers, tarts, cream puffs, salads, ice cream, and more—all in astonishing detail, plus cute outfits for her pup. Amazing! and very creative.

Pups

We hope your weekend was swell. It was sad around here, because of Sister's sad news. We'll be missing hearing about Pepper's adventures.

Little Jack says It's Monday: Gimme All Your gLovin.

See you tomorrow!