Studio Marlowe

Last night I went to knit group (possibly not a good idea in light of the massive amount of schoolwork I am supposed to be getting done within the next two weeks, but…whatever.  I had to get out).  I had brought the brother gloves along, but upon arriving realized that the chart was still chilling out at home on my coffee table, probably having fun conversations with the books and a beat-up copy of Newsweek addressed to the previous occupant (the last people in my apartment get SO. MANY. MAGAZINES.).  Fortunately, I did have my trusty size 1 needles, so I just started the cuff on glove #2:

I also managed (I think) to lose one of my #3 DPNs, so the first glove is currently on a circular and I’m having to magic loop it.  It’s okay.  I guess.  I really prefer the double  points.

The other thing I tried to do was string a few seed beads onto some 4-ply soft for a  test of the beaded gloves in a larger gauge.  Well.  The yarn is just enough thicker that getting the beads on is an uphill battle.  I don’t think I want to go looking for larger beads, as that might make the whole thing start to look clunky.  However, I did realize that the Shetland Spindrift I’m using  for the gloves above is knitting up to almost exactly the same gauge as the purple no-name yarn (and has the same yards/50g).  So….

I’m going to see if it’s also relatively easy to string beads onto the SS.  If so, then I’ll be writing the glove pattern in just one gauge (the one I used), and recommending SS, which is fairly easy to get hold of (at least here in the US).  And there are definitely some other fair isle yarns that can be subbed in.  I think that’ll solve the problem of the pattern being in an accessible gauge/yarn, and save me the trouble of having to jigger around with it too terribly much.  So we all win!

Last night I finished off the thumb and sewed in the ends on the second beaded glove. They are, if I do say so myself, fantastic. And they will save my poor fingers from a chill on the way to and from school. Check it out:

I’ve got the pattern mostly written up but I’m planning on having a couple of sizes so it’s not quite ready to go yet.  Hopefully I’ll have some time to sit down this weekend and finish it off.

The fair isle gloves got restarted, now with their new and improved gauge:

Nice and manly, no?  Actually, I think the color scheme is really pretty nice and unisex–if my brother doesn’t like them I will totally keep them for myself!  The stranding pattern is going to be very simple–I wanted something sort of “modern” looking if that makes sense, so there isn’t really going to be a strong motif visible.  I had gotten quite a bit further in the colorwork before ripping out and it was turning out really well–I think this kind of stripped down colorwork motif could be something I start incorporating a lot in the future.

It’s been a very glove filled weekend. I made great progress on the fair isle gloves I started for my brother…until I realized the gauge was a whole stitch per inch tighter than I had calculated originally. So off the needles they came.

My beaded lace gloves, however, are meeting with far more success. Today I picked up the stitches for the thumb. There are lots of ways of doing thumbs for gloves or mittens. The method that probably results in the most “natural” fit is to increase stitches on one side as you knit from the wrist to the thumb. However, gloves made in this fashion are, in my opinion, not as nice looking as gloves where a little anatomical correctness has been sacrificed for the sake of appearances. And unless you are making a pair of incredibly tight gloves, the finished product should still fit quite well.

I use a method that I like to refer to as an “afterthought” thumb, because it’s similar to an afterthought heel. I’m fairly certain there’s a real name for it, but I’ve forgotten. When knitting the main part of the glove, you will need to knit the stitches where the thumb is intended to protrude in scrap yarn:

Use some scrap yarn that is roughly the same thickness and that you can easily distinguish from your main yarn. If you want to live dangerously, you can omit the scrap yarn and simply cut directly into the main yarn later. Personally I prefer to play it safe.

Next, pick up the stitches directly above:

and below:

the scrap yarn. Again, if you prefer, you can do this step after removing the waste yarn, but I find that I always lose at least on stitch.

Finally! It’s time to get rid of that unsightly scrap yarn. You can either cut it out or simply unravel the scrap stitches:

My scissors are a bit big relative to this fine yarn so I unraveled.

You should now have a hungry thumb hole staring up at you:

To minimize holes at the base of the thumb, pick up a stitch at the end of each needle (4 stitches total). Some people prefer to pick up more stitches and decrease later. I find that 4 is usually enough and that any remaining holeage can be fixed when weaving in the ends. Finally, transfer a few stitches onto a third needle:

And now you are all ready to knit the thumb!

