Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Finished Gloves and a Vintage Knit

So I did NOT manage to get my son's gloves finished in time for Christmas day.  Not that it mattered much, because the weather has been rather warm lately, with temperatures in the 60's (degrees F, that is around 18 degrees C).  Until yesterday, when it was a good deal colder- hovering around the 40's- and today it is sticking close to freezing.  Maybe he will get a chance to use them today!


Here they are with my latest read.  Reads.  That is my Christmas present- an iPad 2, with the kindle application working on it, with several books from the local library's digital site :)  Of course the books are relatively boring looking since they never show a front page, so you have my library screen up LOL.  On the right, is my new project- a vintage pattern I discovered the other day in a small antique shop.  Some Madelinetosh yarn, and a cardigan on the needles.  The yarn is 100% merino, and OH SO soft.  I am loving knitting with it, even though it is a very fine yarn- a 2ply lace weight in fact!  My pattern calls for 8.5 stitches per inch, so this works out just fine, but will probably take me forever!


Here are the gloves in closeup.  I used St. Denis Boreale- a fingering weight wool, USA sourced, made in the USA.  The colours were chosen because they are my son's favourite.  The pattern was chosen by him- or rather PATTERNS were chosen by him.  The griffin comes from one pattern, which wanted me to knit the fingers top down.  OK that ended up being too fiddly, and they were knitting up a bit small at that.  So instead I adjusted it and used a secondary pattern, into which I added the griffin.  And mixed up the griffins and put them backwards, so they face out instead of in!  Oh well.


I tried to get a closeup of my yarn, but it came out blurry.  Instead you can have a closer look at my knitting and the pattern- I am making the cardigan from this twin set.  I have been unable to date it at all, but suspect it to be quite early.  It is a 'Target' pattern by George Lee & Sons Limited.  At some point, the company is billed as Lee Target, but I have one that says just Target.  Apparently they are a Welsh company... who appear to still be around.  I shall have to do more digging :)

Yarn Along with Ginny over at Small Things :)

33 comments:

  1. Those gloves are so lovely!
    I love the griffon pattern.
    I'm sure your son will just love them.

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  2. Wow, that is amazing! I am so impressed with the time and talent that must have taken to knit!

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  3. holy smokes. those are amazing! i feel a bit lame, i am all freaked about knitting a dress. lol and you made a master piece.

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  4. Wow, those are some gloves!!! Love to see your knitting every week.

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  5. Your gloves are stunning! And i hate to admit it, but I'm having serious iPad envy ;)

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  6. @Jess- thank you :) He does love them- which meant that he waves his hands around a lot when going out and he likes to touch people whilest wearing them!
    @Tirza: Thank you :) They don't take as much time as you might think, BUT because they are small and fiddly, I tend to do them in small doses.
    @momto5: Thank you :) LOL baby steps. It took me years to get to this point- and there are numerous mistakes in my gloves too ;) BUT as the book I was working from said, when they made them out of necessity 'way back when', those had mistakes a plenty, and the women just persevered :)
    @Crunchy Momma: thank you- and likewise :)
    @Gigi: Thank you! I have been loving the iPad since I got it- but most especially because of the kindle app! I have been able to read nook books for ages (since I got my nook) but now I can take kindle books with me too!

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  7. those gloves are impressive! I love the vintage pattern, lovely

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  8. I'm dreaming of an iPad in 2012. Oh, and those gloves are incredible!

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  9. The gloves are just amazing--very Harry Potter!--and I admire your bravery for diving into a cardigan, since I am a neophyte knitter and just started my first successful cast-on of a scarf.
    JNCL
    The Beauty of Eclecticism

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  10. oh those gloves, those gorgeous gloves xx

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  11. What a talented and skilled knitter you are! The gloves are just beautiful and your son must be overjoyed to receive such a lovley gift.
    I love the newest project you have cast on and they yarn looks perfect for it. I haven't tried any vintage patterns, but after seeing yours I need to look for some.

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  12. I like the griffins pointing out - they can scare off people to his right and left when he wears them! Such wonderful colorwork. As for the cardigan from the twinset, I always like something with a bit of history and mystery...hope you track down more info.

