the Akamai Knitter

I’ve been attacked by a viscous virus known as Second Glove Syndrome. Hetty knows of that which I speak.

I started in enthusiastically as most knitters do when embarking on a new project. Then I got to the fingers. Pesky fingers. Still, I muddled my way through them. That is until I got to the thumb.

Do you see a finished thumb?

No. You don’t.

I let that glove sit and languish for well over a two weeks and Christmas is soon becoming nothing but a distant memory. I let distractions get in the way of the goal line. There were socks, earrings, and there was even a new camera.

In desperation, I joined a group in the hopes it would motivate me. The thing is, if you don’t ask for help then you probably won’t get it and I just couldn’t muster the courage to ask.

So I settled in and had a little talk with myself. It basically went something like this:

“Friend has cold hands. Friend need gloves. Finish gloves.”

“I don’t want to finish gloves. I hate knitting fingers.”

“Friend need gloves.”

“I hate fingers.”

“Friend need gloves.”

“Can I at least cut her fingers off first?”

That went well. Don’t you think?

So I let it go and knit sleeves until I finally got so disgusted with this albatross around my neck that I threw the second glove on the needles, thus bypassing the thumb. I figured I’d deal with fingers and thumbs another day.

Unfortunately for me, the body of the glove went by rather quickly.

Argh. Time to bite the bullet and knit fingers.

It’s a dark and dreary day here in Hawaii. A perfect day for staying in and curling up with my knitting. Before I get to that I thought I’d share a Scheyer update.

It’s our second week with him and he’s actually let us pet him! I cannot tell you how ecstatic I am. It took all I had not to squeal with excitement, which would have totally scared him off into hiding for another week. Let me tell you, this boy has quite the purr box.

Scheyer is very much the night owl. Luckily, I am too and I managed to get a better shot of him as he looked warily on.

In the midst of all this kitten love, there has been knitting. I managed to finish off the three-colored gloves and start another pair.

(Since it’s been such a cloudy day I had to use the OTT Lite for these craptacular pictures.)

Pattern: Annemor #8 from Selbuvotter by Terri Shea

Yarn: Knitpicks Palette in Blush and Cream; Knitpicks Essential in Grass

Needles: Size 2US / 2.75mm

Started: 12/11/07

Finished: 12/26/07

While I really like the results of working with the three colors, I doubt I’ll be trying this again anytime soon. I had a hard time maneuvering the three different yarns with my two hands and it really disrupted my rhythm. This really frustrated me.

I think it also skewed my tension as these came out a lot smaller then my other gloves. I’m hoping that blocking will stretch them out a little. I’m going to have to wait for the atmosphere to dry up (it is very humid here, ick) before I block them though.

As soon as these were off the needles, I threw another pair on.

These are also from the book Selbuvotter. I actually finished the hand while at knit group last night, but when I came home I noticed I left out a crucial part of the design on one side. I just couldn’t live with that, so I ripped it all out.

It wasn’t even that painful since I’m having so much fun with them. Since I have to wait before I can put in an order more glove and mitten yarn, I see this as a chance to give to do more of what I love until more precious supplies arrive.

At least, that’s what I keep telling myself. The other half of my brain is wondering if I could possibly start the Wing O’ The Moth this weekend. That yarn I got for Christmas is really calling me.

I have a litany of justifications as to why it would be perfectly reasonable to cast on. Besides, how much harm could it be to have a weekend project for me? This is supposed to be my hobby after all, not a job.

I see yarn winding in my future.

My mind is a jumble of thoughts as I didn’t go to bed until 5am thanks to the chai I had last night. Thank goodness for Random Friday.

1. Thank you for the big welcome you gave to my new kitty and for all the great suggestions for a name. I think we’ve settled on a name, but I’m not sure if it will stick. If it stands the test of time (that is if it sticks for more then a day or two), then I’ll be sure to share it with everyone.
   The new addition is slowly settling in and there have been several sightings. In fact, while watching a sad basketball game (I just can’t win this week when it comes to sports), he decided to investigate the living room last night.
2. I finished a glove. Finally. It felt like this glove just did not want to get done. Now I just need one more to have the pair finished.
   
