Tutorial: Glittens--what eventually happened

So those glittens I was talking about... here's my pattern!

Deborah Norville Serenity sock yarn

US size 1 needles

m1: make a stitch by picking up the loop between the stitch you have just knitted and the next one, place it on the left hand needle and knit into the back of it

I used cable cast-on for fingers; knit cast-on for thumb/mitten flaps

LEFT HAND

Cast on 60 sts (on a size 5 needle) and join in round
Switch to size 1 needles
Rib 30 rounds
Stockinette 6 rounds

Thumb Gusset:
K27, place marker, m1, K1, m1, place marker, K32
K 2 rounds
K27, m1, K3, m1, K32
K 2 rounds
Continue increasing as such until there are 19 sts between the markers.
K 5 rounds (so the 2 that usually come after the increase rounds, plus three more)
K27, slip the next 19 sts on hold, K32 (59 sts)
K 15 rounds

Pinkie:

K7, slip all but the last 7 sts on hold, CO 3, K7 (17 sts)
K 11 rounds
Cast off (with a size 5 needle)

Upper Hand:

Rejoin yarn at base and pick up the 3 cast-on sts (48 sts)
K all sts on hold
K 5 rounds

Ring Finger:

K10, slip all but the last 6 sts on hold, CO 3, K6 (19 sts)
K 17 rounds
Cast off (with a size 5 needle)

Middle Finger:
Rejoin yarn at base and pick up the 3 cast-on sts
K7, slip all but the last 7 sts on hold, CO 3, K7 (20 sts)
K 23 rounds
Cast off (with a size 5 needle)

Pointer Finger:

Rejoin yarn at base and pick up the 3 cast-on sts
K all sts on hold (18 sts)
K 18 rounds
Cast off (with a size 5 needle)

Thumb:

Pick up 4 sts, knit sts on hold (23 sts)
K 10 rounds
Cast off (with a size 5 needle)

Mitten Flap:

Pick up 30 sts on back of glove, approximately 10 rows down from the base of the little finger (about where base knuckles of fingers will be). Do this by slipping a needle into the right side of each stitch, EXCEPT for the first and last stitch where I picked up both sides of the stitch. Work towards the thumb and knit all these sts, remembering to treat the first and last stitch as only 1 stitch each. Then cast on 34 sts and join into a round. (64 sts)
K30, K2P2 rib next 34 sts, for 6 rounds
K 26 rounds
k1, ssk, k24, k2tog, k1; k1, ssk, k28, k2tog, k1 (60 sts)
k1, ssk, k22, k2tog, k1; k1, ssk, k26, k2tog, k1 (56 sts)
Continue decreasing like this till you have completed:
k1, ssk, k2tog, k1; k1, ssk, k4, k2tog, k1 (12 sts)
k1, ssk, k1; k1, ssk, k2, k2tog, k1 (9 sts)
k3; k1, ssk, k2tog, k1 (7 sts)
k3; k1, ssk, k1 (6 sts)
Cut and pull yarn through remaining sts

Thumb Flap:
Pick up 12 sts on back of glove, approximately 8 rows down from the top of the thumb (same way as for mitten flap). Work towards the thumb and knit all these sts, remembering to treat the first and last stitch as only 1 stitch each. Then cast on 12 sts and join into a round. (24 sts)
K12, K1, K2P2 rib, end K1 for 6 rounds
K 15 rounds
k2tog all around (12 sts)
k2tog all around (6 sts)
k2tog all around (3 sts)
Cut and pull yarn through remaining sts.

Weave in ends.

RIGHT HAND

Same as left hand except for the following:

Thumb Gusset:

K32, place marker, m1, K1, m1, place marker, K27
K 2 rounds
K32, m1, K3, m1, K27
K 2 rounds
Continue increasing as such until there are 19 sts between the markers.
K 5 rounds (so the 2 that usually come after the increase rounds, plus three more)
K32, slip the next 19 sts on hold, K27 (59 sts)
K 15 rounds

Ring Finger:

K6, slip all but the last 10 sts on hold, CO 3, K10 (19 sts)
K 17 rounds
Cast off (with a size 5 needle)

Mitten Flap:

Work towards the pinkie.

Thumb Flap:

Work towards the pinkie.

Note: I would add maybe 5 more rounds to the mitten flaps before I started to decrease next time. Also, maybe knit a couple more rows at the end of the thumb gusset (it was a tight fit for me, and my hands are relatively small.)

