As a craftsperson, sometimes a project jumps into your workbasket. The creative process is often mysterious and tends to have a life of its own, and I would not have it any other way. I must admit, I do make an effort to rein it in.
Overstimulation is a very real problem that we all have to grapple with. But live dangerously we must! Yes, I love carrying a project through to completion, but often I take side roads to this destination by indulging in a moment of inspiration. For me this creative generosity seems to feed my creative spirit, giving me more energy.
So here’s what jumped into my workbasket. And the pattern was free! I found the free download for these Victorian Fingerless Gloves at Knitpicks.
This is just the time of year when you want to dress in lighter layers, and my hands need a layer too. I thought that these cotton gloves looked light and feminine.
I had a ball of mercerized cotton in a fingering weight that is a light copper-tan color. The pattern calls for a sport weight cotton blend, but I wanted to make them a bit more snug for my small hands. So I did a swatch with my yarn on size 1 needles. The pattern calls for a size 4 needle. I am taking into account that I tend to knit more loosely, and that cotton is going to stretch out in the finished garment. Notice that I am showing off one of my vintage needle gauges.
The pattern begins with the lace at the wrist, and it is such a lovely little design. When it is all blocked it will look all the better. My plan is to do the lace work for both gloves, and then pick up and knit the hands on 2 circular needles. I am not sure if I can knit both gloves at the same time with the thumb openings. We shall see. I am almost done with the first lace piece, and will continue knitting tonight.
I have continued working on my new hooked rug design, and find that it is nice to use the different hand movements of knitting in the evenings.
Thanks for stopping by ~ Karen
primitivespirit 
Love the gloves. I didn’t know my thread gauge was vintage. I agree that changing hand movement is a good thing. Lois
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my thread gauge may not be technically vintage, as it may be younger than 50, but i have not seen any like it currently for sale. i bought it at a yard sale along with another one and some older sewing and knitting supplies. do you have one like it? did you buy it recently?
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Yes, I have one like it, mine is red, and quite old–don’t even remember how old! And, I agree with you about the different hand motions, it does help + knitting is a bit more ‘portable’ than a hooked piece. Can go along to a lot of places that hooking would be awkward.
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thanks for your reply. since your email i have checked online sources for knitting gauges, and ours definitely is vintage. it is tempting to add to my collection!
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OH wow, “over stimulation” is just the word, and the feeling I am dealing with!! So many incredibly lovely, fun, fascinating projects and so few hours in the day! Of course, if I would get up at 6 and ease into the day, I would have more time for knitting wouldn’t I??lol!
Anyway, just a quick note to let you know that 5 or 6 ladies from our ‘knitting’ group were so inspired by your spiral chair mat, that they are using their ‘knitting’ time to hook that spiral! They were so captivated by it!!
Those wristlets are gorgeous! Love your blog…Debbe
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what a treat! thank you for sharing that about your knitting group. as we all know, fiber arts folks are drawn to all fiber arts!
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Love the gloves!! I so look forward to your post each morning! My “to do” list is getting long now, but what fun!! So much to look forward to!! Have a great Day!
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thank you for posting, yes, we will never run out of things to do!
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I couldn’t agree more with Diane’s post comment of “looking forward to seeing your post of something new to stimulate our creative minds. Once again I will add this to the to-do list!
Thank you for allowing us to enter into your creative world!
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my to do list is always changing and rearranging itself. the priority is always “what is the most fun thing to do today”.
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Is there anything you cannot do? Love your blog and your many talents.
Jean
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housekeeping maintenance is a big challenge! we can’t be good at everything, can we?
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I’m glad to hear housekeeping isn’t someone else’s top priority. My sister gave me a plaque years ago that said “A Clean House is a Sign of a Misspent Life”. I didn’t know if I should be grateful or insulted! :o)
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too funny!
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Didn’t know housekeeping was a problem. As my nest of work in progress projects grows, I’ve just been “keeping” it a mess… heh heh. The gloves are lovely.
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P.S. there is actually a book titled “A perfectly kept house is a sign of a misspent life” by Mary Randolph Carter. She used to work for Ralph Lauren. Fun read and photos.
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yes, i have heard of it, lisa, and i certainly resonate with it. clean changes to dirty too quickly!
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LOVE the gloves! I have some very similar in black that were my great-grandmother or great-great grandmother’s gloves. They very well may date back to the Civil War era. They are so elegant and yes, feminine. I’ve been thinking about framing them for they are too fragile to wear.
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how exciting to have such a memento! framing sounds like a nice way to enjoy them, or just laying on the bureau!
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Pingback: Fingerless gloves are hands-on | primitivespirit
Hi, there. I recently found this beautiful pattern for gloves that seemed very Downton Abbeyish (LOVE that show) and I’ve finished knitting both of the lace edges and I’m ready to begin the gloves, and here we arrive at my reason for commenting: WHERE on EARTH do you find 38 stitches? Try as I might, I keep ending up with only 28 and I’m ready to pull out my hair, throw something breakable, and scream at the top of my lungs. I’ve watched a dozen videos on YouTube regarding picking up and I am pretty sure I’ve got the right idea, but cannot coax those other 10 out of hiding. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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yes, since there are 56 rows, that makes 28 garter rows. so you must pick up those 28 plus 10 more stitches evenly around. so every 2 or 3 stitches make one stitch. you can ‘knit front and back’ to create the stitch as you ‘pick up.’
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