Glove Love

Isn't it great having crafty friends on facebook?  Not only can you share your latest creation... but you can take inspiration from all of theirs, lol!  That's exactly what happened with my latest couple of projects.  Enter "Vancouver Fog by Jen Balfour".  I had picked up some lovely, hand-dyed superwash yarn in a detash on Ravelry, and using my favorite "cabling without a cable needle technique" by grumperina, I came up with these beauties (project info on Ravelry):

For this particular pattern, anytime the directions instructed to “slip stitches to a cable needle and hold them to the back” I used this part, and if it read to “slip stitches to a cable needle and hold them to the front”, I used this part. With this particular pattern, you are only holding at the most 2 stitches on a cable needle before knitting them, so the technique works out very well.
For example, in the pattern you do a

lpk – slip 2 stitches to cable needle and hold to front, p1, k2 from cable needle

I would slip 2 stitches purlwise (with yarn in back) onto my right hand needle, p1, and then with my left needle tip, I would insert the needle into the front of those two stitches I slipped, and pinching the base of the 3 stiches (the one I purled and the 2 I slipped) I would pull out my right hand needle altogether from those stitches. That leaves the 2 slipped stitches on my left needle and the one stitch I purled hanging in midair :) I put my right needle tip back into the hanging purl stitch, and then I knit those 2 stitches I slipped from the left needle to the right needle… and voila! lpk completed. If it is a right crossing instruction, you just repeat the process, but insert the left needle tip into the back of the stitches. Once you get the hang of it… it is so much faster than using a traditional cable needle (IMO, lol!)

After estimating my remaining yarn (with a glass half-full attitude, I might add!), I decided to try the Treads, a tipless gloves pattern by Victoria Anne Baker (also free on Ravelry).  I love the lateral braid that decorates these mitts, and by using this informative video (in English, instead of the reccomended video in German), I managed after an attempt where my braid ended up on the INSIDE of my mitt, to come up with the right pattern stitch!  However, I really did not have as much yarn as I had hoped, and so I couldn't complete the fingers and had to go with a ribbed, fingerless ending.

 

See how much yarn I had left by the end?  Here's the link to my project page on Ravelry, "Treading Lightly".

 

 



 I've never done gloves with fingers, or tipless fingers for that matter, though.. so I really wanted to knit this pattern again as written.  So... take 2 was knit up with a skein of malabrigo (809 Solis).. which was so buttery soft it was a joy to knit with!  This time the lateral braid worked like a charm.  It really is a fun addition to your stitch library!  (Project info on Ravelry)

 

 

What's next, you might ask?  Well... I have several skeins of that malabrigo left... so I think another pair of the Vancouver Fog are calling my name (and going straight into the Christmas Box!)  I really enjoy knitting with this yarn.  Here they are (more info on Ravelry):

Enjoy!