Yarn Site of the Month

Well - at least, that's what I feel like calling this post. Even though, "as gawd is mah witnuss I don' need no mo yawn", when the weather teases us with frosty mornings and star-glittered evenings, I find myself perusing favorite yarn sources. Elann sends me bi-monthly missives, Spirit Trail Fiberworks has new colors, and GoogleAds has obviously profiled me to a T because 80% of the ads that pop up in my e-world are yarn related. Today, Knitters Review displayed Great Northern Yarns - purveyor of the most delicious fiber combo - 

cashmere and combed mink. I've knit with this yarn and it's one of the most delicious tactile experiences I've ever had. I skein knit up swiftly, using an open rib stitch, into a decent sized winter scarf - which I gave away to a friend, so I can't share it with you.

So. I am lusting after tactile deliciosity. I want a snuggly cushioney ab-fab luxury yarn something to tuck around my neck. I want to sit in a heap of pillows on a rainy Sunday knitting something all for me. I want to forget all about the skeins and balls and cakes of fiber goodness I already have and buy some cashmere/mink yarn in some Bessish terracotta red.

Greedy little puss aren't I?

Knitting fingers with my knitting fingers

Having reached the point where it was time to start knitting the little finger in these lacy cashmere gloves I couldn't resist just continuing on with that little finger. I used the last 6 stitches of the palm and 5 stitches of the glove back and added 2 more stitches to create the stitches needed to join this finger to the rest of the glove (between pink-y and ring fingers) 13 stitches seemed to make a snug, but not tight finger width for my hands. Of course, I have big hands. For a smaller hand I'd stick with a more manageable even number like 12. 

At first I considered making i-cord fingers but these few stitches knit very nicely using only 3 needles. The palm stitches were on one needle and the back stitches were on the other and I used the 3rd needle as the working needle. This is a very comfortable way to knit tiny tubes so I'm not tempted to experiment any further. One of these days I'll try some i-cord gloves because the technique looks like such fun - but I have never minded fiddly bits and nor darning loose ends. It's all fun to me and these last steps, which are rather more like fondling a project, will be all the more delicious since I'll be fondling cashmere lace! Red cashmere lace. Oh la! 

All along I've been most worried that there wouldn't be enough yarn to make fully fingered gloves but I am happy to see there is plenty  - this also means that I'll be able to knit a pair of white lace cashmere gloves with some stash yarn, for someone very special, as a Christmas gift. But I am going to have to rip out this knitted finger and put the base stitches on a thread, because otherwise I'll have to start a new ball of yarn to knit the rest of the glove hand up to where the rest of the fingers get added - right at a purl 1 yarn over!!  So - frog this I shall. It's a wonder to me how cooperative this cashmere yarn is when it comes to ripping out. There has been a lot of it in this project  - imagine being silly enough to design with cashmere yarn! 

Here's a view of the thumb gusset. I particularly like the lacy increases, done with yarn overs.

What I am not completely thrilled with is the 8 stitch lace stripe. In another pair I will use a narrower lace repeat. I will not change this pair - just planning ahead.

Happy Thursday

Cashmere and Lace

Since I've finally made this blog public it behooves me to post something right away so people won't think know what a slacker I am - just yet, anyway. Besides, there is knitting in TheCastle - actually rather a lot of typical Queenly knitting - that is - lots of almost finished projects. I gave myself permission, this fall, to explore knitterly ideas without the onus of having to complete anything and though that may seem rather like a carte blanche for ufos it is actually an opportunity to let the mind travel freely and creatively.

And I am sticking with that story.

One special project I'm working on is a pair of gloves I'm making from some delicious red cashmere yarn - a gift from a very special friend that I have stroked, now, for 2 years. It's time it was turned into something wonderful and gloves popped into my mind - then lace - and if cashmere lace doesn't sound wonderful I

don't know what does. The yarn label says Black Pearl                        

  and a quick Internet search shows it's available from One Planet Yarn & Fiber 

In typical Queenly fashion, I don't have a pattern - in fact, I've never knit gloves and though I could probably find a pattern  easily enough, I'd rather be knitting than searching Ravelry's database. Besides - it's gloves for heavens sake! the only real issue is ... will 200 yards be enough to make all those fingers? Well - nothing for it but to cast on - and right away I began thinking that I'd like ruffly edges around the cuffs. It's a DK yarn and I began using a #4 needle, casting on 80 stitches and knitting a few rows ... maybe 5.  I k2tog all the way across and got the number down to 40 - a nice number for doing a k2p2 rib.

I found a pretty little 8 stitch diamond lace pattern in Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks  so after an inch or so of ribbing I increased up to 48 stitches began working the lace on the glove back and, eventually putting in a thumb gusset. Once I got to where I'd need to start knitting the little finger I broke off the yarn and cast on for the second glove.

Cashmere, though, is extraordinarily soft and has almost no elasticity. The ribbing in glove #1 stretched out rather wide - not so wide they'll fall off my hands but wider than I like, so with the second glove I used a #3 needle and also knit into the back of every stitch - knits and purls. You can see in the photo how much smaller and tighter the second cuff looks.

Also - on this second glove I've only increased to 44 stitches because the thumb gusset will add an additional 8 stitches to the palm. I hope this bit of knitting math will make the glove fit a bit more snugly.

And so - here I am with a sweet Monday off and red cashmere lace to knit on. I'll get to the finger portion today and begin on them. I hope there's enough yarn to make 10 complete fingers but if there isn't I will make half-finger lengths, ribbed on the underside of the fingers to keep them from curling. If I am fully satisfied with the end result I'll write the pattern up - and make another pair from my stash of natural colored cashmere. Something about cashmere lace gloves seems more than ordinarily luxurious. And so - my Monday Thoughts will be of cashmere and lace. May yours be as soft and cozy.