another knitting blog

Glovember is Glover

[Think about it].

I'll try and get some beauty shots sometime; but for now, some final process pictures.

No, I'm not doing my Dr. Evil impression; and, while I am drinking tea, it's not with my pinkie extended. This is the little finger as I finished it up last night. The rest of the fingers are pushed down into the glove and out of the way. I wish I could remember where I saw this tip.

See, here's everybody. But look at all those ends. Yuck.

Here's the completed glove turned inside out and all the ends sewn in.

The gloves took a quick bath tonight and should be ready for duty whenever they are called upon.

Tomorrow starts a new month. Prudent Purl suggests that it be declared Decreasember. So be it!

Plans for December

I hoped to have a completed pair of gloves to display by the end of this weekend, but I was struck down today by...the sinus headache...of DOOM!

Medicated, and feeling better now. There are still a couple of days left in Glovember and I started the third finger today, so I think I'll finish before month's end. Watch this space.

So, plans for December. I haven't been able to come up with any knitting related puns on the name of the month. No help there. Blogging in December is going to be potentially sparse anyway. Much going on, personally and professionally.

I'm thinking that next month will be time to finish up some of the 'all buts' I've got sitting around here. Done, 'all but for the button band' or 'all but for assembly'. That ought to keep me busy.

The idea is to clear the decks for next year's projects. I have yarn for three or four sweaters I'd really like to get started on, but I've been putting off jumping into anything big and new.

Of course, first on the list is something I don't yet have the yarn for. The idea came up at the Savory group to have a Philosopher's Wool knit-along. [Oh look, I'm wearing my Philosopher's Wool sweater right now. Cosy]. I'm going to join in, and maybe lead a little, and knit a Colour Your Own in the Ilona colorway.

Finger Gussets

First of all, THANKS for the many wonderful comments on the gloves. I am quite pleased with how they are turning out and I glad that others are enjoying them too.

Surprisingly, they are not as difficult to work on as I first thought they would be. The 000s are not hard to knit with, especially after a month of warm up on dpns knitting socks.

I admit, the first glove took some thinking. I had to figure out all the little quirks of the pattern. Now that I've figured out how to make the pattern work for me, the second glove is progressing without my having to rip back more than a few stitches here and there.

It was my original intention to document most of the details of this process. However, I missed blogging much about the fingers of the first glove because my sister was visiting and I didn't have time to stop and take pictures and write up the descriptions. I'm now on the fingers of the second glove, so I have a second chance to show how they're done.

One of the unique features of the Sanquhar style that took a little extra thought were the gussets between each of the fingers. The fingers are three-sided; but in order to provide extra room at the base, extra stitches are cast on and then decreased to form the tiny gussets.

This is the first row of the pointer finger. The stitches on the needle on the right have been cast on to join the front and the back. These are the stitches that will be decreased.

Here is the gusset. See the little triangle in the middle? That's it. I'll be picking up stitches for the next finger along the bottom edge.

Once all the gusset stitches are decreased, the finger continues up three sides.

[I bought a new TV today. Of course, I spent more than I originally planned, but I'm quite happy with what I got].

ACK!!

I was enjoying my four day holiday weekend. Everyone else in the building is gone today and the laundry room is mine, all mine!! MWAH-HA-HA-HA!!! [You apartment dwellers know the extent of my glee. I'm washing until the quarters run out].

The sun is shining. I've got my knitting. I have a fresh pan of brownies.

Life is good...until...the top half of the TV picture tube goes BZZZT. Bye-bye. My TV is toast.

Now, I know some of you don't like TV, don't watch it, and feel pretty good about that. OK, life without TV is possible; and at times, perhaps, even preferable. I've gone several years here and there without a TV. I got along fine [except that I started listening to way too much talk radio]. Right now, however, is not a good time. I must be able to see LOST this Wednesday. It is imperative. [Hmm, Naveen Andrews or Matthew Fox on the desktop today?]

Tomorrow, I am on the hunt for a new idiot box.

Fingers and thensome

I've been holding out on you. I finished the first glove last Sunday and started the second one on Monday.

I haven't felt like pulling out the camera or or taking the time to post--too much stuff going on and no compulsion to share it. I'm feeling downright surly and a bit belligerent. Wanna make something out of it?

So, rather than antagonizing anyone, how about some pictures?

Today, I think that less said, the better.

Thumb

It's hard to take pictures of a glove on your right hand with a righthanded camera, especially if your camera doesn't have a nice short macro range.

Here is a slightly blurry picture of the thumb.

And here's the back. Oh, and look, the first finger is started too.

The red yarn is holding the rest of the stitches for the other fingers.

Next time: the fingers

Stitch Pattern

The stitch pattern in the instructions I am using to knit my gloves is called Duke.

However, I've decided to use a different stitch pattern that I saw in another pair of gloves at the Folk Life Festival, Rose.

I like the more even balance between the light and dark colors.

Next time: the thumb

Because They Serve

Although I don't support the war in Iraq, I definitely support the troops themselves. It's not a contradiction to hold both of these opinions at the same time.

I honor and support them because they serve as they have pledged to do. They have taken an oath and they are fulfilling their duty. We should all hope to follow their example and stay true to the promises and pledges we make, even (and perhaps, especially) when there is a price to pay.

I see our newest veterans of war everyday. They make me feel both proud and sad. I will always give them the respect they have earned.

Next time: back to knitting and the stitch pattern

Thumb Gusset

Things start to get interesting--shaping begins.

This is also the first time the incredible tightness of my stitches becomes annoying. I now need to figure out how to increase with stitches so tiny and tight that they are completely inflexible.

