Annemor #8 from Selbuvotter

I finished these gloves a month ago and decided to take photos yesterday afternoon after a fresh snow fall. I might try for better photos later.








pattern: Annemor #8 from Selbuvotter - http://www.selbuvotter.com
yarn: 50g Dale Baby Ull (black) and 50g Shepherd Baby Wool 4 Ply (white)
needles: US size 2 (2.75 mm)

I can't say enough good things about Dale Baby Ull, and Shepherd Baby Wool 4 Ply is a great match. I have extremely sensitive hands/wrists and can't stand to wear a lot of wools on my hands, but this wool is so comfortable and soft. If I could afford it I would knit just about everything in Dale Baby Ull. It's perfect for small projects. These gloves require two 50g skeins, one of each color, so around $12 total. Not bad. Cheaper yarn can be found elsewhere, but if I can't actually wear it then cheaper is hardly a good deal.

My older brother and his wife are expecting another daughter in July so I should knit something for my new niece. Right now I'm working on a mindless stockinette sock, which isn't my idea of fun. Time to drag out the books/magazines and look for cute baby sweaters.

Selbuvotter gloves in progress and chart chatter

Selbuvotter! How much do I love this book? It wasn't easy to choose the gloves I wanted to make first, almost every pattern in it appeals to me.







One more finger and then I get to do it all over again.

yarn: Dale Baby Ull (black) and Shepherd Baby Wool (white)
needles: US size 2 (2.75 mm)

This style of gloves would look pretty in a light delicate blue on white for a subtle softer look. I decided to use the traditional black and white first but I'll probably explore more colors on the next pair.

For more information about this book visit its website: http://www.selbuvotter.com
It's a good idea to buy the 2nd edition, but errata can be found on the website for the 1st printing.

And now some words about charts

When I start a new pattern the first thing I do is turn on the scanner, for a few practical reasons. I don't want to mark up the original pattern, and if I misplace the copy the original is still here. Any section of the chart can be enlarged, or broken up into manageable pieces, before it's printed. A print-out and a magnet board can be slipped inside a sheet protector (see below), which I can't do if the original chart is printed in a book.



On the right is a scan of the original page, those three small charts were enlarged so they'd be easier to see without specs on. Scan charts in greyscale (instead of black and white) so they look better printed out.

I also turned the hand chart into two charts: one for the left glove and one for the right. Doing this allowed me to enlarge the hand charts so they filled up the entire page and they're easier to follow as well.

The magnet board can be purchased at most craft stores in the embroidery section, give it a try if post-it notes don't work for you. My board came with the magnets shown, including the handy ruler magnet.

How now brown gloves?

I made these gloves for mom in 2004, using an incredibly soft merino wool recycled from a thrift store sweater. The plan was to eventually knit a hat and scarf as well (there's oodles of the yarn leftover), and maybe sometime this century I'll get around to it.




Today I saw them on the dining room table and thought I might as well finally take a photo so I could replace the "picture coming soon" placeholder for this pair on my mittens/gloves page. It's nice to see they have held up so well.

I need to finish a thumb to complete mom's Christmas 2009 mittens:





I'll take a better photo (hopefully on mom's hands) when the 2nd mitten is dry and blocked, which should be this week and not 5 years from now.

My next project will be a pair of black and white mittens (or maybe gloves) from Selbuvotter:



Looking through this book is pure bliss, it was my favorite Christmas present. I really want to make more mittens for mom and Katie but I have yet to make any mittens or gloves for myself, so I'm next in line. After that I'll let mom pick out a pair she would like. She'll be tickled to know these are Norwegian patterns, which is where her father's parents were from.

Updates: Socks and Mittens

I finished the St. Paul socks:


yarn: Lana Grossa #1004 on size 0 Addi Turbo
I'm not sure if I like how the experimental toe feels on my foot so I might rip them out and try again (good thing they were knit top down).

... started another pair of boring basic socks:


yarn: Regia on size 0 Addi Turbo
The short row heel is hiding under the sock, I made it solid dark blue by cutting out the other colors. Hopefully there will be enough yarn to make a matching blue toe.

