Ending On A High Note

Happy New Year!

When I wrote yesterday's post I planned to write something today about the end of the year. Maybe something forward thinking and positive. A list of knit goals perhaps.

Then something happened a little sooner than I expected and capped off my year perfectly. I actually achieved one of my long-held goals. I finally wrote a pattern of my own and put it up on Ravelry. DQ inspired these gloves and she says that the pattern around the wrist looks like waves so I called it Winning Waves Mitts.

Over the years, as my knitting has progressed I've often found that the patterns in my head don't exist in written form. Usually I pick something close and play with it a little. Over time I got quite a few books by Nicki Epstein and Barbara Walker to help with this but I never write it down. Until now.

My daughters love fingerless gloves. Stinkette wears hers to bed and all through the summer. DQ wears hers all the time too. Over time my girls have stopped just accepting what I choose to make and now they tell me colors, the weight of yarn, and other little design details they want - or don't want.

DQ wanted a drak-ish, moody, blue in midweight. Nothing too chunky. She also wanted long wrists and a short hand - nothing too far beyond her knuckles. A little patterning is ok but she nixed lace or lots of cables.

I started with the yarn, Drean In Color Classy in a color called Deep Sea Flower. I love this stuff. Colorful but not enough to obscure a pattern. DQ loved the picot edge on another pair I have so that was a great place to start a pattern and the Gull Stitch that I found in Barbara Walkers book's fit so nicely (after a little modification) and the pattern flowed from there.



In the end, these fingerless gloves are just what my girl wanted and I'm happy that I am able to share the pattern with others. It is more gratifying than words can express to see my little pattern being favorited, downloaded, and added to queues. I think it'll be fun to see other versions pop up.

Now I need to get to work on designing a pair for Stinkette. She wants stars or lightning.