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My Downtown project is colourful and joyous! Last week I said I was thinking about what I could do with small crochet stitches to use Scheepjes’ self-striping sock yarn to best effect. My idea was to use tapestry crochet combining the two different colours, alternating between them. You get an impression of the effect in the photo below, and it’s pretty easy: one yarn colour is the working yarn while the other is being carried, then they swap when the working yarn comes to a colour change.
I totally love the effect! I feel like I am channelling “where’s Wally” a bit... which is great because it’s a lot of fun discovering what colour effect is going to happen next. Who knew that the 2 balls would combine like this!? Just to remind you, here is a photo of the two balls I am using: the “before” pic.
Cool, huh? Depending on where you start in the colour sequence for each ball, the effect will be different as well, even though it the same 2 colours. It’s really fun seeing what develops next!
So, the next question is what it is this tube of tapestry and why are there two pieces? The answer is fingerless mittens, also known as gauntlets, and a pattern is on its way. Hey, I originally sat down to play with sample balls and have a bit of fun, then out popped a new design (it is very hard to resist jotting down a few notes and before you know it….)
Sizing will just be three sizes (small, medium, and large), but once you understand method of construction and shaping, it would be very easy to fit any hand. The crucial thing is to keep tyring them on and checking tension is consistent as you go. That can be a challenge for tapestry crochet – controlling the carried yarn as well as the stitch tension is required, but I am going to include some tips on this in the pattern.
As you can see, there are a fair few stitch markers being used. I would have been completely lost without them to keep track of where I was up to – the eyes kind of glaze over otherwise when trying to count rounds or find shaping stitches, so if you are liking the look of this project, you will need a healthy stash of stitch markers!
For this design I am also using a different method for foundation stitches to begin the tube. This is not foundation double crochet you can see in this pic – I will leave it as a mystery for now and I will share all when I publish the pattern of course.
I have very imaginatively (perhaps not) called them “Groovy Gauntlets” and the pattern will be available here on my blog for free in a couple of weeks, with a paid version also on my pattern stores on Ravelry and Etsy.
Before I go, here is a snippet of the last step for each gauntlet. A bit of darning with the final tail to smooth out and re-inforce the fabric between finger and thumb openings. The trick is to wear the gauntlet while sewing to make sure your stitches aren’t too tight and make it uncomfortable. Comfort definitely counts!
I think you get the idea of what’s brewing in this post, but next week I will show you not only my finished Groovy Gauntlets, but also those of my testers in a range of different colours! Rainbows here we come…
Downtown is available from Scheepjes retailers worldwide, and these two affiliate links*:
Wool Warehouse (in the UK, ships worldwide including the US)
Caros Atelier (in The Netherlands)
Leanne at Yarns For All
& Anna and Mike at Stitchcraft & Wizardry)
are my local Scheepjes Retailers in Perth, Western Australia.
Til then,
Susan (Peppergoose)
*This blog contains affiliate links – shopping via these links does not cost you any extra but it means I receive a small part of the sale – thank you for your support!