... and knit up a swatch for these mittens:


yarn: fingering weight Shetland wool on size 1 Inox
That's light green on dark green, not black

The chart is based on a photo in a German pattern book, but it hasn't reached the final polished stage yet. For unknown reasons the original chart is not actually in the book -- I looked at every single page to be sure. The birds are a mostly accurate copy, the rest is a mixture of what I could see in the photo, my idea of what might look good, and what fit into the chart outline. Now I need to sort out measurements and row gauge and determine if the chart is too tall for my smallish hands, which I'm guessing it is. I'm also not crazy about the thumb chart so I might start over with an empty thumb outline.

When the chart is finalized I'll post it here, but don't hold your breath, I'm still in a knitting doldrums. If I shorten it then I'll include the original for longer fingers.

Birthday gloves, finished

Quick update, I mailed these off on the 10th but forgot to post the final photo:


Made with Patons Kroy sock yarn

Right now I'm planning out the colors for Meg Swansen's Fair Isle Cardigan. If I can get all the Shetland yarn I need at Marilyn's Yarn (using a generous gift certificate, gotta love those) that'll be my next big project.

I'm almost done with a toe-up sock, just need to finish off the cuff. I made the first sock in this pair early last year, it'll be nice to have a new pair of socks for my own feet.

Birthday gloves

I finished the first glove last week and took a photo for mom to prove I wasn't being a total slacker. (These gloves are her friend's birthday present.)


Patons Kroy sock yarn

A little pattern I made up to fit around the wrist (it's on both sides)

I'm almost done with its mate, just 4 fingers to go. I have some ideas for my next project but nothing set in stone.

Angora Lined Mittens

It's plain looking, which is what Dad will like about it, but I'm happy that it works exactly how I thought it would in my head. As a bonus, it feels even better than I imagined. Now I want to make myself a pair of wool mittens lined with angora, it feels so cushiony and WARM and soft.

This looks like a practical joke here, mittens with no hole for the hand

I don't have a pattern written down, but this is what I did: provisional cast on with the wool, knit 1 round plain, knit 2 rounds of K1P1, purl 1 round (turning round), work 3 inches of K1P1 for the cuff, and then blahblahblah knit a mitten. Weave in all ends and trim them now, it's easier than waiting until the liner is almost done. Note: When the liner is closed up you can't reach the inside of the wool mitten to weave/trim the ends. Release the cast on sts from the scrap yarn and knit a second mitten (the liner) with the angora yarn. The thumb will be on the same side but make a left thumb for the right mitten's liner and vice versa (so when the liner is turned inside-out stuffed up in the mitten the gussets will line up). If your favorite thumbs are not hand specific then this isn't an issue. When the liner is done push it inside the mitten. There are some concerns in there about working with different yarns and maybe different gauges and the outside mitten should be big enough to accomidate the liner. Measuring the swatch around my hand revealed I needed 1/2 inch ease for the liner so I went with 9" for the mitten and 8.5" for the liner to fit an 8.5" hand. I guessed at his hand size, hope it fits.

Attention thrifty knitters on a budget: I unravelled the sleeve of a 99 cent thrift store sweater for the angora yarn, making this a very cheap project. They originally priced the sweater much higher but it was ugly so I found it on a 99 cent Monday. (At that point it'd been in the store for 4-5 weeks, nobody else wanted it.) The yarn is lovely but the sweater had a few dozen tiny satin rosettes and faux pearls sewn all over the front. Ew. It was in brand-new condition so I suspect it was a gift and the unfortunate recipient was unable to return it.

I'm off to the Kitsap Peninsula for my Dad's 60th birthday where I'll see my younger brother and his wife for the first time in 2.5 years. They recently moved to Chicago (from Florida) and you know what that means... more handknits!

Oh the weather outside is frightful

It's snowing!



Good thing I finished the gloves before the first snowfall. But I should save them as a just-in-case Christmas present. Oh well.

The colors in this 2nd photo taken outside in natural light are more accurate.

I'm not knitting for everyone in my family this Christmas, doing that for four years in a row is enough. My family is always very appreciative so it's not a thankless burden but I just didn't feel up to challenge this year. I might make some stationery/card sets, grandma and mom and my sister-in-law would love those and it'd only take a weekend of mad crafting to accomplish. I still want to knit mom a Fair Isle cardigan but I have yet to find or design a pattern that is worth the effort and time. Bleh. That and I'm feeling unreasonably lethargic lately so I'm pretty much useless for anything requiring actual brain power.

