Stashbuster Fingerless Gloves

 

I was looking through my pattern file the other day when I came across a pattern I'd photocopied from Interweave Knits magazine. The pattern is by Allyson Dykhuizen. I didn't have the name of the pattern, but I've just looked it up and it's 'Reservoir Mitts'. It can be found on Ravelry. I thought it would be a good way to use up the tiny bits of wool I have left over from making socks and gloves. It is. I've used Allyson's directions for the entrelac back of the hand, but made up the rest of the gloves. Allyson knitted the palm of the hand from side to side and her version has half fingers. I'm knitting the palm upwards, joining to the back as I go. 

I sold the Celtic knot gloves on Saturday and a few other things. I also have orders for three pairs of socks. I want to finish these gloves and a pair of boottees for a gift and then I'll start spinning for the orders. 

PS There were a lot of scribbled notes on the pattern, but I don't remember knitting them. I've just looked back on my blog and found them! I knitted them in 2014. As I'm doing now, I made up my own version of the palm.

Wool For Market

 

I've spun four skeins of wool, which I'll roll into balls before Saturday's market. I ummed and arred about dyeing them but eventually decided to leave them natural. 

Spragues Revisited

 

I'm running out of time to prepare for the market, so I didn't want to try a new glove pattern and risk it not working. I used this Spragues pattern by Galt House of Yarn that I used last year. This time round I know that 'spragues' is an old English term meaning alert or lively, thanks to Diane. 

Here's the whole batch of gloves together:

Another Pair

 

I've completed another pair of fingerless gloves for the market basket.  I can't see a name on the pattern I used. The variegated wool probably distracts from the lace and cable pattern a bit. 

A Pair

 

Well, it's been a bit of a slog, but I now have a pair of well-fitting fingerless gloves with a Celtic knot pattern on the back of each hand. It's just as well that I made the second glove as a test knit because I did find mistakes in my reworked pattern. I made corrections on the paper version as I went along and will now go back to the computer and make changes there. 

Wave

 

The pattern for these gloves is called Nalu, which apparently means 'wave' in Hawaiian. So I thought the blue/green yarn would be appropriate. The pattern is well written and the shape of the gloves ideal, so I thought I'd combine this pattern, by Sparrowhawk, with the Celtic Knot cable that I used last week. I unravelled the horrible gloves that I made using a pattern from Start Knitting and amalgamated the two patterns:

This is the first glove, a huge improvement on the original. I did have a false start when I placed the thumb too low, but I got there eventually.  I'm going to write out the new version now, so that I can test the pattern when I knit the second glove. I don't want to go through the whole thought process again when I want to make another pair. 

Colour

 

I dyed three different coulourways to knit into fingerless gloves. I dyed each one separately, in the microwave, then rinsed them all together once they were cool. I started knitting with the blue/green one:

 After my difficulties with the last pair of gloves, I thought I'd stick with a tried and tested pattern. It's Nalu, by Sparrowhawk, which I've knitted several times before.