Yarn and projects

Jayne Hat

The yarn came in from yarn.com and all of it was lovely! I also hit Loopy Yarns (a LYS) and took advantage of their January 40% 0ff sale and got a bunch of great yarn, including some yarn to be used to make a couple of Jayne hats for the annual Can't Stop the Serenity Charity screening we have started to host. I've already made one so far and I used much less yarn than I thought I would so I think I can make at least 2 more.

My Boring Hat

I've also made a few other things yet still haven't finished T's gloves! I made my sister a blue My Boring Hat, which she loves and I made another Grrr washcloth in red and gave it to another friend. I named it Jubal Early.

Grrr - Jubal Early version

My SIL is knocked up, and coincidentally, I had picked up some cotton yarn in pastel colors, so I've started a simple baby kimono for the baby (pattern found on Ravlery). I have a lot of time to make it, but it's really the easiest to knit while on the train while on my to and from work.

I'm planning on making some pirate mittens for a friend and I have a couple of different yarns to make socks with (although they scare me a bit since the recipes call for size 2US and 3US needles!

I still have a bunch of yarn I really don't know what to do with - yet.

Diamond Gloves

I finally wrote up the pattern for some gloves I made. I actually finished these around Dec 12, 2007.

I wanted to make some gloves but didn't want anything too complicated, yet I wanted to make one that involved creating a thumb gusset so I could see how it worked. I loved the straightforward pattern for Hogwarts House Gloves. Its overall construction was similar to other glove patterns but seemed to be explained in a much simpler manner.

(One of the gloves in the picture is inside out to show how the inside looks.)

I started out and caught on quickly. Very soon, I made modifications to the pattern so that it would fit my hand better and deviated even more from the original directions. I decided I had to have something on the gloves to break up the plainness, but didn't want to do the finger color changes since I didn't have any matching yarn anyways. It wouldn't make any sense using other colors.

I have a sock book from the library and it has a few stitch patterns at the end and I liked the diamond pattern but it was multiples of 6 and wouldn't fit properly on my 44 stitches. So, I modified the pattern to become a 4 stitch repeat. I think it worked out pretty good!

The bad thing was that I had not done any real colorwork before - at least, nothing that met up in the round - so I had no idea that there was a simple trick to keeping the rows even. Since I didn't know yet, my rows ended up not meeting up.

It didn't look terrible, but still, it would look much nicer if the rows were even. Despite this, I completed both gloves and they look nice. After I was done with them I researched on the web and due to some great help at Knitting on LiveJournal.com, found out that I needed to "jog my stitches".

I then made a matching hat and the diamond pattern matches up in the round really nicely!

Because of the modifications I made, I've written up the new pattern.

=====
Diamond Gloves
Inspired by Hogwarts House Gloves

Size: Adult Medium

Supplies needed
- 1 skien of Worsted Yarn [ I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease Solids in Wheat ]
- About 10 Yards of contrast color [ I used Red Heart Solids in Dark Brown ]
- US #5 dpns
- Stitch markers
- Stitch holders (3) [ or 2 holders and a length of waste yarn ]
- Yarn/tapestry needle

Gauge: 6 stitches = 1 inch

Abbreviations
ss = stockinette stitch
ssk = slip, slip, knit (right-leaning decrease) [see Note ]
k2tog = knit 2 together (left-leaning decrease) [see Note ]
m1l = make 1 left
m1r = make 1 right
mc = main color
cc = contrast color
pm = place marker

NOTE: I knit combined, so if you don't, you will need to work the opposite decrease. i.e.:
~ instead of ssk, work a k2tog or whatever will result in a right-leaning decrease.
~ instead of k2tog, work a ssk or whatever will result in a left-leaning decrease.
Visit KnittingHelp.com for a better explanation about what a right-leaning decrease is.

Directions

- Cable Cast On (or the cast on of your choice) 44 stitches in mc. Arrange stitches on dpns and join. IMPORTANT: Pm to mark the beginning of the row.
- Knit the wrist ribbing: k2,p2 all the way around until cuff is about 2” (or as long as you prefer).
- Knit one row in ss, increasing 1 stitch along the way. You should now have 45 stitches.
- Knit one row in ss.
[Suggestion: During the knitting of the Thumb Gusset, arrange the stitches on your dpns as follows:
3 dpn: n1=18, n2=8(increases will occur on this needle), n3=18
4 dpn: n1=10, n2=10, n3=6(increases will occurr on this needle), n4=19]

Thumb Gusset
- Knit 22 stitches, pm, m1l, k1, m1r, pm, knit 22 stitches. You should now have 47 stitches
- Increase Rows: Knit to marker, slip marker, mil, knit to marker, m1r, slip marker, knit to end. You will be increasing 2 stitches in each increase row.
- Knit 3 rows of ss.
- Continue repeating the last 2 instructions (1 increase row, 3 ss rows = 4 rows) ending when you have 13 stitches between the markers (In other words, do not knit 3 rows of ss after you have done the increase which brings you up to 13 stitches).
- Knit to 1st gusset marker. Place the stitches between the markers (13 stitches) on a stitch holder or on waste yarn. Remove the markers used to mark the gusset increases. Knit to end. You should now have 44 stitches on your needles.
- Knit 1 row in ss.

