Finished! Nathan's Fingerless Gloves

Button-pushing can reduce blood circulation

They are finally finished!
Today, in the comfort of an air-conditioned room, I finally finished knitting and then seaming Nathan's fingerless gloves.

I learned quite a bit along the way, not the least of which the importance of counting rows and also the importance of not just changing things a bit so the length adds up. (I had 2 rows of knit, followed by 4 of stockinette on the 2nd piece, but since it was a little longer than the 1st piece I decided just to knit one row before starting the stockinette.... and so I have the dashes ----- of purl on the right side of my piece instead of VVVV's from knitting.)

In general, the 2nd piece looks a lot better - more even and slightly looser stitches and more control... with the exception of my personal modification, above.

I used mattress stitch to seam these up and pulled about 2 columns in to make them a little tighter.  When I cast on, I added 4 stitches to make them Man Sized, but when all was said and done they didn't have the negative ease required of a stretchy wearable.

Nathan says he likes them.... so yay! Birthday present and/or Christmas present!!

Halfway there: N's fingerless mittens

Yesterday I had my only final for the Spring Term. It was online and there were true/false, a few short answer, and some multiple choice. I studied hard and think that I did well, but I'll have to wait and see. In addition to this, I worked on homework assignments and team paper writing and more studying... gah!

After all that work I needed a break!  Fortunately, I had my beloved Netflix subscription and a documentary that I've been wanting to see, Word Wars, was available!  What does this have to do with anything lovingly handcrafted, you might wonder?

A fingerless mitten! Pinned up the side for testing.

This!

I finished the first of two fingerless mittens for Nathan. Now, this one is just pinned together up the side to check the size so it's not finished.... but I'm so happy and it looks great.

It has a few rows of waffle-y stitch at the bottom with a stockinette cuff, then more waffle for the main hand portion and it it topped with a little stockinette band at the fingers. 

I'll wash it, block it, then sew it up the edge leaving room for the thumb and then I'll get to start a new one.  The big question: should I cast on the 2nd piece now... or wait until I make my momma a dishcloth in blue? 

Decisions, decisions.

Cast on: Fingerless gloves/handwarmers

So, after finishing my dishcloth I was eager to start something new. I owed my mom a dishcloth, but I was waiting to hear what color she wanted to match the kitchen, so I wanted to wait.  I also want to make a lovely shawl or sweater or something but since mom is sending me some of my Oma's old needles, I wanted to wait and see what sizes I get (and maybe circular?)  And I didn't want to buy anything.

Nathan's hand warmers. Look! Waffle stitch on the right!

Fortunately, I had a bunch of yarn that was gifted to me from a friend when she moved out of the Cleveland area that has just been sitting in a cabinet, not being used.  I pulled out some Bernat Denim Style (cotton, acrylic blend) and searched ravelry for a beginning pattern that's knit on straight, size 7 needles that won't use too much yarn (I only have 1 skein).  Ta da! Knit flat and then sewed up later, I have a simple, free pattern to start on a set of hand warmers for Nathan.

I am doing okay, but a few kinks:
- This called to cast-on 36 stitches, but since Nathan has Man Hands I added an extra 4. I'm sort of concerned that this will be too big and it won't have enough stretchy part to fit. I think if this is the case, I'll just sew these up with an overlap and maybe add some decorative-type buttons.
- For the waffle stitch, I have to knit 2, purl 2 over and over along the same row. I am a little confused since the working yarn ends up on the wrong side when I switch from knit to purl (and vice versa)... but I've just been bringing the yarn over to the other side under my needles. I guess it looks ok? But I don't know if this is right.
- I don't know if I'll want to make a second one after I finish the first. Always a threat with me. :)

I'm really happy with how it looks so far. I have nice little "V"s on the front and cute little dashes on the back... and my waffle stitch at the bottom is so waffle-y!

Yay!