 

Tutorial: scrap yarn patchwork

Scrap yarn. Too short to use for anything (other than taking up space). Too long to throw away. So I've decided to just knit it all into a huge rectangle-ish thing. It's doubly wonderful because I can experiment with new stitch patterns, but I can also just do something easy (garter stitch) as I'm studying. It keeps my hands busy but not my brain. Perfect.

I did a lot of provisional casting on and picking up stitches. And I highly dislike sewing, so I just connect everything together as I knit. Here's how...
(note: the boxes are blocks of knitting. Lines are ridges of garter stitch. For ease, I will refer to a block of knitting that is already there as black, and the block that is being worked red.)

Scenario 1: Attach along side ~ When you get to the end of every other row (where the end is next to the other block of knitting), slip your needle into a hole along the side of the black block. Then knit both the black stitch and the first red stitch together. This creates a little wrap-around of red around black, but since you're doing it regularly up the side, it doesn't look messy.

Scenario 2: Bind off against another block ~ I guess you  could use the kitchener stitch. But this method produces a line of the black's edge and a red line from the bind off. Take a crochet hook and, one by one, take each red stitch and pull it through a hole in the black, replacing the stitch on another needle. When all the red stitches are pulled up through the black, cast off.

 

I made mine with all different sizes of knitting. I like the crazy look of it--my sole aim is to not have two blocks of the same color touching.

 

And because it's scrap yarn, there's a LOT of joining yarn. Which is another one of those things I dislike (but not as much as sewing). ANYWAY, I tied knots. Lots of 'em. Let me repeat that. THERE ARE LOTS OF KNOTS IN MY KNITTING! (Ooh, rhyme) Yes. For some reason, every site I've ever looked at has denounced knots. Heresy! they say. Abomination to the knitting! But knots make joining yarn easy (and I feel very secure). They take up less yarn. They are only ugly if you look at the wrong side of the work. And the thing's not intended to be worn, so comfort's not an issue (actually, I'm not really sure what it is intended for...hmm...). So how I join yarn is, I just stop with the old strand and start with the new (making sure the ends are on the wrong side of the work). After I work a few more stitches with the new strand, I take the dangly ends and KNOT THEM TOGETHER!!! I guess I'll weave in the ends. Maybe. Or leave them dangling. Eh. Or... KNIT THEM INTO THE WORK! (Of course, make sure to leave the itty bitty ends hanging out the wrong side) If, like me, you're not extremely picky. After all, that's what the double-stranding technique is when you weave in the ends.

 

knittingknittingknittingknitting...

I have now finished two repeats (? terminology a little off, most likely) of the leaf-patterned scarf. In my book, that means it's time to start something new! It didn't take much thought--my mom "ordered" a scarf, too. But what's different about it is I have to come up with the pattern!
I told her to Google-image (<-- it's a verb now, if it wasn't before!) a design she liked, and even if there wasn't a tutorial/pattern, I could probably figure it out.
She ended up choosing a myriad of patterns, with elements she liked from each. I don't even remember the original photos (this was sometime over winter break. Not too long ago, but long enough). But it involves cables and C2R's (and, since I like symmetry, C2L's) and lines of stockinette. I'm still trying to remember how to cable correctly. But I'm excited to knit with my very own pattern!

k7tog?!?!

All right. k2tog is a common decrease. k3tog is all right, I guess. But k7tog? It has its own special abbreviation section, which tells you to slip the next seven stitches onto a crochet needle and to then pull the yarn through. It's part of the leafy pattern I'm using to create a scarf for my aunt. And it actually looks really cool...like a little dollop (not of Daisy's!). I haven't even completed the pattern once yet... (the pattern doesn't lend itself to study-knitting all too well, except on the wrong side rows) but it uses a bunch of new stitches, which I love! Keeps it interesting.

Sheep(ish) Yarn

So my aunt requested a scarf, and we all went to Joann to look for yarns. She chose Sheep(ish) Yarn. I barely looked at it before we purchased it... and then I started knitting with it. It's the oddest yarn I've encountered, in that it has no distinct plies. Sadly, that means I have to pay more attention so that I don't split the yarn (although the pattern itself requires some concentration). But even while looking at it, I often split the yarn... shhh ;) And for some reason, when I knit, the yarn "sheds" into a little ring of fuzz around the yarn. This problem is aggravated with this yarn... no biggie, I just snip it off. But aside from the yarn itself, it produces wonderful stuff :)

So I've finished knitting my glittens. *Key word: knitting. Which means that I still have to weave in ends. This is, in my opinion, the most annoying step in any knitting project. Casting on comes in close second... Until I desperately need these glittens, chances are the ends are not getting woven in.