Friday 22 April 2011

A Good FO Friday

Today is Good Friday. Good for a number of reasons. Good because today is the start of my 12 days off work. I don't go back till 4th May! Good because the weather is stunning here in the south of England at the moment. Good because I finally finished my cabled fingerless gloves!

However, there is always a tinge of sadness on Good Friday for me. When I was a baby, not even a year old, my grandfather suffered a heart attack while driving through Bradford city centre. Fortunately, Gran was in the passenger seat and was able to bring the car under control and stop it safely without causing an accident, but Grandad went to hospital and never came home again. He died on 20th April. It was Good Friday.

Not long after I'd been born. He looks a bit scared of me, I think!

Taken a few weeks before he died
It's funny, because I never really knew him at all. But I still miss him, all the same.

****

Anyway, enough of that. On to the finished projects! I have finished my granny rectangle, of course, but I am home alone this weekend and am unable to take a decent photo of myself using it, so I don't have a new picture to share. It looks pretty much like it did in the last photo, just without the ends dangling!

But what you're really interested in is the gloves, I can tell. With the house to myself yesterday evening, I was determined to get them finished. I put on a film (Julia & Julie, if you were wondering. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't as good as I was expecting) and got out my tapestry needle to weave in all those ends. If I was making these gloves again, I would do them differently, just to avoid all the ends it creates.

So, without further ado:

Tadaaaaaa!

Pattern: Cabled Crochet Fingerless Gloves by Sarah Hoyte (Rav page here)
Yarn: Hayfield Bonus Aran in purple heather (just under 100g in total)
Hook: 4mm

Notes & Mods: The pattern I used for these gloves is based on a free hat pattern. When I started these gloves, I'd never done cables before, but was referred back to the hat pattern, as there is a handy photo-tutorial on doing cables in crochet. Of course, that's when I got the idea for doing a whole matching set; hat, gloves and scarf.

I realise now, if I'd made the hat first, I'd have been better prepared for the gloves. If I'd explored the internet further, I'd have realised that it is possible to work these cables flat, as well as in the round. This would have saved me a lot of end-weaving, as instead of finishing off each round and starting again on each side of the thumbhole, I could have just turned my work and kept on going. Lesson learned, do it properly next time! It's easy enough, just do bptr instead of fptr when doing the cable twist bits.

I originally did 5 twists in my cables, before finishing off with the rib cuff, as I was running out of yarn. This left them a little uncomfortably short. So I got more yarn, ripped back my cuff and added an extra two twists of cable. Those six rows make a lot of difference! As mentioned on Wednesday, my new yarn is a different dyelot to the original, so my cuffs are a lot darker!

I didn't like the way the thumbhole was massive. I felt my thumb would get too cold. So I had a bit of a think, and decided all I really needed was a sort of shaped flap that would cover the fat, fleshy part of the thumb, but leave me with a full range of motion. I didn't want the restricton of a thumb "tube". It's literally a few rows, worked back and forth, starting in the bottom of the thumb hole. It goes something like this:

with right side of glove facing, attach yarn with slip stitch to the bottom of the right edge of the thumbhole.
R1: sc, hdc, sc, slipstitch in left side twice
R2: ch 1, turn, sc, hdc, bpdc in hdc of R1, hdc, sc, slipstitch in right side twice
R3: ch 1, turn, sc, hdc, hdc, fpdc in bpdc of R2, hdc, hdc, dc, slipstitch in left side twice
R4: ch 1, turn, sc, hdc, dc, bptr in fpdc of R3, dc, hdc, sc, slipstitch in right side, fasten off.

So there you have it. Matching gloves and hat. All I need now is a matching scarf or cowl. No pattern that suits on Ravelry so far, so I'll have to make one up. I've had a few ideas, done a few test swatches. But I'm going to wait till autumn to work it out, I can't be making warm snuggly scarves in the middle of summer!



This post is part of Tami's FO Friday and Beth's Fibers on Friday. Go check them out!

17 comments:

  1. I love the contrasting color on the cuffs! It looks like you planned it that way. Clever fix on the thumb.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your grandfather looks like a kind man, it's nice that you remember him even though you never got to know him.

    The gloves & hat look great! I like how you made all of the issues work out. Enjoy your time away from work!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Like the gloves!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lovely gloves and hat.
    I didn't know my grandfathers and I think it does leave a space of something missing. He looks so proud holding you.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your hat a fingerless gloves turned out great. Nice memory of your gran. I always enjoy old photo's. Hope you have lots of good things lined up for your days off. Enjoy.
    Sandy

    ReplyDelete
  6. Fantastic gloves! I think the darker cuffs kind of looks like part of the detail (sort of like different coloured ribbing would). Such a nice set.
    I lost my granddad on the day of my high school graduation. I think some things are meant to stay with you forever.
    Hope you make the most of the nice weather on your time off!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love the gloves. I actually like the change in dye lot. It looks totally on purpose, IMO. It looks great with the hat and love the photo of you wearing them! Too cute!

    Isn't it funny how you can miss someone you never knew? I think it's just the thought of memories you could have with them. Have a great time on vacation away from work!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. we never really talked about him that much when I was growing up, I think it was too painful for Mum and Gran. All Mum would ever tell me when I asked was that my Granddad loved me very much and was indeed very proud of me. I wonder what he'd think of me now!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I had to do a bit of playing around with the timer settings on my camera to take the self portrait. There are quite a few failed shots!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your gloves turned out wonderful.

    I know exactly what you mean about your grandfather. My grandmother died five years before I was born, but I've grown up with her shadow - the influence that she had on both of my parents and on my grandfather, the stories of the things that she did, things that she owned, etc, and so I've always wished I could have met her, and while I don't think I would have said that I "miss" her, still I have this empty feeling in my heart where she would have been had I ever met, all ready to go, yet never to be filled, so I think I know what you mean.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Your gloves look fantastic! I am constantly defeated by cables in crochet so I always admire anyone who can do them properly.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Your gloves are cool! I haven't tried cabling yet :-S bit scared haha!

    One of my Grandad's died about 10 years before I was born but i miss that i didn't get to see him if that makes sense! Those photos you have of your grandad are lovely!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. What an interesting post... and what a super gran you had to have the presence of mind to control the car... I am so sorry for your loss, I lost my granpa before I knew him and can relate to your sense of loss.

    Love the wrist warmers and the fact that you have adapted them...Brilly squilly!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Crocheted cables are definitely something I'm hoping to try in the future, and your hat and wristwarmers look fantastic! I like the colour and the cables came out amazing. And I love those photos of your grandfather. I know just how you feel about missing family members you haven't really met---it's amazing how stories can make you feel like you know and miss them anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Love your mitts and hat. I hope the weather stays nice and you don't have to use them just yet. Looking forward to seeing your granny rectangle.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I know what you mean about missing your Grandad. My Dad'sDad passed years before Iwas born and my Mum's Dad when I was six weeks old. I often wonder what they would have been like.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...