I knit a 12 foot long garter stitch scarf in a periwinkle shade of Twist from Knitpicks but it is too boring to photograph. It does match really well with a sage green jacket I have and I like really long scarves.

Here's the progress on the Selbustrikk gloves for DH in Knitpicks Palette (my new favorite yarn for colorwork gloves). I think most knitters save knitting the thumbs for last but I prefer to do them early to better fit the gloves as I go. And yes, it is STILL snowing here for the great blizzard of 2006.




Because we can't even get out of our driveway, all fancy-schmantzy New Year's plans are cancelled. Peaches recommends that everyone spend the holiday playing games with good friends.



She suggests a bunny nap to those who over-indulge in the New Year's festivities.



HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I'm a big snow person so I'm delighted that NM is getting socked this year. DH is stuck at home because the two highways into Albuquerque have been closed since yesterday and it is still snowing.







The middle photo is looking down on our little casita and the last photo is only about a third of our roller-coaster driveway. DH will likely insist on shoveling the entire thing and he's already been out to the post office and the little local store. I'm going to be totally lazy and knit instead.

Santa Fe Decorated for the Holidays

Knitting??? What's that??? I haven't accomplished much in the fiber department in the last week but I do have another tutorial to show you soon.

The plaza in Santa Fe



An art gallery on Canyon Road




More Canyon Road



A hotel all decked out

We went to Santa Fe again for Christmas eve and I managed to get some photos.

Here are some gentlemen lighting all the farolitos along Canyon Road. This is quite a laborious process and they were using canisters of butane? fuel to light all the candles.



A wreath on a coyote fence




Every year they do a large ice sculpture in the plaza of Santa and his reindeer.



Canyon Road again - not the best photo but in the front right you can kind of see a stack of pinon logs used for the bonfires/luminarias.



I'll have more photos tomorrow.

HELP! A large brown rodent-like creature is eating all our Christmas presents!



HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Sore Thumb

Today's thumb is almost the opposite of yesterday's. The sore thumb (also called the straight thumb, basic thumb gusset, side thumb shaping, and side seam thumb) sticks out directly from the side of the mitten or glove. Generally the people who hate peasant thumbs the most (like DH) love these thumbs the best. And vice versa. I personally find them somewhat uncomfortable because I feel like my thumb is being pulled away from my hand too much when my hand is at rest.



I often use this thumb for making gloves for men who usually have wider hands proportionately. There are several advantages to this type of thumb. I think it allows the most hand movement so it is ideal for use for gloves to be used for sports or other outdoor activities. This is a nice thumb to use if you're using a striped pattern because you can keep doing the stripes similarly on the gusset (or text as on the poetry mittens shown above). The best thing about sore thumbs is that the glove can be worn on either hand so you don't have to deal with making a right and left glove and using either side of the glove may mean the gloves last longer. (Except in the case of the Floral Fair Isle gloves below which have different patterns on each side.)



Unlike peasant thumbs, sore thumbs use a gusset. A thumb gusset (also called a sidewall, fourchette/forchette, and gore) is a triangular piece of knitted fabric starting at the base of the thumb that allows for better movement. In the sore thumb treatment the gusset is made directly on the side of the hand. I already talked about how I do the thumb increases on the side of a gusset HERE. In most patterns thumb gussets start immediately at the wrist and the stitches are increased every three rows for a good fit.

The handknits in the photos today are the Bosnian mittens from Blackberry Ridge, the Poetry Mittens (I gave the pattern away but I think it was from Threads?), and IK's Floral Fair Isle gloves.

Peasant Thumbs

There are four main types of thumbs used for knitted gloves and mittens. Each day this week I'm going to discuss one type of thumb. I don't believe there is one type of thumb that is best for every hand. I think the thumb that works best for you mainly depends on the angle from your wrist bone to your bottom thumb knuckle.

Today's thumb is the easiest thumb to knit. I call it the peasant thumb but it is also called the invisible thumb, set-in thumb, simple thumb and stocking thumb.



To do the peasant thumb you simply knit to the desired location, knit the thumb stitches on waste yarn, then transfer the stitches back to the left hand needle and knit over the waste yarn stitches. (You can also use the method I show HERE for the peasant thumb to make it easier to try on the glove or mitten for the best fit while you're knitting.)

To remove the waste yarn I first take a dpn and put the top stitches (row above the waste yarn) on the dpn by carefully picking up the right hand side of each stitch. Then I do the same thing with the bottom stitches and then I remove the waste yarn by cutting or pulling it through all the stitches.

Another method to achieve the same end result is called the set-in thumb by Sheila McGregor in Traditional Scandinavian Knitting. In this method, used for traditional Norbotten mittens, you don't put in the thumb at all. When you have finished knitting the tube you have the recipient try it on. Mark where the base of the thumb is (bottom thumb knuckle), carefully snip a thread in the center, take each side of the thread and rip out enough stitches until the thumb is wide enough, put the live stitches back on needles and begin knitting the thumb.

