Purple Haze Mitts

In the great Harwood yarn swap I obtained a ball of King Cole Haze, this normally would be a big nono for me for the following reasons:

1. Colour: I hate purple, it’s my worst colour in all it’s forms and looks gross on me – for some reason I’m making an exception here, perhaps I’m getting old…
2. Fibre: 100% acrylic, however it’s really soft and lovely and doesn’t squeak when you knit with it
3. Texture: it’s a fluffy yarn, fluff gets in your nose and mouth and is annoying, no idea why I’m overlooking this

Anyway I lost my lovely gorgeous warm chubby mittens at Christmas and have been sulking about it ever since but as my hands are still cold and there is no chance of me getting them back I decided it was time for a new pair. In the end I realised I couldn’t wear this colour so I gave them to my lovely friend Clair, who I planned to make a Christmas present but failed so this is sort of a late present if you like. As you can see they look great on her!

I knocked up these gloves in a couple of days, it’s a lovely pattern (which you can find here), although I lengthened them quite a bit to make them more gauntlet-y. They are based on Hermione’s hat in one of the Harry Potter films – this is NOT the reason I chose it before you start to mock! However, I might make the hat too as I only have one hat and it’s not that warm, not in purple though, I can’t wear that hideous colour next to my face, I’ll look like I’m dead.

Space Invader Gloves

I made these for my little brother for Christmas, I say little, it makes him sound about 10 but he’s actually 26… I know he likes a fingerless glove as opposed to full gloves or mitts, that way he can wear them when working (he’s an electrician), hefting kit for his band and a variety of other outdoor tasks: feeding the rabbit, walking the dog, etc.

This is my second colourwork attempt, not as neat as the headband but I think that’s partly due to the wool I used, which was a basic dk. However, he loved them, in fact the comment when he opened them on Christmas day was ‘coolest gloves ever’, sweet.

Photos kindly provided by Dean and Jo – notice how the colours match his tattoos. Dean was very sick but he dragged himself out of bed to take these photos just to please me, isn’t he a good brother?

Smoking Gloves

Simon informed me, on Christmas eve no less, that he wanted a pair of fingerless gloves. Imagine my rage, this would have been a perfect present but he had left it until the last minute, annoying! ‘I can buy some’ he said, ‘no one’s buying gloves in this house!’ I replied and so I cast them on that day.

I used a WW2 pattern that was recommended for women to knit to send out to our boys on the front line, it’s called ‘trigger’, how cool is that!? They knitted up was quickly and easily although the instructions were a little unclear in places and I don’t think I got the thumb position quite right on the left hand glove. I modified the pattern slightly to make the ribbing on the cuff and fingers shorter, a ‘plain’ colour was specified so I used the navy Rowan pure wool 4ply I bought to make myself a sweater (now abandoned as it’s not soft enough nor does it knit as 4ply!) I finished them on 29th so only six days (and bear in mind they include Christmas day, boxing day etc).

Anyway they are exactly what Simon wanted so his hands don’t get cold when he goes out for a cigarette or wants to use his iPhone outside in the winter. Unfortunately his boss thinks he looks like a big issue seller, *sigh*

Easy Cable Gloves

I found a pattern on ravelry which I really liked the look of, for some very simple cable gloves but on closer inspection of the pattern it turned out they were knitted flat – bizarre. When I made them for my friend for Christmas I decided to modify it to knit them in the round but ended up ignoring the pattern completely and making it up as I went along. I used this really lovely Artesano Aran which is a wool and alpaca mix so it’s really warm.

If you’re interested it goes like this:

Using 10ply/Aran weight yarn and 4.5mm dpns cast on 36 sts and join in the round

Row 1 &2: p2 k4  repeat to end
Row 3: p2 cb4f  repeat to end
Row 4-6: p2 k4 repeat to end

These 6 rows form the pattern, knit 6 pattern repeats then on the next row knit in pattern for 16 sts, place the next 8 sts onto a holder and cast on 8 sts, continue in pattern to end of round.

Knit another 2 pattern blocks and cast off loosely.

For the thumb, pick up 5 stitches around the base and join in the round, knit 8 rounds and cast off loosely.

Work one round of sc crochet around the wrist of the gloves to stop it curling.

So chunky and warm, I love them! I even have enough yarn left for another pair but I know I’ll never get around to it.