Help, I am being attacked by gloves!
Can someone please help? I am desperate to learn how to knit gloves, and am having no luck at all. I tried a sideways knit pattern, but it was bulky and I wasn't wild about the garter stitch you have to use. I can easily knit in the round and do thumb gussets like a pro, and I have made my weight in fingerless gloves by now, but I really want to do fingered gloves. So, I make the glove as I would a fingerless mitten, past the thumb gusset and then I panic. When I get to the stage where you have to divide for the fingers, my brain crashes shut. is there an easy way of understanding this? Is it that you basically take that in-the-round-top (beside the thumb gusset) and divide it into stitches for each finger? Do you put the stitches on two holders? Do you need to add on any stitches for the parts in between the fingers? I have a zillion patterns and I. Just. Do. Not. Understand. Them.
Signed,
dying to make gloves Caroline
posted by Caroline at 12:28 PM
9 Comments:
I want to knit real live 5 fingered gloves too and am equally cowed by the instructions. I found an I-cord technique via Google that sounds interesting. (Apparently it is the brainchild of Meg Swansen.) You can find it here:
http://nonaknits.typepad.com/nonaknits/2005/10/icord_gloves_1s.html
I'm thinking there must be some video tutorials out there too.
OMG. I just read through the entire tutorial, including how to join the I-cord fingers to the body of the glove, and I think my head just exploded.
Yes, you take the round top and divide the stiches for the fingers. You also add a couple of stitches each time you start a finger to avoid having a hole where the finger meets the hand. It's one of those things that makes perfect sense when you do it but it's hard to picture it ahead of time.
The first pair I made was done on dpns and I think I did transfer the spare stitches to waste yarn. The second pair was Magic Loop style and I left the extra stitches on the needles.
Gloves really aren't hard to make. They're just a little fiddly because you're working with so few stitches at a time. But you'll feel terribly knitterly when they're done!
I make a couple of pairs of gloves a year so I've made a few pairs. I make them using sock yarn and I use on average only 37 grams of yarn.
I think the best patterns are the vintage ones as they explain each row carefully.I use old Fontana and Patons patterns from the 1930s.
Usually the thumb gusset is knit and the stitches left alive on a contrast thread for the thumb to be knit last. Extra stitches are picked up , the palm knit then the stitches set for the fingers. You knit the finger next to the thumb first. Working sts are on the needles, the rest of the sts can be left on contrast thread or on extra needles ( as I do). Sts are picked up between each finger from the previous knit finger and cast on on the otherside of the new finger. This prevents the holes at the base of the fingers and makes them sit down well on your fingers.
Sounds as clear as mud doesnt it but the secret is to take each step at a time and not over think things.Have a look at a pair of made gloves and picture working up them in your head. They are fiddly with only 16/18 sts per finger on 3 dpns but once you've done one finger you'll 'see' whats happening.I like knitting them more than socks!
heres a pair I finished a couple of days ago;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12190912@N05/3060620012/
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Barbara, I saw the i-cord and printed it out and my head DID explode. Way too complex for me! But the other posts here make more sense to me--I feel like the little engine that could.. I think I can, I think I can. Is the magic loop using two circular needles instead of double pointed ones?
thank you all for all the help--it is so intimidating, but I really want to learn! Plus, it is COLD in NYC!
Someone on Ravelry had a bad breakup with her boyfriend, while she was making him gloves with the tips gone - not fingerless truly because there's an inch of finger. She sent them along at the point where they needed the fingers put on. So I did that this week at last. I did fingers!
They were "Go Anywhere Gloves" by Kristin Spurkland and done entirely in twisted knit stitch out of Fixation. I had no trouble at all following the directions. You do have to take the casting on of stitches between the fingers rather on faith, but it's like your first heel- follow the directions exactly and the magic will happen.
Caroline - theres a new free pattern up on ravelry by Liz Thompson called Shipton Gloves. I've hada quick read thru it and it seems quite clear and straight forward. Knit in d/k weight it will be quicker than sock yarn gloves. It has a double thickness cuff for extra warmth. She knits the pinkie finger first. Well worth a look at in my opinion.
Oh thank you, all! I am feeling so hopeful!
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