knitty – Elliebelly Knit & Dye Works

Early this morning, in a strikingly bad example of IPhone photography, your intrepid blogger announced that she had finished Emmaline. (Actually, Emma was finished on Saturday, ends woven in Sunday, but this has been the first opportunity to photo and perhaps I should have waited for a better one, give the outcome of the picture)

The photo displays neither the best nor the worst features of the finished garment to advantage. The worst was likely the size choice. I knit a size medium, but probably should have done a small. The armholes, and possibly the neckline as well, will require a bit of crochet device for a good fit. On the plus side, the yarn is cotton, and the pattern calls for a machine wash and partial dry in lieu of blocking. I am hopeful this process will result in a more desirable fit.

The best feature of this sweater is undoubtedly the simple, but very elegant, yarn over patterning along the yoke. Although the yarn is bulky, the sweater itself is soft and comfortable and perfect for summer. I could see reaching for this to go out to dinner after work, to wear to the farmers market, and on and on. I would, and am actually thinking about, knitting it again. The soft sea foam green cotton yarn that I'm using for the lace baby blanket I'm in the middle of would be perfect.

Knucks is a pattern written by a wonderful knitter, Pamela Grossman, for fingerless mittens. I remember when the pattern was first published, because my dear friend Elizabeth Thompson knitted and embellished a pair for the write up.

[Elizabeth once knit this absolutely incredible pair of baby pants for me, and I have to digress to show them to you…

Aren't they amazing?]

So, Knucks. I've been in search of just the right pattern for the fingerless mitts my six year old wants. He wanted partial fingers, rather than the style that just wraps around the hand. In the middle of searching Ravelry for a pattern, Knucks popped up. Why hadn't I thought of them earlier? And, predictably, Pamela had included a child's size in her pattern.

I was all set — ready to swatch them in some Alpaca I had dyed in Ollie's favorite colorway, Eco, a shading of greens.

I swatched on the way to a Labor Day picnic. It was a long drive so I swatched further than I normally would have.

When I was done, I realized it was a total disaster. This yarn was much bulkier than the yarn the pattern was written for, and taking it down to a needle size that would have made it close would result in a fabric so dense there would be no give in it.

Fortunately, we had a long drive home. I promised Ollie a pair of Knucks as soon as I could make it to the store toss my stash (really!) to get a more appropriate yarn. And, in the meantime, I knit a second swatch and apologized to him for making something that wasn't exactly what he wanted.

Not much too it — just two squares. I took a bit of extra care when doing mattress stitch to match up the edges to let the stockinette roll, and left about 3/4" unstitched for a nice little thumb hole. He seems quite taken with them — and fell asleep wearing them.

But, next on my list is a pair of knucks.

Tag: knitty

Emmaline — Finished

Knucks