At Long Last ... Dragon Fingerless Gloves

***These dragon fingerless gloves are a combination of crochet and knit techniques. ***

If you don't crochet, I will be developing a different kind of finger-edge embellishment for the next pair of gloves.  I would strongly urge you to either watch a YouTube how-to or to take a class in crochet at your Local Yarn Shop, Michaels or Joanne's if/when they offer them.  Crochet gives the option of adding extra finishing techniques (like the scales) to knitted items.

If you don't knit, you can complete the gloves with single crochet, half-double, or double crochet or even a shell stitch... all up to you.  Just remember to leave space for a thumb.   Again, I would suggest either a class or YouTube.

I've also added links to YouTube videos that explain parts of the project that would be confusing if I tried to explain them without pictures.  Be nice to the ladies who have spent their time explaining the ins and outs of the various techniques these gloves depend upon.

Materials:

Vanna's Glamour (or any Size 2 acrylic fingering/sport weight yarn with sparklies)

Cascade North Shore (or any size 2 acrylic fingering/sport weight yarn)

1 crochet hook size F

Straight knitting needles size 4 (I use the 10" as they're easier to handle.)

Note on the Yarn: 

Two balls of fingering/light sport-weight yarn will make two pair of gloves.  One color will supply the 1st and 3rd row of scales and the other the 2nd middle row of scales and the body of the glove.  Vanna's Glamour is used to outline the scales and thumbhole to give them more structural and visual definition.  You could get away with just using 1 ball of plain fingering and 1 of the Glamour, but note that glamour can be scratchy and doesn't full and can catch on softer yarns because of the sparklies. 

If you'll be wearing these Dragon Gloves as UberMits over a pair of leather or one-season $2 Chinese gloves, then that scratchiness and lack of warmth in the Glamour is unimportant.

For the Dragon Scales:

You'll be crocheting it in the round, but it's very very very similar.  I'll explain the small differences after you get the gist of it.  Here's the URL to a quick YouTube on How to Crochet: Crocodile Stitch, by Tamara Kelly....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4in7seykYc

For the first row of Scales you will:

Chain 28 stitches.

Join the last chain to the first chain with a slip-stitch creating a circle.

Chain 3 for your first double-crochet-plus-chain.

Skip a chain stitch.

Double Crochet TWICE in the next chain stitch, chain 1.

***You're adding a chain stitch at the top of the work to make up for the chain being skipped on the bottom of the grid you're creating. **

Continue around the 28-chain circle, with 1 double-crochet+chain, skip chain, 2 double-crochet+chain, skip chain.

You should end with a 2 double-crochet+chain and an empty chain between it and the first double-crochet.

To finish, slip stitch in the top of the first double-crochet.

Chain 3 and begin the scale stitch described in the YouTube.

**When you finish the first row of scales you could stop there and jump to the knitting or body crochet part. Just leave yourself a nice tail of yarn for a safety line.  If you want to continue and add more rows of scales do not turn your work. **

Second and Third row of Scales:

You want to stagger your scales, as they are staggered in nature.  Since the scales are built on an 'armature’ of the 2 double crochet, your first stitch which will lie between two finished scales below should be that 2 double crochet set-up for a scale. 

**You will build your armature using the same yarn as you used for the first row, throughout.  In that way, it will be right there for your 3rd row.  Your second color yarn will cover the double crochets on the second row when you create the 3D scales.  The tips of the 3rd row of scales will cover any other sins. **

You will follow that by anchoring your 1 double-crochet in the hole in the center of the Scale below.  Continue crocheting your armature grid and join as before and complete the scales as before. 

Your 3rd row will be a breeze.  Just remember 2 Double Crochets in the space between scales, 1 Double Crochet in the slot at the middle of the scale.

**When you finish the 3rd row cut yarn and leave a nice tail.  This is a good opportunity to slip the scales over your hand and admire your work.  It also gives you an idea of how long you'll want the body of the glove to be.  I like mine to come well over the wrist and up into the sleeve of my coat. ** 

Embelishing the Scales

Using a contrasting color of the same weight of yarn, pull slip stitches up around the edge of each scale.  I added an additional chain, unattached to the scale, at the tip.  This little picot gives the scales a much more reptilian look.

Skip to the crochet body instructions or, cut yarn and pick up your knitting needles.

Knitted Glove

If you're going to sew the seam (which is an excellent way to deal with it) cast on 40 stitches for a long glove body.