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  13. @Karen: thank you :)
    @Greer (great name ;)): lol they are very popular :) I am hoping some more knitting related apps come in ;) And thanks!
    @JNCL: I have a suspicion that the very Harry Potterness of them is why my son chose the griffin ;) As for the cardigan- it is a long knit, but not a difficult one, so I don't consider myself brave LOL
    @Nocton4: :) Thanks!
    @Tracey: Thank you! He was quite thrilled- I received several of his (backhanded) compliments for them. Like- 'these are weird because the colours are so different' (which meant he liked them apparently LOL).
    As for vintage patterns- they hide in dark corners of antique and thrift shops :) The knitting patterns are ones I find VERY rarely... but ebay sells them, as does Etsy. You can also find lots of free ones online :)
    @Ellen: very true :) Thank you! I am about to start work on tracking down the pattern ;)

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  14. What GREAT gloves!!!! I love them!!! And aren't vintage patterns the best??! Such classic designs. Those poor knitters from the past, though, didn't have the gorgeous madeleinetosh to knit with!!!!

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  15. @Steph- thanks :) They are indeed! And lol, that is very true- where would we be without Tosh yarn? :)

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  16. Wow - your knitting is just amazing!
    Thank you for sharing.

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  17. The gloves are awesome! My son would be thrilled with a pair like that. It has been warm here too so we haven't had to put on all the winter gear much either.

    What a lucky find! I'm sure the sweater will turn out lovely.

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  18. LOVE these gloves! The color work is just perfect....wish I had a pair :) Cool that you got an IPad 2....it's on my wish list, too!

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  19. Thanks for stopping by the World of Wiedz.
    Those gloves look like a labor of love. And the cardigan looks lovely.

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  20. rachel your knitting is just gorgeous, the gloves are amazing. beautiful!

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  21. Beautiful work on the gloves, just in time for the cold weather!!

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  22. Oh my! Those gloves are fantastic! I am always a bit envious of knitters that can create such intricate finished objects.

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  23. The gloves are wonderful! Really great. I love the colours too... Good job!

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  24. My mouth is watering over those gloves! I need to beg my resident knitter for a pair!

    Peace and Laughter,
    Happy New Year!

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  25. Those gloves are simply amazing! Love the griffins on them too! It has been warm lately. I will have faith and continue to knit though. Hopefully we'll be able to wear our warm knits soon! Thanks for the hat help too. ;)

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  26. I have a 7 year old daughter who would LOVE those gloves! Great work!

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  27. Wow! Those gloves are amazing!

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  28. @Plain and Joyful Living: Thank you :)
    @Meadow: Luckily for me, the only real cold weather we have had, has been in the last two days- just after he got given his belated present ;) He says he loves them LOL
    @Kristen: Thanks- I was eyeing them up too ;)
    @Stacy: Thanks- they were :)
    @Lori Ann: Thank you!
    @Swanski: Thank you- yes indeed they were :) I had to move to make sure they were ready ;) but it was a good start to the year!
    @Melaniejennifer: thank you :) All it takes is a little practise- I highly recommend Elizabeth Zimmerman's books for some beginner colourwork ideas :)
    @Erin: thank you :) Those are my son's and husband's very favourite colours and colour combination :)
    @Cristina: Thank you :) Your daughter ;) can find the griffin pattern in Colorwork Creations and the rest of the glove pattern is Annemore #11 from Selbuvotter.
    @Angela: thank you :) I hope my hat suggestions make your daughter more likely to wear your creation LOL
    @Margie: thank you :) I thought for certain my 7 y.o. daughter was going to want a pair- but she requested PLAIN mittens (emphasis hers).
    @Ericasue: Thank you :)

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  29. Your knitting is amazing! I'm still a knitting newbie, but would love to be able to knit like this in the future!

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  30. WOW! Those gloves are amazing!!!

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  31. Wow! Well done with the colourwork on those gloves! Amazing!

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  32. Love, love, love the gloves! I only hope to have the skills to tackle something like those one day! And the cardigan is very pretty as well...the pattern and the color. Can't wait to see how it turns out. Thanks so much for visiting me over in my space!
    Blessings to you,
    Kelli @ sustainingcreativity

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  33. OH MY GOSH! Those gloves are amazing, just WOW.... great job.

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