The only problem with working on a couple of big projects is that they get boring. I get bored with working on them and I’m sure you get bored hearing about them. Oh they’re still beautiful, I’m still looking forward to wearing them and I have no regrets about yarn or pattern or color or anything like that. It’s just that they’re big. Big. BIG! Of course, part of the reason for that is that I’m big. I’ll admit to being fluffier than I should be, but even at my ideal weight, I’m still a big girl.
When I was in high school (and I wasn’t at all fluffy then), the company from which we were purchasing our class rings handed out a set of plastic “sizer” rings to each of us. The idea was that we could play with them for a week and find out what size ring suited us best. There was a set for the girls and a larger set for the boys. I had to use the boys set and I had to order a boys’ style ring. It was humiliating. (My hands are identical to my father’s - in shape, configuration and size. When he asked me for mittens last winter, I was able to make him a perfectly fitting pair by using the pattern I had adapted for my own hands).
The knitted gloves I mentioned in last Friday’s post became my weekend project and I am happy to report that they are indeed fast and easy to make. I also admit that I did a bit of farting around with materials because of the above mentioned large hands.
The pattern calls for 4 oz of worsted weight yarn to be worked on size 8 US needles. I used a strand of Woolease and a strand of Imagine mohair blend yarn worked together as I wanted to increase the size slightly and I wanted the gloves to be thick. I did stick to the size 8 needles though. The 4 oz. stipulation is overkill but probably a useful precaution. I started with a single full skein of each of the yarns and had leftovers of both.
37 stitches on needle, 5 rows worked.
The gloves are worked sideways with each finger being cast on when you come to it and bound off when you finish with it. In the above picture, the little finger is complete. The next step is to bind off 10 stitches. When you’ve done that, the pattern instructs you to place the remaining stitch back on to the left needle. Unfortunately, at least for me, this resulted in a sizeable gap between this stitch and the next one.
10 stitches bound off, 15 stitches cast on and worked back to the bind-off point. Gaposis!
The pattern then has you cast on the appropriate number of stitches for the next finger. The picture shows the cast on stitches having been worked back to the bind-off point. I found that a slip-knit-psso followed by knitting into the front and back of the following stitch worked pretty well to close the gap while maintaining the correct number of stitches. I did try K2tog and SSK (followed by the increase, of course) but neither of them provided the right…er…closure. The slip-knit-psso gave the best results.
Halfway home.
At this point it’s beginning to resemble something you might recognize as a glove but it’s only one side. The second side has to be completed.
The whole nine yards - note the double width thumb.
This is what it looks like when you’re finished. Funny looking, isn’t it? Now you just fold it in half along the thumb and sew up the side seams and fingers. Mattress stitch is a bit fiddly because you’re sewing cast-on and bound-off edges together (except for the tips of the fingers). But once you get the hang of it, it goes smoothly and looks terrific.
The thumb is worked over 12 rows and that’s just a tiny bit snugger than I’d like, though not uncomfortable. If I make these again (and I’m already thinking about funky ways to vary the appearance) I’ll give the thumb another couple of rows for a skosh more room.
All sewn up.
I grant you, these still look a bit strange, but they fit surprisingly well and feel pretty good!
Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up…
Now that I have the final items completed I can take measurements and use those in combination with a gauge swatch to vary the size of the yarn and the needles. You could also put those bind-off stitches on holders and graft the fingers if you wanted to avoid the appearance of a seam. I’m also thinking about making a pair that’s longer on the arm and changes colors for each finger. I think that would be lots of fun :)
But I’m easily amused :)
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Love the gloves! You did a great job. :) I’ll have to make a pair one of these days. First, though, I’ve got yarn on order (yeah - like I needed more) to knit some mittens. My hands are freezing on my morning walks so I figured I’d better get busy. Two needle mittens, though, not my dreaded double-points! Hehehehe
Thanks Bron :) I’m with you on the DPNs. I can manage them, but I’m never going to be comfortable with them. Give me circulars or give me a flat pattern; sewing doesn’t bother me!
I like the gloves Robbyn! so much so, that I’ve printed the pattern! I don’t mind DPNs all that much, but the few mittens I’ve made did not please me much, either in the making or the wearing. I prefer gloves, but no WAY was I going to attempt them…....until now! Thanks for the great info and pattern link!
Hi Lisa!
Glad you found the link useful. I had run across it quite a while back and forgotten all about it until I reviewed it again last Friday and had one of those “Oh…wait a minute!” moments :)
Robbyn, these look wonderful on you; I’m interested in this pattern now. (And I’d better knit them before someone pulls a Glove-Intervention on me.)
My hand-size requires me to upsize my gloves to Lumberjack Size; your’s look quite dainty in comparison to mine :-)
Hey Lisa :)
I’m glad to know I’m not the only woman out there with larger-than-average hands. The picture is deceptive - these things ain’t dainty - but they weren’t meant to be.
I read somewhere recently about doing the fingers on regular style gloves in double-knitting rather than all those teeny DPNs. Hmmmmm…that might be a possibility!
Oh Robbyn, you’re a genius! I’ve thought of changing colors for each finger in dpn gloves to make them more interesting, but never thought of making vertical stripes over the whole glove. I definitely will try it. A rainbow gloves, maybe? Or a riot of primary colors? 10 different, but complimenting colors, perhaps? Ooh the possibilities are limitless! :) Thanks, Robbyn, for the idea.
Vaire - if you do it, please post a picture? That would be soooo cool! :)
