It's easy!

It's easy. I think that some people probably don't like to hear those words from anyone. I find myself saying it or wanting to say it a lot. I don't know if it's natural talent or just an uncanny ability to read directions and actually follow them through. Dwight would say it's a natural talent. I would give the second reason. I always feel a bit strange when someone who sees my work and says, "wow, I bet you can make anything." I feel like telling them, that I can indeed make anything, especially if there are given directions. And if there are no directions, I will try to do it on my own.

I've found this true for myself with sewing or knitting. To me, sewing is just following a pattern. You cut out the pieces and put them together how the directions tell you do it. Just a few days ago, I've found that it's also true for doing our taxes. I do our taxes by hand. That's how I've always done them, but this year proved a little more difficult. I ran into a snag, read the (insane) directions, and figured it out. To double check, I used a tax program and I did get it all correct!

This is another thing that was easy for me. The directions for Jean Greenhowe's dolls are so thorough. I did try to make things a bit less complicated by knitting in the round. That messed with my row gauge a bit, but I like how it turned out anyways. This is the second doll that I made for E for her birthday yesterday. I gave the doll to her and then remembered that I didn't take pictures of it yet. So, Miss Sophie is looking a bit rumpled. This doll stands at around 12 inches high. She can stand on her own. I used whatever leftover acrylic yarn that I had on hand already. That's why her pantalets are pink instead of white.

I was a little worried about making dolls for E. She has so many dolls already, but none of them were handmade. Well, I had nothing to worry about. She has declared that the two dolls that I made are the best simply because I made them. That was such a sweet comment for her to make. I've kept the pattern book hidden while I was making these. I showed her the pattern books yesterday and she's picked out Jemima Jane as the next doll for me to make. I want to make the pirate doll for D. I'm not sure when I'll get around to them, but they're on the list!

In knitting, I've started to branch out and do my own thing with socks. And now I'm just winging it with these fingerless gloves. And I've found that once again--it's easy. It was all about finding a pattern that works for me and plugging in a stitch pattern. Finding a good stitch pattern is the tricky part. I've found that I can plug in just about any stitch pattern that's used in a sock and it will make pretty fingerless gloves.

Here are the completed Wollmeise fingerless gloves. These took up 60 gms of yarn. That's less than half of the skein. They are quite snug because of the pulling in that this stitch pattern likes to do. The stitch pattern is Stansfield 304 that can be found in the More Sensational Knitted Socks book. I wore them out yesterday and they do keep my hands warm. I have a few more skeins of sock yarn that I want to make into fingerless gloves now.

To recap:
Fingerless gloves made up by me.
Yarn: Wollmeise sockenwolle in Drachenblut (60gms)
Needles: size 0 Addi Turbo
Notes: These are knitted with 72 stitches around, due to the stitch patterns nature to pull in. The gloves are quite snug.

I've started this pair with Dream in Color Smooshy in the Midnight Derby color. This pair is for my sister. She loves blue and I think this one just about matches the color of her car. My sister is all about being matchy-matchy. This is the Cross Stitch block stitch pattern that can also be found in the More Sensational Knitted Socks book. I have found it in one of the Barbara Walker treasuries too, but I can't remember which one. This glove is knit with 64 stitches around and I did use a larger needles. My sister has larger hands than I do and I was worried that 64 stitches around on a size 0 might be too snug for her.

The color is more accurate in this picture, but you can see the stitch pattern detail better in the first picture.

Details so far:
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in Midnight Derby
Needles: size 1 (2.5mm) Knit Picks Classic Circular
Glove pattern: my own
Stitch pattern: Cross Stitch Block




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