If you want to do something more dramatic, pick up your crochet hook and some waste yarn and create a Provisional Cast-On of 40 stitches.  The technique is shown marvelously by KnitFreedom.com....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-irRySJHCKE

Then, using your body yarn, knit a row.

Stick your free needle through a stitch at the bottom of your scales ...

... and then knit back.

Knit back towards the scales and at the last knit stitch, knit it together with the Crochet Stitch, joining them.

Pick up the next crochet stitch and knit back.  Continue until you have your Garter Stitch body attached to all (or almost all) of the crochet stitches.  And yes, this looks ugly because it's on size 8 needles and black acrylic joined to white craft cotton so that you can see the joins.

*** At the end, I like to pick up the first stitch attached to the first scale, and attach it again to the last row.  That seals it up for me. ***

It you chose NOT to use a provisional cast on, cast off your live stitches and then leave a long enough tail to sew the cast-on and cast-off edges together.  Be sure to leave room for the thumb.  You might also want to do a single crochet or even a slip stitch with Glamour around the thumb-hole, in order to give it more definition.  Weave in Ends.  Make a second glove and you're done.

If, on the other hand, you'd like the "dragon skin" look of the body to appear seamless, I would suggest the Reverse Kitchener or Garter Stitch Kitchener stitch demonstrated at this link by KnittingHelp.com.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJIVuFDcyOk

Again, be sure to leave space for the thumb, and consider crocheting around the thumbhole with Glamour either as a single crochet or as a slip stitch embellishment, to give it more structure.

Crocheted Glove

Using your body color pull a loop up through one of the base stitches (I like picking up through both legs of the stitch to make it sturdier).  Chain 2 and Half-Double crochet around.  When you get to the first Half-Double stitch, chain 2 and turn and Half-Double back.

Keep crocheting back and forth until there is enough room for your thumb, and then begin crocheting in the round.  You can join each row and chain two and start again so that each row is in line and tidy.  Or you can just start crocheting in a spiral which is my preferred method and line up with the thumb space as a reference of where to stop.  When the glove is long enough to suit you, single crochet around, or slip stitch around to finish.  Weave in ends.   On this one, I picked up stitches and knitted a quick ribbing, but there are crochet techniques that can mimic that look.

Start next glove.

***The completely knitted version will be in a future post, sometime after the Holidays.***

And look what I just found!  How to Knit -- Crocodile Stitch by anniescraftvideos at ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ReaMhggp1w

And yes, it did occur to me this morning that I've seen several knitted lace edgings that could also do the trick and I googled and look what I found at Grandmother's Pattern Book ...


http://grandmotherspatternbook.com/?p=7965


Which do you think would make the best Dragon Scale Replacement?

Someone Else Who Knows More than I do...

There is a Ravelry Group tournament of Geekiness, of which I was totally unaware.  It makes sense of course.  A good number of the people I know from Science Fiction Fandom also knit or sew or bead or at least don't let their hands wander off to Satan's Workshop without a good pattern.

Up until recently, when I felt like weaving something on the Rigid Heddle, I would just pull out some yarn and the heddles and figure out which fit what with the least amount of pilling/gaps.  This was because most instructions I had discovered approached weaving by starting with the heddle and deciding which yarn to buy for it, and not starting from the yarn on hand and discovering which heddle would work well.

With this blog it's no longer a problem, and I'll be poking through the ravelry group a little later.  For now, here's the URL to NERD WARS.

http://ravnerdwars.info/2013/01/weaving-calculations-plain-weave-rh/

Later.

Long Time No See

It's hard to believe it's been over a year since my last post.

This won't be much of a post.  I'm here to introduce you to someone else's tutorial on knitting Fair Isle patterns, in the round, without creating long floats.

I admit, I'm posting this now so that I can find it anytime I need to refresh my skills.

This is the YouTube tutorial, " Fair Isle Knitting - Carrying Floats - Two Hands"  
by Lorraine L.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtDGR2NM9-Q

Have a good one!  Promise it won't be so long before the next post.  I bought toys.  There were be pictures.

Penne Dreadful

I know this is not the usual fare, and I will be getting back to fiber related posts soon.  For the time being, though, here's a quick little recipe for your ... consideration.  Be warned.  It's a dark and dreadful meal that can be addictive.

Sear a poblano over gas flame until it confesses
and then trap it in the bag to sweat for its sins.

Hack about a handful of Kalamata olives, mercilessly.

Roughly chop 1/2 red onion.

De-seed and chop about 8 Kumatos. It ends up
being about 1-1/2 to 2 cups of gore.

