17 February 2012

Millgrove Sideways Gloves and Hat

When JJ brought back the list of items he needed for his camp to Millgrove a week before he was due to leave, I nearly had a heart attack - on the list there were specific requests for a woollen jumper, woollen gloves and a woollen hat. Whilst I have been a knitting addict for the last 3/4 years I have never made any pure woollen items for my own children, partially there doesn't seem to be the need for these in Melbourne... Okey it does get cold here but the boys are happy with their fleeces which can be easily washed and dried... Anyway, the note says ALL items on the list are MUST, and woollen clothing was especially chosen for its ability to keep warm when wet and the note says they WILL get wet. OK, fair enough, but how on earth am I going to finish a woollen jumper, a pair of gloves and a hat all in a week? Luckily the old man had a flash of brilliance (he does that occasionally) - the Savers! Indeed it saved us,  luckily we were able to find a 100% woollen jumper that not only fit him but also got his nod of approval, which was a huge relief for me as I was psyching myself up for a week long super knitting marathon. We weren't so lucky at finding the gloves and hat, but I was confident that these were more manageable.

I remembered seeing gloves made sideways on Ravelry and thought they would be a better choice as I didn't fancy fiddling with making fingers when under time pressure, so I chose this sideways gloves pattern and cast on using some sock yarn from my stash. The glove pieces took 5 days to knit and 1 day to sew up, I really enjoyed making them as the instructions are clear and simple and the construction ingenious. In fact I think I will be making more of these for my charity knitting this year. The hat only took one day to crochet, I didn't use a pattern but mildly based the design on this sideways hat.

Overall I'm quite pleased with the results and JJ was nonchalant as usual, oh well, what can you expect from teenage boys!

The finished items:
Millgrove Sideways Gloves
Millgrove Sideways Hat