I have long, narrow hands and I like the fit of the peasant thumb very much. DH has wide hands with a wide angle from his wrist to the bottom thumb knuckle and he intensely dislikes the fit of peasant thumbs.

I’ve read that a peasant thumb affects the glove's durability because of the more limited ability to move the thumb. The peasant thumb is used often in traditional Latvian and Estonian designs and one advantage is that any color knitting pattern can be seamlessly extended up the thumb.

The knitted items shown above are Selbu mittens I made with graphs from Traditional Scandinavian Knitting and Liidia's gloves from Folk Knitting in Estonia.

Today I need to do some blog housekeeping.

First of all, Theresa did a great technique article on colorwork in the current Knitty which recommended the Stranded Color Knitting booklet. Also, she linked to my blog entry on Fair Isle or Not - I just wanted to mention that I did a second entry on the difference between FI and other types of color knitting HERE for more info on the subject.

In the world of free color knitting patterns, Ari has posted a wonderful free pattern for a snowflake tam (scroll down - the direct link doesn't seem to be working right now). I am also very fond of this free .PDF pattern for some lovely Swedish squirrel mittens.

I don't knit many sweaters but I definitely plan to make this gorgeous Canadian ski sweater for myself as soon as Dale of Norway releases the knitting pattern. I love, love, love how they managed to incorporate the Canadian maple leaf in the snowflake motif.



Peaches is finally losing weight! I have no idea why her bunny diet took so long to make a difference but DH says she no longer looks like a beach ball with ears. Here she is testing out her early Christmas present - a faux fur bed. Jack the cat also got one but of course Peaches thinks they both belong to her.

I've saved the best for last. Stranded Color Knitting and my other knitting booklets and patterns made $1256 for rabbit rescue in 2006. The money went to the Colorado House Rabbit Society which is statewide and operates a shelter in Broomfield and also to Best Friend's Animal Sanctuary's Great Bunny Rescue of 2006 which rescued thousands of pet rabbits from a Nevada woman's backyard.

I know next year will be even better - the booklets have made almost that much in the last quarter of 2006 (the check for the last quarter won't arrive until mid-February) and I have high hopes for the glove knitting booklet. Only 50% of the glove knitting booklet will go to rabbit rescue - I want to use the other 50% to buy some more software to help in writing patterns and to possibly hire a professional to fix my disaster of a web site, aka Four Corners Bunnies.

That's it for the housekeeping. Next week is THUMB WEEK on this blog. Try to contain your excitement!

Thumb Gussets

Here's what I usually do after I knit all the increases for the thumb gusset in a pair of mittens or gloves. In the pattern chart there will be a horizontal bar where the gusset stops and the rest of the mitten starts.

I thread a tapestry needle with some contrasting yarn and put all the thumb gusset stitches on the yarn. I never use stitch holders or leave extra stitches for mittens or gloves on a double-pointed needle because I worry that they will possibly elongate and distort those stitches.



Then I cast on while keeping in pattern according to the next row (directly above the horizontal bar on the chart.) I use the backwards loop cast on shown here and cast on the number of stitches needed for the pattern. In most Norwegian patterns this is usually the same number of stitches you just removed for the gusset. It is very important to do the backwards loop cast on as loosely as possible or you'll have trouble getting your needle into those stitches on the next round, especially on the last few stitches you cast on. The backwards loop cast on is very easy -essentially just a twisted loop. You can see a video HERE.



Once the stitches are cast on you join up with the stitches on the other side of the gusset and continue knitting in the round. This method allows you to try on the glove or mitten in progress to get the sizing right for your hand.



The needles shown in the photos are my new 6" coated metal double points from Spin Blessing. These are my new favorite needles for gloves or mittens. They have them in a few sizes and they're either the Bernat Aero (comes in sets of 4), Prym, or Inox (both Prym and Inox come in sets of five). All three brands are the same needle as far as I can tell - the Aeros may have a slightly more rounded tip but it is a pretty tiny difference in size 0.

I've been meaning to show you a friend's Navajo rug collection. She purchased these years ago from a weaver named Ruby Begay in Gallup. Ruby spun and dyed all her own yarn and said that she remembered the weaving patterns by singing a song. The first one is a lightning design. I photographed it sideways because I'm thinking about using it for a colorwork knitting chart.

I'm supposed to be knitting a holiday version of the Caledonia socks. Or finishing the socks based on a pair I saw in the North Style catalog. Or trying my hand at knitting a gingerbread man. Or working on a pair of gloves for my booklet. But am I working on any of those things? Noooo.

