Cockleshells…
Oooooh, how time flies. Long time no post. Anyway, here is the latest design for The Knitter – Cockleshell Gloves. These aren’t the ones in the The Knitter as I don’t actually have a copy of the mag yet, they’re another pair, in a completely different colour which must make these a first as it’s not often I knit anything twice. Enough wittering, and on with the details.
They’re knitted in Juno Fibre Arts Alice Sock yarn. I normally run a mile from anything labelled ‘sock yarn’ as I’m not a keen sock knitter (understatement of the year there), but when the commission came in I got to choose which yarn to use (not something that normally happens) and as the deadline was a bit nippy I went to my local yarn pusher, the lovely Susan at Loop in Islington. The Juno was her recommendation, and a very good one at that. (She is a complete star also in that she donated the yarn for the samples, thereby saving The Knitter’s budget slightly). Back to the yarn. It is really beautiful to knit with, although I’m not entirely sure I’d spring £20 to knit socks with it – but then perhaps that’s my sock discrimination coming through again. It’s a semi-solid dye and available in a range of lovely colours from Susan. These are in the Boudoir colourway, the ones in the mag are the Potpourri colourway. The Boudoir is a minky-pinky-slivery-beige, looks quite different colours in different light. If you’re careful and you don’t have enormous hands / E.T-esq long fingers then you could probably get 2 pairs of gloves from a single skein, or at least I’d think you’d get a pair with the pattern as written and then another pair of fingerless gloves.
This pair are slightly different from the pattern as written in The Knitter as I’ve tapered the thumbs by a couple of stitches, probably because I can’t knit anything twice and knit it the same. The shell stitch looks hard, it does have one row in the pattern that’s not hard as such but could well be classed as ‘a bit fiddly’. But then the row after is a joy to knit (well, if you’re me) so that makes up for it.
Go on, treat your hands this winter…
(I’ve linked to the Loop website for the yarn as it seems they have more of a choice than Juno does herself in her Etsy shop, but do go and look at Juno’s other lovely yarns)
