Warm ears

I finished a hat! And not only that, I finished knitting a hat. From real wool yarn... that I dyed myself, too!

The wool for the hat came in a kit meant for dyeing and then knitting into a small pouch. But I figured that I would have more use for a hat.

This was the start, the wool has just been dyed:

Which looked so much better once dried and wound into a skein. I was so proud of this! You can read a bit more about this dyeing journey in a post from last year...

Aren't those colours  scrumptious?!

Then I found a hat pattern. It is called the Antler Toque by Tin Can Knits and is available for (free!) as a download from their blog or on Ravelry (search for Antler Toque or Tincanknits).

I knitted the larger size, apparently I have a large head. I am not at all an experienced knitter, but with a bit of care I managed fine. It just took quite some time, but being a (very) slow knitter I kind of expected that. The pattern is clearly written, and once I "got" the cables I could do the repeats without checking the pattern all the time. Slowly, mind you.

I used a circular needle, and switched to double pointed ones for the last bit. I found out later that I could have continued with the circular needle and use the magic loop method. That will be for next time then...

I have a little yarn left, and I keep changing my mind whether I should use it to make a pompom. What do you think?

Anyway, when I have to go out in this cold weather (do you see the snow behind me?), I will have warm ears. And in the mean time I have started another knitting project!

Sandra

Fingerless Gloves - A Finish

- This is a finishalong post -
If you want to see an overview of all my finishes (and non-finishes) in the first quarter of 2016, see my overview post.
My original goal setting post can be found HERE.

In January I posted a not so flattering image of the fingerless gloves I had in progress. I was entering it in the Finishalong, with the aim of getting it finished in the first three months of the year... and I did!

I had never managed to knit an item in the round before, though I tried a few times. This time was different.

First of all I came across a mention of "Continental knitting". After some investigation (see this post from Sarah of Crafts from the Cwtch for a comprehensive explanation and more links) I found that I was an English knitter. Who knew?! I started knitting the Continental way, and my hands and wrists can cope so much better with this technique and I have a lot more control. No matter that I am still quite a slow knitter, I put that down to my inexperience...

Secondly, I found very short flexible needles. The length is just right for knitting socks or - you guess it - gloves and wrist warmers. No more struggle to keep control of four double pointed knitting needles!

Then I read Lynz' post on Susie Rogers' Reading Mitts and I decided I wanted to make a pair. All set with some wool and the flexible needle(s) I started in December 2015.

Then in January, after the mention of this project in the Finishalong goal setting post, I got a date for an operation on my hand. Knowing that I would not fit my hand into ordinary gloves while being bandaged up, I had an extra incentive to finish these. I'd be needing them to keep my hands warm!

And so they did:

I knitted them in a thinner wool than the pattern called for (I used what I had), which suited the needles better, too. To make up for it I knitted the largest size, though I think I could have gotten away with the middle size. I am a rather loose knitter... I also added two extra stitches when starting the rows for the thumb and this was a good choice.
I used the flexible needle for the main glove, the thumbs had to be knitted with DPNs, but since there were so few stitches for that it was not really a problem.
The edging turns out lovely and was very easy to do.

I could even see myself making another pair in thicker wool, to keep my hands even toastier next winter!

Linking up with #2016FAL:

Sandra