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November 06, 2005

I-Cord Gloves - 2nd Installment

When last we met, we were knitting i-cord fingers ala Meg Swansen.  Did you knit one with a fox?  Did you knit one in a box?  Did you knit one here or there?  Did you knit one anywhere?  Hopefully you did and have 10 fingers.  If not, 5 will do -- one of each variety.  In this 2nd installment of my I-Cord Glove serial pattern we'll join the fingers and knit the body of the glove to the thumb.  To join the fingers I'll be using an ingenious technique I learned from Joyce Williams's book, "Latvian Dreams".  I was reading this book one night before bed, stumbled across this finger joining technique, and experienced a lovely "aha" moment.

I-Cord Gloves: Serial Pattern: Installment 2

Previous installments of the I-Cord Gloves serial pattern include:

  • Installment 1 -- In which we kick started the gloves and knit the 10 fingers using Meg Swansen's I-Cord finger technique.

Please remember this serial pattern is still in the "prototype" phase and may contain errors.  Please email me if you spot an error, have a problem, or would like to suggest a change.  Your feedback will help make this a better pattern for others -- Thanks!

Joining the Fingers
We'll be joining the ring, index, and middle fingers together, knitting a few rounds, and then adding in the pinky.  The directions assume you're knitting in the round using 2 circular needles -- needle #1 and needle #2 -- but if you're more comfortable with double pointed needles simply adapt the directions accordingly.  For more information on knitting in the round using circular needles see my previous posting, 2 Circular Needles.

The first step is to get the 3 fingers onto the needles:

  • Place 7 (7, 8) ring finger stitches, 8 (9, 9) middle finger stitches, and 9 (9, 10) index finger stitches onto circular needle #1 ==> 24 (25, 27) stitches
  • Place the remaining 9 (9, 10) index finger stitches, 8 (9, 9) middle finger stitches, and 8 (8, 8) ring finger stitches onto circular needle #2 ==> 25 (26, 27) stitches

Knitting in the round, join the 3 fingers and close the gaps as follows:

  • Round 1
    • Needle #1:  k6 (6, 7), k2tog (one ring finger stitch and one middle finger stitch), k6 (7, 7), k2tog (one middle finger stitch and one index finger stitch), k8 (8, 9) ==> 22 (23, 25) stitches
    • Needle #2:  k8 (8, 9), k2tog (one index finger stitch and one middle finger stitch), k6 (7, 7), k2tog (one middle finger stitch and one ring finger stitch), k7 (7, 7) ==> 23 (24, 25) stitches
  • Round 2
    • Needle #1:  k6 (6, 7), slip the next stitch onto a safety pin -- always hold the pin behind the needle and bring the yarn under the pin as you continue -- k6 (7, 7), slip the next stitch onto another safety pin, k8 (8, 9). 
    • Needle #2:  k8 (8, 9), slip the stitch from the safety pin onto the left needle and knit it, slip the next stitch onto a safety pin, k6 (7, 7), slip the stitch from the safety pin onto the left needle and knit it, slip the next stitch onto a safety pin, k7 (7, 7)
  • Round 3
    • Needle #1:  k6 (6, 7), slip the stitch from the safety pin onto the left needle and knit it, k6 (7, 7), slip the stitch from the safety pin onto the left needle and knit it, k8 (8, 9)
    • Needle #2:  knit all stitches.

Join the pinky to the other fingers as follows:

  • Round 4
    • Needle #1:  k6 (6, 7), ssk, k5 (6, 6), k2tog, k7 (7, 8) ==> 20 (21, 23) stitches.
    • Needle #2:  Slip 6 (6, 7) pinky stitches onto the end of the left needle -- these pinky stitches should be the last stitches you knit as follows:  k7 (7, 8), ssk, k5 (6, 6), k2tog, k6 (6, 6), k2tog (one ring finger stitch and one pinky stitch), k5 (5, 6) ==> 26 (27, 29) stitches.
  • Round 5
    • Needle #1:  Slip the remaining 6 (6, 7) pinky stitches onto the beginning of the left needle -- these pinky stitches should be the first stitches you knit as follows: k5 (5, 6), k2tog (one pinky finger stitch and one ring finger stitch), k19 (20, 22) ==> 25 (26, 29) stitches.
    • Needle #2:  k20 (21, 22), slip the next stitch onto a safety pin, k5 (5, 6)
  • Round 6
    • Needle #1:  k5 (5, 6), slip the stitch from the safety pin onto the left needle and knit it, slip the next stitch onto a safety pin, k19 (20, 22)
    • Needle #2:  k20 (21, 22), slip the stitch from the safety pin onto the left needle and knit it, k5 (5, 6).
  • Round 7
    • Needle #1:  k4 (4, 5), ssk, k19 (20, 22) ==> 24 (25, 28) stitches
    • Needle #2:  k20 (21, 22), ssk,  k4 (4, 5) ==> 25 (26, 28) stitches

Continue on 49 (51, 56) stitches until the glove's hand measures 2 (2 1/4, 2 1/2) inches from the first finger joins -- or desired length to thumb line.


I love this technique for finger joining. 
Simple, elegant, and no stitches to graft -- Thanks Joyce Williams!

What's Next
In the next installment, we'll join the thumb to the body of the glove and shape the thumb gusset.

November 6, 2005 in Serial Patterns | Permalink

Comments

My gosh, I'm a bad girl, I haven't even knitted my fingers yet! Yours looks great and I'm anxious to try it, though!

Posted by: Sockbug | Nov 7, 2005 4:36:47 AM

This is just too cool. Instead of my Traveling stitch gloves I might have to do these first!

Posted by: margene | Nov 7, 2005 8:15:06 AM

I am SO there. I have the PERFECT koigu too - it matches my winter coat - and I was thinking I didn't want to use it for socks. I'm doing everything I can to resist starting on the fingers. AHHH! I have too much work to do. Can I join the Peaceful Palms KAL? I think it's inevitable now.

Thank you!

Posted by: Cara | Nov 7, 2005 8:39:46 AM

Hi! I'm a Japanese knitter living in Japan.
I-cord gloves are so exciting!
I started my I-cord gloves project immediately after reading the 1st Installment.
Last night, I tried to join fingers in my own way, because I could not wait the 2nd Installment.
...Now I know that I had to wait till today.
Yes, unfortunately, my gloves have holes between fingers!
But all right! I'll be able to re-join fingers without holes tonight, by the help of this Installment.
Thank you great pattern which is fun to knit!

Posted by: syromar | Nov 8, 2005 2:41:10 AM

I just finished my second pinky and my doesn't it work a treat!!! Thanks so much for doing this knit-along. I've never attempted gloves before, but this is fun. I'm using 100% wool. I got a whole spool (about 3-4lbs)of undyed (off-white) at the Goodwill for $3. Once all the fingers are finished I plan to dye them with Kool-aid. Probably in 2 different colors. Then dye the yarn for the rest of the glove to match - somehow. What a fun project!! Thanks again!

Posted by: Stine | Nov 9, 2005 7:25:39 AM

I'm nearly finished with the fingers. Then I'll dye them with Koolaid. Do you have any idea when installment 3 will be ready? Thank you so much for all your hard work on this pattern.

Posted by: Stine | Nov 10, 2005 1:26:43 PM

I love this! I'm using acrylic because I thought this was just practice to learn the technique, but they really fit and they look good enough that I'll actually wear them. Ready to add thumbs.

Posted by: Lynne | Nov 12, 2005 1:05:57 PM

Hello Nona,

I´m Susanne from Osnabrück in Germany.
I´ve a question. May I translate your knitting pattern for finger gloves to german ? It´s really great. We´d like to use it in our knitalonggroup .I´ve to ask because of the copyright !!!

Please excuse my bad english ...
I hope, you can aswer soon

Susanne Leefers

Posted by: Susanne | Jan 14, 2006 9:26:59 AM

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