I pretty much knit a pair of socks every weekend at my fiancés house. There - I admit it! Hi, my name is Freddie and I'm a sockaholic.
He's incredibly passionate about film and after nearly 10 years of enjoying each other's company I'm sure it comes as no surprise to you that it's rubbed off on me a bit. We watch several films a weekend in surround sound with lights off in mini home cinema style - and my itchy restless knitter's hands won't sit still for hours at a time. Socks are a mindless knit for me - plain ones and Jaywalkers I can pretty much do from memory, and the needles don't 'clink' and irritate us while we're watching a movie. ...I'm addicted to sockahol...
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| Jaywalkers I knitted over Christmas. Cosy toesies. |
...But even they get a bit repetitive after a while.
So heck, where to go from there? Whenever I buy yarn, I just buy sock yarn in sock quantities. It's easy. It's cheaper than buying huge garment lots and I can have a bigger selection of yummier stuff for my money (well, sort of - you know what I mean). So I need a pattern that will work for those, but for something different - something fun - something less socky.
I knitted this sweater back in 2008 and used the leftovers to design and knit myself a pair of armwarmers. No, I don't have a picture of the armwarmers, you'll have to use your imagination - sorry. But I wear them whenever it's cold, which is pretty much half the year here in London. 2008 was a long time ago and they are looking a bit battered to say the least soI decided it was high time for a new hand-warming accessory of some description.
As a treat to myself I picked out one of my prettiest skeins of Wollmeise and found myself a pattern. A pattern, which had abruptly been made available for free in a frustrated reponse to VATMOSS by designer Julia Mueller. I'm ashamed to say that I still don't really understand what VATMOSS entails, but I understand that more tax (and more complicated tax by reigon) is now charged on downloadable products (such as PDF knitting and crochet patterns) and far more expensive a business to run for independent designers than it used to be. Julia took the decision to leave her patterns up for free, withdrew her offer of pattern support and gave up on it all to avoid the hassle because of time constraints.
I know I'm late to the party here - you all probably already know this story!
Anyway, I'm very thankful that Julia's designs are still available - they are exquisite and an excellent alternative use of your posh stashed sock yarns. I highly recommend her patterns, they are like Cookie A's socks, but for hands. Intricate, fun to knit and amazing finished projects guaranteed to draw a few compliments.
I didn't quite choose mittens, nor did I choose gloves. Instead I went for something in between. Allow me to introduce you to the concept of Glittens!! Drumroll please..
They are one of the few Mueller designs to use a thick yarn. Thick by my standards - an aranweight. I went along with the other Ravelry users who knitted theirs using a 4-ply Wollmeise held double. Clever, eh? And you get the hard-wearingness of a sock yarn with the thickness of a posh swishy soft aran!
So that's it, right? There you go. That's what I made. There's the picture. End of story.
Well it's not, really. Unfortunately.
The allure of knitting for me is it's freedom - the freedom to create anything you like. Anything you can imagine. Freedom which you earn by accumulating knowledge, which comes with practice and experience. It's the incentive to become a better knitter - to eventually be free to create anything you want - 3D printing from your brain. That's what drew me to the glittens even more. Julia printed them out of her brain, a totally freaky-cool accessory. Nobody else has them (well, very few people - it's not just like you can rock up to John Lewis and buy a pair, is it?).
...so is that why people stare at me on the train when I wear them? Is it because they think I've had them specially made because of a physical deformity? ...and if the latter is true, isn't it even WORSE that people are staring? Sheesh!
I opted for the warmth of mittens, freedom of movement that you'd get with regular gloves except without the clunky between-finger-bulk you usually get with a four-fingered handknitted pair (If you've ever knitted some, you'll know what I'm talking about). If you haven't, trust me - it happens. Feels like toe separators between your fingers.
...DEAL WITH IT, WORLD!
I emplore each and every one of you to knit yourself a pair of Glittens IMMEDIATELY if just so that they become a fashionable norm. Then I can keep Julia's brain prints and wear them with pride instead of shyness. I'm proud of them, I think they're beautiful.
Live long and prosper.
