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.

Read how much Elann rocks and see some Classic Elite classics

I'm so impressed with Elann, I mailed a payment on Monday and received my order today -- Friday. Now that's service!

In comparison, I mailed a payment to Knitpicks on the same day (both payments were sent to addresses in the same state), but their website doesn't show acknowledgment of my order yet. I sent an email to Knitpicks yesterday about something in my order now showing as out of stock, asking if it will hold up my entire order. Knitpicks customer service sent a reply saying they'd be in touch in a few days because they're so busy.

Hmm... Elann wins this round hands down. ;)

My Elann order included these two '98 pattern leaflets from Classic Elite:


Classic Elite Leaflet 803 - It is Now Winter in the Andes


Classic Elite Leaflet 805 - The Dance of the Alpacas

The leaflets, which include charts, were only $1.58 each. They've been sitting in my Elann shopping cart for around three years, I remember googling for them online after I saw an ad in an old knitting magazine. I was surprised when I recently logged in to order sock yarn and saw the patterns still in the cart.

This is the first time I've ordered Elann's sock yarn, which seems like a great deal. It's $2.30 per 50g skein, and the colors I received are lovely (teal, oasis, mineral blue, black, and cream). The colors in person look a little darker than they appear on my monitor, which is fine with me. It feels nice in the skein and if I like the way it knits up then I'll be happy to order more.

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.

Praise for VK

A lovely chill is returning to the air here in the Pacific Northwest and I'm starting to feel a familiar itch in my fingers to start knitting again.

The Fall 2008 Vogue Knitting is actually worth buying for a few of the patterns. Shocking! I particularly like the cover mittens designed by Jared a.k.a. Brooklyntweed. (Check out that link for more photos of the mitts. Does he give photography lessons?)

Plus this issue talks up Canada, and what's not to love about that?

I'll have more to say about knitting soon, I hope.

Action shots of Kate's sweater

My brother sent photos of Kate wearing the sweater I knit for her in 2006. She was born in October 2006 and it was too big for her then. Now it's too small, but it still keeps her warm.

I'm happy to see the Dale Baby Ull and Lanett Ull yarns have held up well. They're both soft fingering weight superwash wool, perfect for baby knits. I'll ask my brother if they've washed it often. They machine wash and dry everything, so it's good to know it still looks decent without the benefit of a proper post-wash blocking and air dry. (cringe.)



It's a shame nobody buys her any toys.

"Help Auntie K, I need a new sweater, this one is too small!"
OK, OK, I'm on it kid.

You'll find project notes and more photos on this gallery page:
http://www.az.com/~andrade/knit/fobaby.html

Updates with photos

In the last two months I've finished a pair of socks, most of a child's cabled cardigan (burgundy), a woman's hat, and I've started another child's cardigan (storm blue).

I knit the hat for my mom's friend but had to give it away before I could get a good photo of it. Too bad, it was pretty cool looking and the pattern isn't on Ravelry yet.

I'll finish the first cardigan after my niece tries it on. It just needs a second sleeve, and I don't want to bother with that until I know the first one fits her right. I can handle ripping out one sleeve but I'd rather not rip two. Did I mention the sleeves are knit entirely in seed stitch? Not my favorite thing in the world. (I purl with my left thumb so doing anything that involves repeating K1P1 is slower for me than the average knitter.)


this color is not accurate

this isn't the real color either

I'm excited about the storm blue cardigan, it's a gansey style pattern (decorative knits and purls and a fancy cable) designed by E.J. Slayton, found in a 1994 Knitting Digest magazine. So far I've knit the first 6 inches of the fronts and back. It's worked in one piece to the armholes and finished off with applied i-cord trim and i-cord buttonholes -- which I might change up, I haven't decided yet. The yarn is beautiful, it's the Storm color in Knitpicks Swish DK (superwash). The wool is very soft and I expect it will pill like crazy but oh well, 6 skeins only cost $18. I'm hoping that the cardigan won't have to be washed as often as a regular pullover sweater.

I don't want to know how long it took me to slog my way through these socks. Ugh, so boring to knit. The heels are solid blue because I cut out the other colors and wove in a bunch of ends.