3. I took the glove with me to that last night’s Aloha Knitters meeting. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy my knit group. They’re a great bunch of ladies and I don’t know what I’d do without them. Who else would understand my obsession with Fair Isle gloves in Hawaii?
   Here’s Veronica hammin’ it up with the glove.
4. Thanks to the insomnia, I finished a sock (Ravelry link). This sock seems to have been on my needles forever. Mostly because I’ve only worked on it in the odd moments I’ve had when I’ve been out of the house and when taking the sweater became too bulky to take with me.
   
5. Finally, I leave you with a video I found on my friend Becky‘s page. I apologize if you’ve already seen it, but I love it so much I thought I’d share it here too. ETA: You’ll have to click here to see it since I can’t seem to embed the damn thing. (Anyone have tips on how to do this with Word Press? I put the html in the html editor!)

That’s it for me for now! I hope everyone has a safe holiday weekend. Please drive safely. :)

The very same day I was finished with the pink and black gloves (I really need a better name for them,) I cast on for a new pair of gloves. Of course they’re from Selbuvotter. I’m not sure who these gloves will end up going to, but I do have a quite a long list of family and friends that are in need of warm hands on the mainland.

What makes the current gloves different is that I decided to use three colors instead of the two used in the book. Why did I decide to do that? Well, it’s all Lisa’s fault.

She asked me if there were any patterns in the book that called for three colors. When I said no, she and I noticed that it would be fun (ha!) to add in a third color to the patterns. The idea wouldn’t leave me alone, so I decided to give it a try.

Once that decision was made, I consulted Shelly, my co-conspirator in all things bordering on the insane, on whether or not I had the technique right in my head. Turns out I did have it right, so it was time to knit akamai!

(Basically you just weave in the third color when ever you’re not using it. See this site for a good how-to. It might not work for Firefox users. Break out the evil IE.)

So I plunged right in with the two contrasting colors in my right hand or my non-dominant hand and the main color in my left hand or my dominant hand.

I cannot tell you how tedious it was to maneuver three different strands of yarn while trying to keep an even tension. Since I’m left-handed, my right-hand rarely gets a work-out, so I pretty much killed it while working on this glove.

There was much cursing involved, but I knit through the pain despite the warnings given dictated by common sense. All the while, I worried that this third color would look completely incongruous and that it would break up the symmetry of the pattern or some such notice. In other words, I was afraid that it would turn out ass ugly.

I’m still undecided as to how it looks, but I think that might be because of the pastel colors. I’m just not a fan of the pastel and it generally biases my opinion. So I’m withholding judgment until the fingers are done.

I’ve heard that Latvian knitters sometimes use four or five colors on one row? If that’s true, I would bow down to their supreme knitty talents and I would also like them to teach me how to do it without breaking my hand.

The gloves are finished, but at the rate I’m knitting there’s no way I’ll get my Christmas knitting done in time. I’m trying to be okay with that, since none of the recipients are expecting a present from me anyway.

Pattern: Anemor #15(Ravelry link) from Selbuvotter

Yarn: Knitpicks Palette in Black and Petal

Needles: Size 2US/2.75mm (circulars and double points)

Started: December 3, 2007

Finished: December 11, 2007

Despite the fact that one pinky is longer then the other, I think these turned out fairly well for my first pair of gloves. I could fix the pinky issue, but I’m rather reluctant about taking a scissors to something I worked so hard on. So I’m holding off on the pinky fix for now.

I don’t think I’d recommend Selbuvotter to a novice Fair Isle knitter. I found that the number of stitches in the chart for the fingers didn’t match with the number of stitches given in the written directions. So there was a liberal amount of fudging involved.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining! I found the challenge to be a great deal of fun. I think that Terri Shea is planning on correcting these discrepancies in her next printing. Who knows, maybe it’s my inability to properly read directions that’s at fault here. :)

Despite my “whining”, I’m still completely and utterly in love with this book. I have numerous patterns marked for my to do list and I’ve already started my second pair of gloves.

Despite my disappointment with how the pictures came out (it’s a grey day here), I want to share another gratuitous shot of the back of the hand.

In other news, can you believe my veterinarian sent me some flowers in sympathy for Onyx’s passing? They’re just beautiful and I was so touched. Touched and amazed at their kindness. Aren’t they lovely?