As usual, I am skipping all the Black Friday craziness this year. Sometimes I like to pretend that’s because I’m being virtuous and participating in Buy Nothing Day, but really it’s that shopping when it’s really busy gives me a HUGE headache. I also just don’t buy a lot of stuff for the holidays…we are all about keeping it simple in my family! So today I am doing a little catch-up on schoolwork (bleh), and then spending the afternoon/evening crafting. I cut out fabric for a skirt yesterday, so I’ll probably try to get started sewing that together (brown corduroy!! I’m very excited). I also finished up the second of my beaded gloves, so I’ll be writing the pattern up for that. The yarn I used is sort of an odd weight though–a little lighter than 4-ply/fingering weights, but not laceweight either.  So that people don’t have to go hunting down an obscure yarn, I’ll be writing the pattern in 2 gauges–my weirdo gauge, and then in a gauge more suitable for your typical 4-ply. I need to do a swatch in 4-ply and make sure everything still looks okay though.

And, although I won’t be doing it this evening, I do hope to fit in some baking this weekend. I’m planning to make these great ginger cutout cookies. My mother or I always make these around the holidays and they are delicious! They make great gifts too. Also, if you want, you can use the dough to make knock-off Moravian ginger cookies. To get a really thin cookie, roll out the dough between two pieces of floured cloth (a nice smooth cloth), and reduce the baking time by a few minutes. If you are looking for a new holiday cookie recipe to try, I highly recommend these:

Ginger Cutouts

5 c. flour
2 tsp. Ginger (I usually do two very heaping teaspoons, because I love ginger)
1 ½ tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp. Cinnamon (a heaping teaspoon of cinnamon doesn’t hurt either)
1 tsp. Cloves
1 ½ salt
1 cup butter (or shortening, if you prefer. I come from a family where Crisco is a dirty, dirty word)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup molasses
2 tbs. Vinegar

Directions:

Sift together dry ingredients

Beat shortening until creamy

Add sugar and beat till fluffy

Add egg, molasses and; vinegar and beat well

Add dry ingredients and beat till combined

Divide dough into thirds and chill for 3 hours (at least, I usually just go with overnight)

Roll out and cut out dough

Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 4-6 mins.

My yarn diet has experienced a small hiccup:

Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift, purchased at Loop and Leaf. In my defense, I have a definite plan for this yarn, AND I’ve already cast on. Look!

It’s going to be another pair of gloves…these ones will be a Christmas present for my brother. Really, I should have finished ripping and reknitting the truly awful sweater I made him for Christmas five years ago, but I’m hoping this will do instead. I’m planning a little colorwork on the main part of the glove.  I think these will be good guy gloves–mostly subtle greys, with a touch of red thrown in for interest. Gray and red are his school colors also, so that was a nice bonus. Depending on how much of the contrast colors I have leftover, I may pick up some more of the darker grey and make a hat to match.  Or would that be too much?

Of course, I haven’t abandoned the beaded gloves–my chilly bike riding hands won’t allow it. I’m down to the fingers so I think I’ll be having an FO post pretty soon.  And I’ve been taking lots of notes, so there should be a pattern to go with the photos eventually also.

Rather than just post pictures of beaded glove #2 today (which, shockingly, look pretty much like photos of glove #1), I thought I’d try my hand at a little tutorial on knitting with beads. This is one of those things that’s actually not technically that difficult, but can maybe be a little difficult to wrap your head around. I know I’ve tried it in the past with mixed results! So, without further ado:

1. Pick yarn and beads that are suitably matched to each other in terms of size. You want the bead to be large enough to string on the yarn, but not so large that it looks wonky or is going to be prone to sliding around a lot. For example, don’t put plastic pony beads on a fine lace weight yarn. The standard seed beads you can get at most large craft stores in the US are great for sport/fingering weight yarns.

2. Thread your beads onto your yarn. The easiest way to do this is to use a needle and thread and tie the thread onto the end of your yarn, like so:

Make sure you pick a needle that your beads will go over! I am just using a small sewing needle here, but you can also buy special beading needles that are extra thin. If you are threading onto a very fine weight yarn, beading needles may be a worthwhile investment (they’re fairly cheap), as you will probably want to use beads that are too small for any of the needles that come in a standard package of sewing/crafting needles.

