31 Jan Fingerless Gloves with TapRoot Yarn
Now that we are fully in the dead of winter, it is cold cold cold here in Nova Scotia! As always, the frigid weather makes me want nothing more than to spend my days crafting by a fire, knitting needles clicking as I work on adding to my collection of cozy handknit items.
This time round, while looking for inspiration on Ravelry, I landed on a sweet and simple (and free!) pattern for fingerless gloves from user marianna-mel. I like straight forward projects that I can complete relatively quickly and without too many tears, and so her Quick & Easy Aran Weight Fingerless Mittens seemed a perfect project to try out. I loved the cute ribbed cuffs of the mitts, and was inspired by the blank stretch of stockinette stitching that covered the back of the hand… Would this be a good space to add some extra embellishments?
Quick & Easy Aran Weight FIngerless Mittens pattern by marianna-mel on Ravelry.
I decided to give the pattern a go, and chose TapRoot’s Scotian Spun Crab Shell as my main yarn. This gorgeous super-wash Merino yarn knits up smoothly and quickly, and the speckles of white against the charcoal give a gorgeous textured look when knitted. The colour reminded me of winter walks along the dark stone beaches you can find here by the Bay of Fundy. Using 5mm needles, I whipped up a quick swatch to see if my gauge would match that of the pattern, and once I was sure I was safe I started on the real thing.
Knitted swatch of Scotian Spun’s Crab Shell.
This pattern is knitted flat, and then stitched up at the sides.
The fingerless glove is knitted flat, and then seamed together at the side. The pattern was so easy to follow it only took me about two hours to knit the ribbed cuff, increase stitches for the thumb, cast off the thumb opening, and knit the remaining top of the glove. I love a project that you can fit into a movie session.
With right sides together, I whip-stitched the side seam and voilà! I was done the first glove!
Stitching up the side seam.
Glove #1!
It wasn’t long before I finished the second glove. So quick and so cozy! But I decided I was not finished yet, and wanted to embellish the stockinette stitching that lay over the back of the hand. It was just too perfect of a canvas to ignore. I looked through the rest of my yarn stash, and landed on two colours I thought would look beautiful next to the Crab Shell. These were Scotian Spun’s Olive Leaf (fingering weight) and Red/Blue Twist (DK weight).
Scotian Spun’s Red/Blue Twist and Olive Leaf.
After brainstorming different motifs for the back of the gloves, I settled on a simple star design. Using a darning needles, I used a double thread of each colour to embroider a simple star onto the back of each glove. The design worked just as I hoped it would – a subtle and cute difference in colour and texture to break up the blank expanse.
Two luxurious feeling mitts in under five hours. Not bad!
In the end, I had a pair of cute and cozy fingerless gloves after less then 5 hours of work! It doesn’t get much more satisfying than that. Cozy evening well spent.
The yarns used in this project, as well as other Scotian Spun and TapRoot Fibres yarns, can be found at Noggins and on our online shop! We are working to get our yarn into Nova Scotian yarn shops, so inquire after us at your local yarn hub!
Happy crafting!