Diamond Pattern
- Attach cc and follow chart for Diamond stitch pattern. (7 rows.) White boxes = mc. Brown boxes = cc. [NOTE: If you work the pattern by slipping the first stitch of the new color on each row in order to make your color rows meet evenly, the beginning of your row will shift by 7 stitches by the time you are done with the pattern. Make sure to keep the original marker you placed on needles to keep track of the beginning of the row. This will ensure that when you start your Little Finger, it will be opposite the thumb.]

The rest of the glove will use your mc only.

- Continuing from where your shifted rows ended up, complete the row in ss.
- Knit 1 row in ss.
- The body of the glove should be about 3½”, not including the ribbing. At the very least, it should reach the knuckle of your little finger. If not, knit a couple of more rows until it does.

Little Finger (arrange stitches on your needles as evenly as possible)
- Starting with stitch after your original marker, begining-of-row marker, knit 5 stitches.
- Place 34 stitches on 2 stitch holders (divide evenly).
- Cast on 1 stitch by doing a Backwards Loop Cast on.
- Knit the last 5 stitches. You should have 11 stitches total.
- Knit in ss until the finger measures about 2” (or until the tip of the finger)
- K2tog all the way around, ending with either k3tog or just knitting the last stitch by itself. Cut yarn. Thread tail through remaining loops, pull tight and weave in.

Attach yarn at base of little finger. Knit 1 row in ss knitting all the stitches that are on stitch holders. You should have 34 stitches on your needles.

Ring Finger (arrange stitches on your needles as evenly as possible)
- Attach yarn at base of Little Finger.
- Knit the 1st 5 stitches.
- Place all but last 5 stitches on stitch holders. Put these last 5 stitches on a dpn.
- Cast on 1 stitch by doing a Backwards Loop Cast on.
- Knit the last 5 stitches
- Pick up one stitch at base of Little Finger (between the little finger and the ring finger).
- You should now have 12 stitches.
- Knit in ss until the finger measures about 2½” (or until the tip of the finger)
- K2tog all the way around. Cut yarn. Thread tail through remaining loops, pull tight and weave in.

Middle Finger (arrange stitches on your needles as evenly as possible)
- Attach yarn at base of Little Finger.
- Knit the 1st 6 stitches that are on the stitch holder.
- Leave all but the last 6 stitches on stitch holders. Put these last 6 stitches on a dpn.
- Cast on 1 stitch by doing a Backwards Loop Cast on.
- Knit the last 6 stitches
- Pick up one stitch at base of Ring Finger (between the ring finger and the middle finger).
- You should now have 14 stitches.
- Knit in ss until the finger measures about 2¾” (or until the tip of the finger)
- K2tog all the way around. Cut yarn. Thread tail through remaining loops, pull tight and weave in

Index Finger (arrange stitches on your needles as evenly as possible)
- Attach yarn at base of Middle Finger and pick up 1 stitch.
- Knit the remaining 12 stitches.
- Pick up 1 stitch at the end of the row at the base of Middle Finger (between the middle finger and the index finger).
- You should now have 14 stitches.
- Knit in ss until the finger measures about 2½” (or until the tip of the finger)
- K2tog all the way around. Cut yarn. Thread tail through remaining loops, pull tight and weave in.

Thumb (arrange stitches on your needles as evenly as possible)
- Place the 13 stitches from the thumb gusset on your dpns.
- Attach yarn and knit the 13 stitches, picking up 2 stitches at the end of the row from the top of the gusset hole.
- You should now have 15 stitches.
- Knit in ss until the thumb measures about 1¾” (or until the tip of the thumb)
- K2tog all the way around. Cut yarn. Thread tail through remaining loops, pull tight and weave in.

Knit another glove.
======

I gave these gloves to my dad for christmas and he really liked them.

======

This pattern is available as a FREE download in PDF format, from the pattern store at Ravelry. (You must be a registered member of Ravelry to access it)