It looks quite bloody when you're done chopping.
 Hide the evidence.

Slough off the poblano skin, de-seed it and slice 1/2 of it
to bits. I leave the veins in place as winter poblanos are mild.
 The second half, like the onion before it, goes into the
refrigerator oubliette.

This is a fast cook so I toss the basil into the bloody kumato ...

... and then toss the oregano in as well. The idea is
the herbs will have a head start rehydrating on the
tomato's life blood.

Since I'm also using onion, I want the garlic
to take a backseat.
 Slice two cloves so that they look like little accusing eyes.

Here are the ingredients lined up.
L to R: Garlic, onion, kalamata, poblano, penne, kumato.
 Sounds terrifyingly alien, doesn't it.

Start with a couple of swipes of olive oil and saute the onion.
 Once they start sweating add the Garlic.
 Add dribbles of olive oil as needed.

In 30 seconds to a minute the garlic will become fragrant.
 Add the poblano. Keep stirring this as you go along to avoid burning.
 Garlic is easily singed.

Add the olives quickly and combine.

Add the herbed kumato and stir the pot vigorously.

When the kumato begins weeping uncontrollably, lower heat and cover,
stirring every couple of minutes. As soon as the mixture is drowning,
remove the lid and, stirring often, raise heat with the intention of reducing the liquid
 without scorching the sauce.

I've not given instructions on how to immerse the penne pasta in violently boiling water until it's overcome and limp.  You'll find instructions for that little horror on the side of the pasta box.

Serve sauce over cooked penne with slivers of parmesan.
 I use a carrot peeler to make the ribbons.
 Eat with a silver fork emblazoned with a cross lest the Penne Dreadful turn on you.

Of course, this dish works well with a blood red wine.  Bon Appetite.

Halloween is Actually Closer Than Xmas

 These Day of the Dead Earrings are a Lot Like Halloween ...

... not quite there yet, but getting closer. 

Pattern

Aunt Lydia's #10 thread in Mexicana Variegated colorway
6/0 Czech beads
Skull bead
Handy Hands #5 needle. 
Size 1.1 mm Crochet Hook
Stitch Safety Pin or Paper Clip

DS = Double Stitch
pb =  Place Bead

Load 10 Czech beads on the ball thread and have the skull bead ready for the Long Picot when you get to it. 

* To make the LONG PICOT that holds the skull, pull the ball thread up through the skull bead using a small crochet hook, then slip a pin or paperclip through the top of the LONG PICOT to hold the skull while you continue tatting.*

Needle Tatting Pattern for the ring around the skull is:


1DS, pb, 2DS, pb,  2DS, pb, 2DS, pb, 2DS, pb, *1DS Long Picot 1DS*, pb, 2DS, pb, 2DS, pb, 2DS, pb, 2DS, pb,1DS

Put needle through Long Picot end held open by pin or clip, and then through the End Loop and cinch to complete ring.  Knot.  Hide ends.
- - - - - - - -


I didn't add the R= 2DS,p,2DS that you see at the top of the picture to the pattern. I was thinking that I needed a tatted 'jump' ring to attach the ear wire.  Now I'm leaning twoards running the earring through the join knots once the thread ends are hidden.

On another note, Aunt Lydia's Metallic size 10 doesn't work for me on the tatting needle; the metal ply catches and bunches.  It might work in shuttle tatting and I know it works with crochet so nothing lost.

Finished Earring is Nickle Size

Baby Jane Alteration

Second Attempt -- Pin-Curl Clips

Besides choosing smaller clips, I also chose to make a single crocheted leaf using Size 3 crochet thread on a D crochet hook.  I added definition to the leaf by using the color turquoise for the center vein (beginning chain) and sage for the body. 


Hook Size:  The 0 size hook compressed the stitches too much making the difference between a double-crochet and a single-crochet invisible.  The D crochet hook, while still small, creates looser stitches so that the leaf is fuller. Lesson: Do test leaves in several different size hooks.

Tails:  Leave a long beginning tail which will sew the leaf to the clip, and an ending tail at least twice the length of the leaf.  You might want to also add a bit of "stem" with a Chain 2, when you've finished the leaf. 

You can make the center vein stand out by running the end tail back through those center stitches before hot gluing the leaf to the clip.   Lesson: Sometimes it's actually worth it to weave in more than one tail.

It would also be possible to thread beads on that center vein enhancement as you go.  Lesson: When using more than one color of thread, be careful how you weave in the ends.  You can see a couple of sloppy mistakes in these pictures.

