Mermaid Fingerless Gloves, Postscript

It's finally time to wrap up this project and move on to new things. My sister's Mermaid Gloves are done and I have no plans to knit another pair, in spite of the various requests. There are too many other fun and fascinating patterns out there. Time is just too precious.

Before I leave the topic there are a few things that I learned on the second pair that really deserve mentioning along with my three part instructions, (August and October '07). Jo's pair was knit on US#1 needles, (the big US#1 if you like the accuracy of the metric world.), instead of on #0's. They were also knit from a lighter weight yarn, ShibuiKnits, rather than Socks that Rock Medium. I intentionally knit very tight for a minimized gage. The result was a glove that was shorter in length, but much more comfortable and wearable. My first pair feels a tiny bit bulky across the palm.

With the smaller gage I was afraid that the pattern would look excessively stretched when worn, but it really doesn't. I'm not sure what makes this pair more stretchy. It could be gage or yarn weight or some other yarn parameter that I can't name. Whatever it was, it worked out great. I'd recommend that if you're going to use Socks that Rock yarn, try the light weight instead of the medium. You might want to consider ShibuiKnits since that worked so well for me.

Look at the wonderful pooling I got from ShibuiKnits Midnight color! Here's palm down:And of course the thumb gusset that I'm so happy with... Here's palm up:

It was interesting that I got so used to doing the backwards Ktbl that it took some concentration to go back to the normal one. Some of that comes from doing two left gloves in a row, (mine second and Jo's first), but it also indicates to me that the stitch is really not that bad.

Overall, I'm very happy with the mirrored approach and still absolutely thrilled with my easy, organic thumb gusset. The slight difference in texture in the mirrored stitches is easily made up for by the symmetry in the final product and the opportunity to create this thumb gusset that grows out of the scale pattern. (That's my opinion obviously, and I expect that there are plenty of knitters and wearers that will disagree!)

Note to Monica (Passionknit): Glad to hear you're planned to knit your next pair mirrored! I'm looking forward to hearing what you think of the whole experience.

If there's anyone out there who really wants to take this project to the next level, they might be able to eliminate the slight texture difference in the mirrored stitch by spinning their own yarn, "S" twist for one glove and "Z" twist for the other. Go for it! I'd love for someone to confirm the yarn twist theory!

So that's all I have to say on the Mermaids. Now if I can just figure out how to hook all this info up with my new Ravelry account…

Note to Susan (WormSoup): Here's my active project list… Comings & Goings Cardigan, Playing with Fire Sweater, and Pyramids Sweater. The list is getting shorter again. Maybe the insanity has passed and I'm working my way back to being a "Serial Knitter". We'll see. I'd love to clear the sofa somewhat to make ready for a brand new project.

What's on your active list? Any Rhinebeck projects on needles yet?

Jinxed

Looks like I jinxed myself by announcing that the wool selection for my sister's Mermaid Fingerless Gloves was all settled!

Maybe I'm expecting too much from a non-knitter. When I showed my sister the Wollmeise in Gewitterhimmel I expected "ooohs" and "aaahs", stroking and cuddling of the skein, a sudden inability to put it down. You know. The reaction you see from knitters all the time. She approved it and said it's "closer to what I wanted", but I didn't get that wool-lust response that we're all familiar with. So today I bought still more yarn for this project.

Did I need to? Was it an excuse? I really don't know. The Mermaid Gloves are beautiful, but they weren't the most fun project I've ever knit. It's not one of those stitch patterns where the slightest screw up is obvious in the next row. This pattern giggles away quietly at your expense while a fatal flaw gets buried rows and rows deep. All I'm saying is that if I'm to knit these again they need to be loved. Loving the yarn is a really good start.

I found this new candidate yarn when I was doing a quick cruise through Loopy Ewe's "What's New" list. Coincidently they just posted some new colors of Fiesta Boomerang. (At this point I need a lighted case where I can display all the skeins of this incredible wool that I've already bought. Is there any bonus for collecting every color?) Since I obviously had to buy this new potential yarn for Jo's gloves, I obviously had to expand my collection of Boomerang.

Now I'm waiting to see how this next yarn comes in. It's ShibuiKnits in the color Midnight. I've never played with ShibuiKnits before. Will it match the photo? Will it not? Will Jo finally ooh and aah over yarn? Maybe this wool will be the yarn of her dreams… But is it possible that some people don't dream about yarn? Scary thought.

While all of this procurement drama goes on in the background, here's Comings and Goings coming along nicely. I've even dug in on tucking all those ends visible from the inside-out sleeve.