Wednesday, August 23, 2017

August Reboot Series - More Tips for Knitting gloves

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-laura-evesham-beret-scarf-and-fingerless-mittens


This month I'm going to be doing some re-posting of older blog posts. Some like this one will have updates included as when I reread I often realize I've learned something new since the original post went up.  I hope to have all new interviews every Friday but many Pros take the month of August off and in past years I haven't always been able to get enough interviews back to fill all the August dates. 

The direction of the increases for the thumb gusset varies from pattern to pattern. The decision to consider is does the work look best with the increases slanting towards the centre of the gusset or away from the gusset? Any stitch pattern may change this result. Neither version is incorrect. What is most important is consistency.

When knitting for yourself check the lengths of each section continuously while knitting and note any adjustments made to ensure the second glove will be the same.

If any of the fingers feel too snug during the knitting, tear back to the beginning of the finger and add in an extra stitch with an additional pickup.

Work the thumb before the fingers for more accurate fit.
If the stitches on waste yarn are slipping down, tug on both ends of the waste yarn above the stitches to be retrieved, until the smaller needle can be inserted.
Use the smaller needles to pick stitches up from the waste yarn and then change to the larger needles.
If the stitches at the base of the fingers look strained, create an additional stitch or two in the pickup area edges and then work corresponding decreases in the first round with knit two together to reduce back to the appropriate number of stitches.
Finger shaping can be perfected by switching to smaller needles just above the upper knuckle for contoured fingers or on the row before the decrease round for fingers of very even widths.
Push completed fingers inside the glove if they get in the way while working subsequent fingers.
Warning, fingertips always look pointy until the yarn tail is woven in.
To find the correct spot to pick up stitches on the fingers, look carefully at the knitting, the little V’s are columns of stitches. Pick up in the center of the V’s running up the finger. If the pickup is in the center of an upside down V it is in the wrong location. The next pickup is after two legs of a downward V.
When joining new yarn, leave a long tail, use it to duplicate stitch over any gaps or distorted stitches.

Use the yarn tails to tighten up holes at the base of fingers, by sewing through the purl bumps on the wrong side of the work around the hole.

Use self-patterning sock yarn to add colour and pattern to the glove.
 
Choose hand dyed yarns for colour variation in a simple glove.

Work a single lace motif from a stitch dictionary on the back of hand.  

How to center motifs on the back of the hand.  The motif can be centered in one of two different ways. The first method centers the motif across the total number of stitches between the side of the baby finger and the side of the index finger. That total is normally 1/2 of the total number of palm stitches excluding the thumb gusset. This method seems to be the one most often used. 

The second method is to center by measurement. The baby finger is smaller than the others which shifts the center of the back of the hand over slightly. In my case the mid-point is just off to the outside of the tendon (baby finger side) that runs down my middle finger. Some glove designers choose to center motifs this way instead of by stitch count. I personally find this measurement method looks more correct to my eye when using a single motif but I know many knitters who would disagree with me. 

When the pattern used is not a single motif the centering of pattern works best across the total number of stitches. It's often difficult to assess which method has been used in the pattern photos unless there is one taken with the glove laid flat. 

If you would like to see and compare a lot of glove variations you can check out this search in Ravelry.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-laura-evesham-beret-scarf-and-fingerless-mittens
 
 

No comments:

Post a Comment