I'm currently making socks (are you surprised? ha-HA) with this pretty Trekking sock yarn. I can't decide which photo is better so you get to see both.

Next up are lined mittens for Dad's birthday present, using this soft and springy worsted dark blue wool and white angora yarn for the liner.


I found 2 skeins at a thrift shop, score

There won't be a patterned exterior, my Dad isn't a fancy kinda guy, but he'll appreciate the warmth and softness of the lining. I'll start with a provisional cast-on in the blue wool and do a couple rounds of K1P1 then do a purl turning round and continue the ribbed cuff. When the mitten is done I'll rescue the cast-on sts from the scrap yarn and knit a mitten inside with the angora yarn. Sounds like a plan! Gotta start swatching tonight.

A glove and swatches and LYS reviews

Here's a glove made with Trekking sock yarn on size 0 needles (I switch to 000 after the top finger joint to help shape the top of the fingers without extra decrease rounds):



1993 called, it wants its plaid shirt back


It'd be a good idea to knit the mate before I forget what all the numbers scribbled down on paper mean. That's an asymmetric thumb gusset. It's my favorite because the increases are done on just one side (every other round) and the increase line is hidden under the thumb. Use M1R for the right hand increases and M1L for the left hand. Instructions for this gusset, and a few others, are in the Winter 2003 Interweave Knits.



detail of gusset on right glove palm


The IK Winter 2003 article on basic gloves is pretty good but the math formulas don't work for small gauges and they don't tell you to start the pinky finger a few rounds before the other fingers. Gloves fit better if the pinky has a head start. I work the pinky finger and then knit 1/2" more on the hand before starting the ring finger.

Swatchin' Time


(L to R): Nature Spun Sport, Dale Baby Ull, Nature Spun Sport

I swatched for the Ullared hat from Hats On! using Dale Baby Ull and Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport from the stash. I love working with the Baby Ull (which is fingering weight) but I prefer the high contrast between the Nature Spun pale blue and black. Also, the Baby Ull is so soft it should be used for a pair of gloves. The Baby Ull blue is not at all true in the photo, it's darker and prettier than it appears here.

New Yarn Shops

There are a couple new yarn shops in Bellingham. Marilyn's Yarn is on Northwest Ave (across the street from Yaeger's Sporting Goods). Northwest Handspun Yarns is on Commercial, three blocks from the downtown bus station.

Yesterday I stopped by Marilyn's Yarn for the first time and the workers left me alone for an entire hour. Some people are offended if they're ignored in shops but I prefer to browse in peace. Surely they would have helped me had I asked for help. (One employee was on the floor sorting through 100+ skeins of some type of Noro, looking for the last two skeins of a specific self-striping colorway for a customer.) Personally I can't stand it when people hover and ask what I want to make, what I'm looking for, etc. They have a pretty good selection of yarns, including several I haven't seen before, but no Dale Baby Ull or Brown Sheep Nature Spun fingering/sport and those were the only yarns I was looking for. There seemed to be a lot of novelty yarns but plenty of good staples too so it's not like the fluffy stuff was taking over. Prices seemed normal for a LYS.

Afterwards I walked to Hank & Bolt, a few blocks away, and was disappointed to see their selection of Baby Ull has shrunk to just a few colors. They probably weren't exactly thrilled about Marilyn's Yarn opening up down the street. That had to hurt.

Northwest Handspun Yarns opened a couple weeks ago so I stopped by on Saturday to check out their yarn. I was pleased to see their selection of Brown Sheep Superwash. I don't see the LP Superwash very often in yarn shops so I was happy to find it right here in Bellingham. The prices are inflated above the norm, no doubt to help cover the cost of renting downtown. This shop actually used to be located in another building downtown but it was hidden in a converted basement closet (really!) and they had very odd hours (open only one night a week) so it didn't exactly count as a LYS. Their new location has room for a lot more yarn and there's a second floor where people can sit and knit or spin. I'm not sure if college students will respond to the prices but the convenient location and hours (open 7 days a week) might win thrifty students over. Maybe they don't need college students to survive anyway.

Wow, I went to three yarn shops in the last week and didn't spend a dime! No, that's not true, I also went to Wool Station on Saturday and bought an Inox size 2 16" circular for the Ullared hat. I already have 16" circulars in every size from 3 to 10.5 so of course the hat needs a size 2.