Clip Size:  This smaller clip is much more attractive and I will wear it in public.  If you do use the larger sectioning clip, I would suggest that you make several single leaves instead of the leaf chain. If I try it again I'll overlap them at a 30-35 degree angles during the gluing process.  More of a laurel leaf crown sort of thing. Lesson: Yes, the gluing process is necessary, if only to hold that stupid leaf in one place while you're sewing it down. 


  And yes, it DID occur to me that these leaves would make a wonderful Casual Tiara.  Perhaps in black?

Baby Janes

Remember that 4-year period when it was impossible to find Maryjanes that didn't look like bowling shoes, basic ballet style flats were unavailable for under $200 and flip-flops only came in the platform variety? 

This is what happens when all the Captains of Industry want to make a killing selling 'fashionable' shoes at a low price. All the factories in China start exporting hideous crap and only high-end shoemakers, here and in Europe, are left to supply the classic designs.

I think this may have happened to the Flamingo Clip.  Someone discovered she couldn't become an overnight millionaire making them, so everyone stopped. 

I had no idea of what those hair-clips were called before I couldn't find them.  It took many googles to find that name while searching for hair-sectioning-clips-in-plastic.  Flamingo clips look like the curved bill of a bird which explains the name.  Flamingo is so much more '80s than hair-sectioning-clip, so "Miami Vice."  And that's another clue to their demise right there.

Online I found some of the 4 inch model to hold an impromptu french roll and half-inch ones to adorn. But I couldn't find any of the 2-3 inch ones I use to pull the hair out of my face while I'm hunched over a project. 

This got my "dammit I'll make my own" dander up.

You can still find silver colored sectioning clips at beauty-supply shops and truth be told you can find colored plastic sectioning clips there or online.  The thing is you can't easily find the plastic ones in shops, and I hesitate to pay $4 shipping for $3 clips.  On the other hand, wearing plain metal hair-sectioning clips out in public kind of screams "She's desperately poor."  So, the metal ones must be enhanced and here's how I tried.

Polish dries quickly

What I used:

2 Sectioning Clips
Fingernail Polish - I chose green
Hot Glue Gun
Size 0 Crochet Hook (2.25 mm or B)
Size 3 Crochet Thread - I used Royale fashion crochet thread in Sage
A Crochet Motif Pattern - I chose a leaf pattern on Ravelry by Fable Handmade Goods, her "Leaves & Leaf Chain" pattern

Painted, crocheted and ready to glue

Green would be a good background color if you decided to crochet roses or pansies or any kind of flower.  Frankly, there's no reason why you should only crochet enhancements.  Left-over Halloween polish and some sequins could be enough to get that Disco Ball spinning.

A needle-tatted lace insert of outer beaded rings connected by arches or threads would work.  Glue on doll eyes would work -- you would just need a much stronger glue than generic hot-gun.  And why glue something to the clips other than glue?  They do make All-Temp Colored Glue sticks.  No reason you couldn't do free-form spaghetti monster squiggles.  Or snakes.  But I digress.

$-Store pins on top, working clothes-pin bottom.

I painted two clips with two coats of polish and crocheted four leaves with extra-long thread tails.  The tails came in handy.  Don't they always?

 For my first attempt I put the glue on the clip and pressed the leaves on and then clamped with Dollar-Store Clothes Pins. There on the right you'll see that the Dollar-Store Pins are small and not up to the task of pinning clothes to any thing -- but they're just dandy as light-weight clamps.

I unplugged the glue gun and walked away to let things cool.

When I returned I discovered the glue wasn't holding at all.  I lifted the leaves off and then peeled the glue off the clips and started over.

Picking up a couple of threads

3 pins seemed to be better

The second time I applied the hot glue to the leaves and THEN pressed the clips on the glue and clamped immediately.  

A knot to hold it.

When it had cooled the attachment was stronger, but not strong enough to withstand more than one wear.

Using the long tail, I secured the leaves to the clip by picking up a stitch or two on the left side and then running the thread between the clip's mandibles and picking up a couple of stitches on the right side -- back and forth -- all on the underside of the leaves.

So, if you've ever wondered "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane", the answer is she's alive and well and in my apartment and not allowed to go out with these things in her hair. You who are much younger may wear them in public, with my blessing.  I will content myself with finding a tatting insert pattern that might work a little better.  Perhaps some decent, mature, hair-combs is the answer.