Monday, December 19, 2011

Finished one fingerless glove

Well, I think I have the pattern for the two-needle glove nearly tweaked. The prototype looked wonky, even when sewn together and I figured out the problem there. I needed to decrease the number of cast-on stitches from 44 to 42. Then I needed to decrease the number of cast-on stitches for between the fingers from 2 to one. I also had to tweak how I did the thumb.

All in all, the glove still looks a bit wonky (especially with all the long ends hanging off it), until you get it sewn together, then it looks quite nice. And if you seam it carefully, the seams barely show.

Yes, there are about 18 long ends to weave in, but remember, there are 4 fingers and a thumb on each glove and you have to make half of each in the right spot for it to come out right. You would have about half that number of ends if you knitted in the round, and you would only have to hide them and not use them to sew any seams.

This pattern is not for those who like to knit in the round (unless they just want to try it to say they did it), it's for those who are intimidated by knitting in the round, but can knit up a storm on straight needles. You could  use a circular needle to knit these, just knit back and forth as if you were using straight needles. It is also not for beginner knitters. I put the difficulty rating at intermediate/hard. I'm not saying a beginner *couldn't* do them,  just that they may find it difficult at first.

As I said before, it will look a little wonky when you're finished, but it will look like a fingerless glove when you sew it together. I recommended that you leave long ends when binding off so that they may be used to sew the finger seams and side seams. The loose end from the cast-on can be used to sew up the long side seam of the glove and then hidden. If it isn't long enough, then sew as far as you can and work the end into the glove, then use the end from the pinky to sew down the other part of the side seam.

You could also make a pair of full gloves with this pattern, just leave your ends a lot longer to give yourself plenty of sewing yarn.

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