Dear Meredith,
Gloves are my default Summer knitting project. They are small enough to travel well, don't leave you with a giant pile of hot knitting in your lap, are just the right side of needing to concentrate, while being rather impressive and obvious as to what they are to onlookers (alleviating the need for strange mimes failing the possession of a shared language). And they're not socks. As much as I have spent the last 15 years in socks mainly knitted by my English Grandmother (neither English or technically my grandmother), but also by myself and my mother: I do hate jumping on a bandwagon.
Gloves are my default Summer knitting project. They are small enough to travel well, don't leave you with a giant pile of hot knitting in your lap, are just the right side of needing to concentrate, while being rather impressive and obvious as to what they are to onlookers (alleviating the need for strange mimes failing the possession of a shared language). And they're not socks. As much as I have spent the last 15 years in socks mainly knitted by my English Grandmother (neither English or technically my grandmother), but also by myself and my mother: I do hate jumping on a bandwagon.
I just finished the pair of gloves that reminded me of your sorbetero's. I used my now worn copy of Sirdar Pattern N0. 588 'Growing up in Sirdar' as a base pattern.
I'm sure I'd make many a collector shudder, but I decided a few years ago that my knitting pattern collection is for using and that means occasionally folding, a little spine bending, pencil notations and the odd case of being shoved in to a bag with work-in-progress. Yes, even my first edition of Barbara G Walker's 'Knitting from the Top'.
The other upside of knitting gloves in the Summer, is that you know they are done for the Autumn. And they dry quickly when you block them. Now, I have always just hand-washed them, put them on damp, then carefully taken them off and laid them out to dry (flat, where air can circulate), before giving them a little blast with steam from the iron. This time I wanted to research my options. There was surprisingly few out there. Here's what I found:
This pair of DIY blockers are made using a pair of washing up gloves, rice and two plastic bottles over at suite101. They seem quite chunky and recommend a second pair of hands to aid in making them. Today I'm home alone.
Roseann of Possessed to Knit pointed me in the direction of these DIY mitten blockers made with no-melt mylar on Kathryn Ivy's blog. Perhaps a bit flimsy and they're obviously for mittens, not the gloves in question.
Jenny of Jenny's blog on knitting uses tons of pins - all perfectly colour arranged mind you. Beautiful as an end unto itself, but as a functional process - no thanks.
Nannette of Knitting in Colour discusses the need for blocking colour worked gloves without going in to how. It did give me a chance to look at her elaborate glove, shawl and sock projects and designs.
In what seems to be her final post the Sassiest Girl in America tipped me off to using vintage glove stretchers - of course! Cue a certain amount of time looking on ebay and etsy, further fueled by Jane's Probably Knitting's post on the blockers she ordered from Chappy's, who gets them from Purrfectly Catchy Designs. They don't have any listed on their website, but they're out there. I think I'd go for one with the donkey cut-out.
The system I've decided to road test is from Miriam at Mim's Blog. Her glove blocking tutorial used all ingredients I had to hand - pencil, surgical gloves, tape, a craft knife and satisfying use of leftover foam core from a framing project.
The other upside of knitting gloves in the Summer, is that you know they are done for the Autumn. And they dry quickly when you block them. Now, I have always just hand-washed them, put them on damp, then carefully taken them off and laid them out to dry (flat, where air can circulate), before giving them a little blast with steam from the iron. This time I wanted to research my options. There was surprisingly few out there. Here's what I found:
This pair of DIY blockers are made using a pair of washing up gloves, rice and two plastic bottles over at suite101. They seem quite chunky and recommend a second pair of hands to aid in making them. Today I'm home alone.
Roseann of Possessed to Knit pointed me in the direction of these DIY mitten blockers made with no-melt mylar on Kathryn Ivy's blog. Perhaps a bit flimsy and they're obviously for mittens, not the gloves in question.
Jenny of Jenny's blog on knitting uses tons of pins - all perfectly colour arranged mind you. Beautiful as an end unto itself, but as a functional process - no thanks.
Nannette of Knitting in Colour discusses the need for blocking colour worked gloves without going in to how. It did give me a chance to look at her elaborate glove, shawl and sock projects and designs.
In what seems to be her final post the Sassiest Girl in America tipped me off to using vintage glove stretchers - of course! Cue a certain amount of time looking on ebay and etsy, further fueled by Jane's Probably Knitting's post on the blockers she ordered from Chappy's, who gets them from Purrfectly Catchy Designs. They don't have any listed on their website, but they're out there. I think I'd go for one with the donkey cut-out.
The system I've decided to road test is from Miriam at Mim's Blog. Her glove blocking tutorial used all ingredients I had to hand - pencil, surgical gloves, tape, a craft knife and satisfying use of leftover foam core from a framing project.
And it tipped me off to her designs. Her new Chevron Collection is beautiful. I think you'll like it. I like the staging and the choice of model too.
Here are my gloves on their experimental blockers, looking like jazz-hand musical notes on a drying rack scale...
Here are my gloves on their experimental blockers, looking like jazz-hand musical notes on a drying rack scale...
I'll have to model them for you when they're dry.
xoxAnna
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