Once you have the thread tied onto the yarn, start stringing on beads. Don’t get too carried away with the number of beads you string on—a large number of beads on the yarn can be difficult to manipulate, they can tend to “jam” in place. I would advise stringing a maximum of 200 beads at a time:

3. Start knitting. When you want to create a beaded stitch, bring one bead up the yarn. Don’t bring it all the way up to the right needle though! You want to have it a little way out, perhaps a centimeter, so that it will fall into the stitch you are knitting:

Knit the stitch. You may need to finagle with pulling the yarn through to ensure that the bead comes along for the ride. I find it helps to keep my right index finger up against the tip of the needle and the stitch, so the bead doesn’t have too many opportunities to slip off elsewhere:

4. Deciding which side of the stitch you want the bead on. This is probably pretty minor, but if you are doing a pattern where the placement of beads is at all symmetrical, then having the beads properly placed is a nice touch that will enhance the symmetrical appearance. The placement of the bead within the stitch really occurs on the row AFTER the row where the bead is placed. The illustrations here are for knitting in the round, so both the row where the bead is knit, and the one where it is aligned, are right side rows.

If you want the bead to fall on the right side of the stitch, insert your right hand needle ABOVE the bead when knitting the alignment round:

Want it on the left side? Insert your needle BELOW the bead:

If you are purling back across the row, you would reverse these instructions–insert the needle below for a right side alignment, and above for a left side alignment.

So for the gloves I am knitting now, where there is a V pattern forming, I am placing the beads associated with left leaning decreases on the left side of the stitch, and the stitches associated with right leaning decreases on the right side of the stitch. This alignment makes the symmetry of the beads line up with the symmetry of the decreases, so that both beads and decreases are centered on the same point.

The first glove moved into finger territory last night. Two down, two and a thumb to go:

And, I know I’ll probably start to sound like a broken record before these are done repeating this point, but….I love the way the beads have turned out.

My beaded gloves (which need a name….hmm), hit a small snag Tuesday evening.  They were found to be too big.  I had done a bit of increasing after finishing the cuff and, well, apparenty I went overboard.  So I had to rip back down to the cuff and start over.  On the plus side, the gloves are much better looking on now.  Also, I really have the lace/bead pattern down now, so I’m zipping along.  And, few stitches around means the gloves are way faster to knit.  I’m now just past the thumb gusset and I might even be venturing into fingers territory soon:

An action shot:

This is the right hand glove and I am horribly right handed (which is really quite embarassing as a) I was able to right equally well with both hands up until at least the age of 10, and b) left-handedness actually runs in my family.  You would think I would show some level of ambidexterity).  The result is that taking a photo of the glove on the hand is quite tricky.  Probably also quite amusing to watch, if you are an innocent bystander.

And of course, the best part of knitting with beads is having this nice rope of beaded yarn to play with:

I’ve been catching snippets of this new (to me) NPR PRI program, Fair Game, on the radio for the past couple of months. I didn’t like it that much at first. Plus I found the promos for it (”Nobody listens to the evening olds”, etc., for anyone who’s heard promos and wondering if they’re the same ones) to be really annoying. However, a couple of weeks back I was sitting around waiting for my laundry to finish and it came on. Of course I was on the couch engrossed in my knitting so I didn’t turn it off, despite my previous negative impressions. And…it was really hilarious. Sort of a Daily Show on the radio. Plus, they seem to have pretty good musical guests.

Anyway, to the main point of this post. They do these little snippets in between the feature pieces, with some kind of theme. For example, last night there were blurbs about over-the-top themed caskets/burials. Actually, that one was a little tasteless. But…earlier this week there was a “Mr. Moviefone” theme, in which Mr. Moviefone does sarcastic movie reviews. And Mr. Moviefone reviewed “Beowulf” (”Fred Claus” and “Mr. Magorium’s Magic Emporium” aslo made appearances). SO FUNNY. Really. You should go download the episode podcast right now. Mr. Moviefone’s take on “Beowulf” is a little less than halfway through, right after the cancer interview. I really want to know what in Strunk and White could be made into an R movie. Plus it reminded me of the guys in my high school German class who used to do Mr. Moviefone imitations *constantly*.