A mitten photo, the highs and lows of swapping, & not-cashmere washcloths

The mitten, the single solitary mitten, is finally done. Yes it took over a month and I have excuses but they're boring excuses and nobody wants to hear them (not even me).



Now I have to make another one. Normally I don't suffer from second sock/mitten/etc syndrome but right now I'd rather be working on something different. I could flake out and do more socks (still have two singles that need mates -- what did I say about not falling victim to 2nd sock syndrome?) or fire up the crockpot and dye the yarn for mom's Fair Isle cardigan. That will be her 2005 Christmas present, if I ever get around to it.

I traded some knitting magazines for two skeins of Fortissima sock yarn through the Knitswap community on Livejournal.



Swapping is satisfying. What isn't to like about sending away something you don't want and receiving in exchange the exact thing you've admired at the LYS? Thank you Kate!

Cautionary Tale: 2 or 3 years ago I received Lily Chin's HYUK book (not worth a link) as a gift and quickly determined it wasn't right for me. I offered it up in exchange for two skeins of Lamb's Pride Bulky or what-have-you. Someone wanted the book and she had two skeins of LPB in colors that appealed to me. Off went the book and I received two used (nearly half depleted) skeins of yarn. Sorry, was I supposed to specify I wanted two FULL skeins? I thought that went without saying. But I let it drop, it wasn't worth the hassle and I didn't pay for the book in the first place so it wasn't a huge deal to me. The trader probably received the yarn that way from a friend or ebay lot, the labels were a little loose but intact so it wasn't obvious some of the yarn was missing. I eventually used the blue yarn to finish off slipper soles so it wasn't a total loss.

The stupid thing is that I didn't learn my lesson, I neglected to ask if the sock skeins were full. It seems like a really uptight question to ask, doesn't it? The truth is I forgot about the bad trade completely until I was writing this entry, singing the praises of swapping and my brain reminded me about the time it didn't turn out so well. Ahem.

I visited my parents last week and mom showed me the kitchen washcloths I gave her a few years ago. They had reached the end of their usefulness on this earth. She asked for more so I whipped out six as soon as I returned home because she's my mom and she rocks, she deserves to use washcloths made from the finest cashmere, replaced daily -- but I used 100% cotton because it was on sale at Michael's for 97 cents/ball. (2 balls = 6 washclothes.) I bet Oprah uses cashmere washcloths, replaced daily.



The burgundy (wine) is a very attractive color, now I wish I bought 2 balls of wine and left the green at the store. Oh well, they're just silly washcloths. (The green looks good here but it's much worse in reality, it wasn't worth the effort to tweak it.)

I have a couple of book reviews to share but this entry is long enough so they'll be posted tomorrow.

A final photo of the Komi mittens & When Dye Attacks!

This isn't bruising... it's the result of not rinsing the dyed yarn properly. :( Or maybe it wasn't heated long enough? I'm concerned the dark turquoise yarn will run and stain the light yarn when the finished mittens are washed. Now that the cuff is done I'll knit up a test swatch with the two yarns and wash that with some vinegar to see what happens. If the dye stains the light blue yarn then I'll have to halt the mittens and wash the dark turq yarn again and wait for it to dry, what fun.





You can see how I hold the yarn in my left hand, the dye has marked its path: over the index finger, under the middle finger, over the ring finger, under the pinky. There's dye on my thumb because I purl using my thumb and I was doing a K2P2 rib for the mitten cuff. (I know there are some other thumb purlers out there but I haven't met any in person.)

The first pair of Komi mittens are done, here's the final photo. I blocked one of the mittens inside out as the "Mostly Mittens" book suggests and it does make a difference. Not better or worse, just a noticeable difference.

Progress Report: Komi mittens

This week I've been working on a mitten from Mostly Mittens using Kroy 4-ply sock yarn on size 1 (2.50 mm) needles. I just put the thumb sts on scrap yarn so I paused to take photos of my progress.


This is the front... or is it the back? They're identical so the mitten can be worn on either hand. Now that I think about it I could have made the knitting easier by doing a 1x1 checkerboard on the palm.


The bottom half of the thumb gusset


The not-thumb side, which neatly avoids the color jog