Instead I started yet another pattern from the Selbustrikk book - Herrevante (men's gloves) No. 14 in Knitpicks Palette. It is just so nice to work on someone else's pattern mindlessly while I'm writing up the technique info for the glove booklet.

Herrevott No. 4

Pattern: Herrevott No. 4 from the Norwegian booklet Selbustrikk (available through Arnhild or Nordic Fiber Arts)
Yarn: Nature Spun sport weight
Needles: Size 0 (US) dpn
I like the extra thickness and warmth from the heavier yarn and smaller needles.
There are chart errors in this pattern as well. In the column two columns over from the thumb gusset there are five errors - three dots need to be added and two need to be removed. Also, the thumb chart is missing a dot in the center of the left hand side of the thumb on the second row from the bottom.

My Entire Handknit Sock Collection

Here's my entire sock collection - DH's boring socks are in the top row. I'm glad I got them out because I purged 5 single socks (Where do those extra socks go to???) and 7 pairs of socks with too many holes or that had been felted too much. Now there is more room in our sock drawers for some new candidates.
I want to knit myself a holiday version of the Caledonia socks this month. I may add some charts for holiday objects and I'll post the charts here to go with the free pattern (bottom right of sidebar).

WASH DAY



I wash all our wool socks in lavender Eucalan and hang them outside to dry. Then I do any necessary darning. I keep dreaming of saving sock tops and knitting new feet or finding a good use for accidentally felted socks but I'm usually sick of a pair of socks by the time I toss them anyway.

Even though I'm already done with my Christmas shopping, gift wrapping, and my holiday cards, I still have too much to do this month. The glove knitting booklet is taking much of my time and I'm really going to have to edit it ruthlessly to get it priced right. Plus I really want to make a few gingerbread houses, I have two knitting WIPs to finish, DH's birthday party extravaganza is this weekend, and I want to try to knit some gingerbread men ornaments.

Vintage Knitting

I've been reading through The Art of Knitting, published by Butterick in September of 1897 (reproduction sold by Iva Rose).

This book begins with some quotes and this is my fave:

"... a letter or a book distracts a woman more than four pair of stockings
knit by herself."

The oddest knitting information is in the section on washing knitted items.

"For the first cleaning of wool knitted articles in white or light colors, a "dry wash" is recommended. This is done with flour, meal or cornstarch, the article being dipped into either and rubbed gently with the hands until it looks clean and fresh. Then shake out.

When it becomes necessary to use soap and water, select castile for the former and have the latter luke-warm. Make a suds of the soap and add a little ammonia or borax - preferably the latter - to the suds..." Flour??? Ammonia????

I was surprised to see that they had chenille back in 1897 and that they recommend felting your wool underwear. Doesn't sound too comfy to me but what do I know?

The book includes several patterns for knitted suspenders, a pattern for Ladies' Knitted Evening Mittens which are worn to protect your delicate evening gloves and a wool knitted "Over-Shoe" which is intended to be worn over boots in cold or frosty weather.


The pattern for knitted reins for a child states, "There is no amusement that little children are so fond of as that of "playing horse," and for this purpose they are always asking mothers, sisters, etc., to buy or make reins for them.



The book also includes patterns for a simple garter stitch knitted cloth for polishing floors and possibly the most wacky knitting pattern of all time - a knitted coffee strainer.

Stranded and Fair Isle Knits

Update: I finally got around to putting links to my free patterns and knitting info posts on the blog. They're located at the bottom of the sidebar on the right.



I hope everyone joins the Stranded Colorwork Knitalong - their purpose is to encourage more knitters to try this wonderful type of knitting. If you think you might want to try your hand at stranded color knitting, check it out.

It was a process for me to become enamored with knitting with more than one color. It definitely did not happen instantly. The very first stranded color knitting project I did was the Holiday Socks from Homespun Handknit. They were too large and I gave them away.

The very first time I knit colorwork with two hands was for these socks from the Stahl Socka Book Number Nine (now out of print). I forced myself to do the entire project using both hands and by the time I finished the socks I felt pretty comfortable with two-handed color knitting. I still wasn't sure about dealing with all those ends though.



I think I became hopelessly in love with stranded color knitting when I started doing Norwegian projects. I have long suspected I was a Norwegian in a former life. Here is a Dale of Norway moose sweater I made from Nature Spun sport weight. The pattern is out of print I believe but I call it the Bullwinkle sweater. DH's nickname is Moose so I just had to make it for him.



Although I don't do it often and some of the designs don't really appeal to me, deep down I think that Fair Isle knitting is the pinnacle of all stranded color knitting. I believe it is certainly the hardest to design from a color standpoint. Here is a Fair Isle tam I designed and knit in a sea theme in about 12 colors of Shetland yarn. I used the Alice Starmore article on how to design your own tam in the Threads Knitting Around the World book.