#knitterslife

trying to keep the ribbing a little loose in this section bc i want it to sit on my hips and i have big hips and a little tummy 🙈🙈 as soon as i get up to my (snatched) waist i will tighten up the ribbing. i’ll admit it looks a little messy but i have faith that when it’s around my body it will look all the same.

had a rough day yesterday and rough night, so planning on knitting all day and watching gilmore girls lol.

now, i am no ballerina, i think i had 1 class as a 4 year old, but this name suits the colours

left glove after blocking

wow i have so many things to say >.<

lets start….

this one glove took me anywhere from 5-8 hours to knit, i’m bad at keeping track of time when knitting. i weighed her and she’s 17g. the yarn i used was norma by tejer es cool (45% FS alpaca, 30% nylon and 25% peruvian wool) i’m currently a few rows in to the right glove as we speak.

proud to say i used 5 new techniques for these gloves and are my first pair of fingerless gloves with a thumb gusset. linking all the videos i used!

1. german twisted cast on

upon further examination i may have actually done this wrong …

2. magic loop

i am not sure how i feel, its definitely cool but extremely tedious and i find it annoying, but maybe im still getting used to it. i cannot invest in dpns right now so it’ll have to do! had to cast on about 4 or 5 different times..

3. knitting (clean) ribbed stripes

so happy i stumbled upon this reel a day before i started the project

4. 2x2 tubular/italian bind off

wow this was hard! ive never done a italian bind off before but this method allows you to bind off 2x2 ribbing without needing to rearrange the stitches to 1x1, looks great and neat but really not sure if it was worth all the trouble overall im happy i learned it but dreading doing it again.

5. knitting a thumb gusset

super fun and glad i did it but not i have to figure out how to do it on the other side like where to start it in the work. if you have any tips let me know!

general notes on this freehand project

i wish i did my increases differently...i kind of just threw them on opposite ends increasing 4 stitches every 3 rows at opposite ends of the tube (if that makes any sense) but next time ill do it all at one end so i have a neat finish on the outside of the glove. also in the first row of increasing i threw them in kind of randomly... wont do that again.

i noticed i was creating gaps by not pulling my yarn tight enough when i would knit the next round, this led to me pulling my yarn and holding it with more tension at the top of the glove and definitely a noticeable change in tension in the stitches toward the top, i blocked it and it relaxed a little and is not as bad, but def keeping this in mind for the second glove and will try and intentionally recreate that tighter tension in the top to keep the gloves looking consistent. I tried to close these gaps by pulling and tying the yarn on the inside of the work in funny ways. (photo below is before blocking)

they are a bit hard to put on... i still love them but i shouldve casted on 4 more stitches. my last pair of fingerless gloves became too big in just a few days, due to the fibre i chose, my tension and how many stitches i cast on, i decided to undershoot it on these i dont regret it because they def fit, but wish they fit a bit better. I still do not understand how to know how many stitches to cast on, its a total mystery to me.

i am still new to knitting in the round so i’m not sure how this happened or how to prevent it while knitting stripes, but definitely will try and keep this on the inside edge of the next glove.

progress pics!

i recently took a trip to peru to visit some family and travel! and of course to buy some yarn! i am a past victim of the yarn stash epidemic and am glad to say have definitely recovered from over buying yarn and purchasing without intent (nothing wrong with that but i used to do it in excess)

i am happy to say i left with 2 50g balls of Norma by Tejer es Cool (45% FS alpaca, 30% nylon, 25% peruvian wool) and 4 100g hanks of Chaski by Amano (60% superwash merino wool, 30% pima cotton, 10% linen) I plan to use the Chaski to make the Miu top by @unibanuni on instagram and plan to use the Norma for fingerless gloves just got done blocking the 1st one! so excited to make a post on them as i learned so much!

the cost of yarn is much cheaper over in peru, especially stuff made in peru which of course the ones i bought were. lastly i bought a pushka, an andean drop spindle, ill be using this to try spinning my own yarn the way my ancestors did!

Norma

Chaski

Pushka

I also had the pleasure of visiting the Mundo Alpaca textile museum in Arequipa and WOW what a beautiful museum. I cannot put into words how much this museum impacted me and i’m not even sure i can try.

Learning about textiles through my own heritage was such a beautiful experience, to know that my love of knitting and textiles comes not only from the act itself but is intrinsically connected to me through my DNA allows me to firmly identify and understand a piece of myself.

that’s all for now,

hello! i am 25 yrs old and obsessed with knitting :) i have been knitting since i was 9 years old on and off but mostly hats, scarves, ONE sweater, freehanding all my projects. never had any interest in patterns, focused on any techniques and simply knit what came to me. this year has been different, i’ve been more dedicated to learning new techniques, actually buying patterns and paying attention to the quality of my yarn, its fibre, its properties, its intention. im starting this account to have a place to document my work, i know i’ll love it here even if no one reads.