Reviewing the Tape

Or, a time to look back on the Knitting Olympics and see what I've gained from it.

Quite a lot.

I've learned how to make balanced increases for the thumb gusset; that p1, k1tbl ribbing is easier than I thought and quite nice; and worked out both the thumb gusset and the reverse of the pattern so that the gloves are mirrored. (I knit the pattern from left to right, in the same row order, and replaced the k2tog tbl with plain k2tog, and when it came time to move stitches between pattern repeats, I moved one stitch clockwise.)

I've also learned that I don't knit well under stress and forget basics to boot.

So now I have worked out the patterns for both gloves, figured out how to work the thumb gusset and divide the stitches for the fingers. All that is left is to rip out the left glove and reknit it. Later. Probably in a month or so.

I'm still in the middle of a pair of gloves for a friend of mine (and they match), a pair of mittens for myself, and a scarf as well. I'd like to get the gloves and mittens finished while it's still cold enough to wear them.

But the mermaid gloves are now in the realm of possibility. Before, I definitely wanted the finished gloves, but figured I'd be knitting them on the far side of never.

I figure I'll be finishing them in April. Sweet.

And here, for anyone who wants to try them, is the thumb gusset I worked out. It creates a column of plain k1tbl stitches on either side of the gusset. All increases are then made just inside these stitches. I started it on row 1 of the pattern repeat.

Mermaid Gloves Thumb Gusset:

For information on how to make the following increases, see: http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/increases

m1L: make 1 left
m1R: make 1 right

Note: please do not put the gusset after the last repeat on needle 3. I did. And when it came time to move the stitches after row 22, I ended up breaking the yarn and weaving the new end back over the old stitches so there wouldn't be a funny zigzag over the gusset.

1: m1L
2: k1tbl
3: m1R, k1tbl, m1L
4: k1tbl 3x
5: k1tbl, m1R, k1tbl, m1L, k1tbl
6: (k1tbl, p1) 2x, k1tbl
7: k1tbl, m1R, p1, k1tbl, p1, m1L, k1tbl
8: k1tbl 2x, p1, k1tbl, p1, k1tbl 2x
9: k1tbl, m1R, (k1tbl, p1) 2x, k1tbl, m1L, k1tbl
10: (k1tbl, p1), 4x, k1tbl
11: k1tbl, m1R, (p1, k1tbl) 3x, p1, m1L, k1tbl
12: k1tbl 2x, (p1, k1tbl) 4x, k1tbl
13: k1tbl, m1R, (k1tbl, p1) 4x, k1tbl, m1L, k1tbl
14: (k1tbl, p1) 6x, k1tbl
15: k1tbl, m1R, (p1, k1tbl) 5x, p1, m1L, k1tbl
16: k1tbl 2x, (p1, k1tbl) 6x, k1tbl
17: k1tbl, m1R, (k1tbl, p1) 6x, k1tbl, m1L, k1tbl
18: (k1tbl, p1) 8x, k1tbl
19: k1tbl, m1R, (p1, k1tbl) 7x, p1, m1L, k1tbl
20: k1tbl 2x, (p1, k1tbl) 8x, k1tbl
21: k1tbl, m1R, (k1tbl, p1) 8x, k1tbl, m1L, k1tbl
22: (k1tbl, p1) 10x, k1tbl