Sonnet Stitches

A long time ago - maybe three years ago - a former coworker mentioned that she was freezing to death, her hands were turning blue, she could barely type, and this is not helpful to one's productivity when one makes one's living as a writer.

So we discussed the value of a good pair of fingerless gloves when one has to type large volumes in an office whose thermostat has two settings: Antarctica & Gehenna.

It figures I would finally get around to making her a pair when it is 100 degrees outside:



These were extremely basic... provisional cast-on, garter-stitch cuff sideways until it fit around my wrist, grafted together seamlessly, stitches picked up at one end of the tube an applied I-cord hiding the raw edge at the other end:



This of course was leftover yarn from this project. I love all the subtle orange and yellow streaks in what is actually a very bright green yarn, and the purple flecks in the "blood orange" colorway. I was excited to get an excuse to knit with the pretty yarn again, but it was also a shame, because the first draft had a very interesting mosaic pattern on Glove #1. Unfortunately, that did not leave enough yarn for Glove #2, so I actually ripped back and was knitting green on Glove #2 as I was unravelling Glove #1. I should have taken a picture, but this was Saturday and I was kid-sitting (kind of hard to call it babysitting when they're 12) for Teri and not in proximity to my camera. That's also why the fingers are so short. I am not exaggerating that I have about three or four scraps of yarn about an inch long, and maybe one scrap about 3 inches long, and that's IT. I was proud of myself that I actually got a pair of somewhat matching fingerless gloves out of it. At any rate, sorry, K - your gloves were originally intended to be a lot more visually interesting...



The thing I'm least pleased about is how yucky a job I did picking up stitches from the cuff. I did half of a pair of fingerless gloves (in a much smaller gauge) for Joumana that I'm now redrawing because I figured out how to make them better after I completely finished one, and the garter stitch cuff on those was absolutely killer. These, not so much. But I'm including a note that if they are unsatisfactory, too big (K is a tall girl, but I modeled the gloves on my Hagrid-sized hands, so I fear they may be overkill), or she doesn't like the color, she is to pass them one desk forward to the sweet and probably also-freezing guy that sits in front of her and send me specs for a new pair.

I must say, after the marathon baby blanket, it's quite satisfying to have my next project done in less than a week, and have stash-busted leftover yarn to boot.

So... cheers, K - keep warm and I'm sorry it took me three years to knit a project that took less than six hours. :)

Labels: finished objects, friends, gloves, knitting

I made a pair of girly gloves to fit my giant man hands, because such a thing does not otherwise exist:

Basic glove calculations based on my giant hand size and a 4-year-old issue from Interweave Knits, with embellishments courtesy of Nicky Epstein and some Edgy Thing or other (like I can keep track). They have cute names like "ribbon candy" and "bubble wrap," and they make people poke my cuffs and squeal. Wool alpaca blend dk, the green has flecks of rust and the rust has flecks of violet, and is aptly named "blood orange." I wish I'd finished them (or started them) a month ago, but as this winter is NEVER going to end, I'll get plenty of wear out of them for this year.
I uploaded some pictures of our house and will post those in the next day or two. They're from Christmas. I'm a slacker. You know how it goes. :)

Labels: gloves, knitting, winter