The chart for the gusset shows little M1 increase symbols, but there's no way I'm going to be able to lift and twist the bar between stitches without almost putting an eye out. So, I do my new favorite substitution for the M1 increase and YO in the row before and twist and knit on the next row. No pulling of the neighboring stitches--pretty slick.

Here is the gusset head on...

and in profile.

I got a comment on my last entry from the Goddess of Glove herself, Lisa of blogdogblog. I was in awe of her glove tour de force last year. Her blog and knitting have provided me with all kinds of inspiration. Go and check out her glove gallery and marvel at her take on the Sanquhar style. Fantastic!

[Non-knitting political mini-rant:

I haven't said anything about the outcome of the election for a couple of reasons: 1) I still can't talk about it without swearing; 2) I want to keep this space primarily for knitting. However, I am making a commitment to be better informed so as to call people on their bullshit political arguments when they try to pass them off as legitimate. This will be hard for an introvert like me, but the stakes are too high to remain silent and appear passive any longer.

I'm all riled up today because the President came to the hospital to meet with the soldiers who have been injured, maimed, and disfigured under his command. I'm sure he found it highly gratifying to once again see the high caliber of the brave and honorable young men and women who have suffered due to his arrogance and hubris.

I wish I could argue my beliefs more eloquently, I think my best choice is to try and keep living them. I guess I'll have to tell you to go and check out what Kerstin's been talking about this week. She's the real deal].

Adding My Initials

Instruction #5: Work check pattern or knit your initials here.

OK, let's do both. A 7-row alphabet is provided.

I guess these won't be a gift now, unless I find someone with the same initials or someone who won't mind.

The other side is all checked.

Next time: the thumb gusset

Cuff

Time to quit stalling. Let's get this party started! Woo!

OK, it's not that exciting. In fact, it's pretty dry.

The the charts in this pattern are clear; however, the written directions are pretty barebones. This leaves a lot open for interpretation. Not that there's anything wrong with that; after all, this is an exercise in problem solving.

Instruction #1: cast on 88 stitches.

No guidance provided about what kind of cast on. That's SOP* with most knitting patterns. Since this is essentially just another stranded knitting pattern, I used the standard cast on I've come to rely on in these situations--a cable cast on.

I cast all 88 stitches onto one needle, knit them off in equal numbers onto four needles, and joined without twisting.

Twenty-eight rows of K2 dark, P2 light later, we have this.

Man, those stitches are tiny...and tight! Corrugated ribbing is never very stretchy and at this gauge it's even less so. Maybe I should have tried 00 needles. Still, I can get the cuff over my hand, so we will press on.

Next time: adding my initials

*standard operating procedure

Tools

Tonight's topic is long, pointy metal things, to wit, 8" #000 (1.5mm) double-pointed knitting needles. These are my weapons of choice for the gloves.

To give you an idea of their relative size, here's a picture with (from top to bottom) size US9, US3, US1, and the 000s. Tiny, aren't they?

Surprisingly, they aren't all that hard on my hands; not yet, anyway.

I picked them up on Sunday when I met up with 'the' Michelle at Inez's Stitchery. We would have met up with Monica and Cheryl too if our timing was better.

Inez's is one of the more quirky yarn shops you could find--more than 30 years in the same location and probably still has stock around from the grand opening.

I would have taken a picture of the jumbled appearance of the inside, but I would be afraid that it would get back to Inez and that I would be banned from the shop for life. That would be a shame too, because Inez certainly fills a niche in this area. It's an oddly-shaped niche, determined by Inez's tastes and whims; however, I knew she would have 000s in stock.

Next topic: the cuff

Gangsta Knitter

I don't know why I haven't seen this one before.

Gangsta Knitter [Shouldn't that be Gangsta Knitta?]

Hilarious. Thanks, Ellen.

Materials

I've had this project in mind for quite some time, really ever since I saw a Sanquhar knitting demonstration at the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival in June of 2003. Of course, I was drawn to the geometric patterns and the tiny little stitches.

However, I wasn't yet ready to tackle this project [I still may not be]. I didn't consider it again seriously until some thin fingering weight wool appeared in the Elann newsletter in September. It wasn't quite the laceweight called for in the pattern, but the samples looked pretty fine and I thought I would give it a shot. [All this yarn is long gone. I should have bought more of it].

Now, I had to pick some colors. The traditional Sanquhar gloves are knit in black and white; however, I thought I'd like to choose some brighter and slightly unexpected colors.

This is what I chose.

I guess I was really drawn to the blue and thought that the camel would be a nice contrast without being as bright as white or cream. I was concerned for a while that there wouldn't be enough contrast between the colors and that the patterns wouldn't show up; however, I think now that won't be a problem.

My biggest concern now will be running out of yarn.

Tomorrow: the tools

[I didn't have to wait at all to vote today. I was somewhat bummed; I expected to get a lot of knitting done in line].

Welcome to Glovember!

Yes, last month was all about socks and this month the focus shifts to gloves. Whee!

However, unlike Socktober, in which the goal was product; the objective for Glovember is process--the how to, rather than the how much. In fact, I don't anticipate completing one glove let alone a pair of them. [It's madness I tell you!]

OK, here's the story: Plan A is to attempt to knit a pair of Sanquhar-style gloves. Don't know what those are? Well, as luck would have it, the latest issue of Interweave Knits has an article about them on page 6. It even has the link to the pattern available online that I'm going to use from a Japanese site called the ABCs of Knitting. Serendipitous!

Plan A is fraught with potential pitfalls. I'll probably take a dive into each one of them in turn. If things get really hairy, I have Plans B through E lined up. Let's hope I don't have to come up with a Plan F.

I'll have more say about the pattern and Sanquhar knitting as things progress; however, I'm going to keep this short so I can get some knitting time in before yoga class tonight.

Tomorrow: my probably altogether inappropriate choice of materials.