Men's Glove Pattern

Well... They're finished!! My babe's gloves are officially done!

They're so soft! Now, as promised here's the pattern.

Size: Men's Large-XL
Materials: 2 balls of Bernat Alpaca Natural Blends
Ebony Colorway
4 Size 9 DPNs
Cable Needle
Waste Yarn for thumb hole in a contrasting color

Gauge: Not really important but around 15 stitches by 20 rows in a 4x4 square.

You can use this pattern for personal use only. Please do not sell the items made from this pattern. It really discourages people to write free patterns when other people are making money off of them. Plus, this isn't your original work. *Gets off soapbox*

Stitches:
CO: Cast On
1x1 Ribbing: K1 P1
C6B: Slip 3 stitches knit wise onto cable needle and hold to the back. Knit 3 then knit 3 from cable needle.

Pattern:
CO 45 and divide evenly onto 3 needles.
Rows 1-18: Work 1x1 ribbing
Rows 19-23: K3, P3, K6, P3, K30
Row 24: K3, P3, C6B, P3, K30
Rows 25-29: K3, P3, K6, P3, K30

For Right Glove:
Row 30: K3, P3, C6B, P3, K3, K6 with waste yarn, slip 6 stitches back onto left needle then knit with working yarn (i usually knot the ends of the waste yarn so they are secure), K21

For Left Glove:
Row 30: K3, P3, C6B, P3, K21, K6 with waste yarn, slip 6 stitches back onto left needle then knit with working yarn, K3

For Both Gloves:
Rows 31-35: K3, P3, K6, P3, K30
Rows 36-40: Work 1x1 Ribbing

Bind off and weave in ends

Thumb Holes:
Remove waste yarn and pick up 5 live stitches on the top and 6 live stitches on the bottom.
Row 1: Attach yarn and knit 6 stitches, using another needle knit up 2 stitches between top and bottom then knit 3 stitches from top needle. Knit remaining 2 stitches with another needle and knit up 2 stitches between top and bottom. This will leave you with 15 total stitches on 3 needles.
Rows 2-5: Knit all stitches.

Bind off and weave in ends.

Enjoy!!

TTFN and Take Care!
Liz

Working, working, and more work

      So I finally bought the yarn to finish my boyfriend's fingerless gloves yesterday but I spent most of the evening shopping for a new coat and doing my taxes. I must be the only person in the world that anticipates when you can get your W2 because I love the extra money. I'm getting quite a bit this year so this year's the year I'm finally breaking down and buying a laptop. Dell's website has special discounts for students so I'm going to be getting a tricked out dell complete with a custom skin on it. I'm so excited!! The rest of the money is going towards my trip to California in October. California's one of the few states that I've never been too so I'm very excited. My boyfriend has only been to 3 states and being 20 years old I think that's just wrong. So I'm on a mission to get him to go to as many states as possible in as short of time as possible.
    In May we're driving down to Tennessee to visit my best friend for a week with some friend's. She's flying into Akron and we'll take the 45 minute drive to get her so she can see me graduate. That's right. I said GRADUATE!! I'm so excited to be done with school. I'm thinking I may be going back very shortly but until then I can bask in the fact that it only took me 4 years to get an associates of arts working full time. Not going to be raking in the big bucks with an associates of arts but it's a start.
    It's my dream one day to open a local yarn store but my problem is I have no idea on how to go about this. And I'm also not living in the most financially stable parts of the US so I would need to move somewhere where businesses seems to be closing every week these days. My sister worked at a place that closed its doors last fall and it was heart breaking.
   My boyfriend and I really want to move to Govenour, NY, which is where he grew up and start an alpaca farm so I can spin my own yarn. We would also have sheep and angora bunnies. Doesn't that sound like the life? Spend all day spinning yarn and taking care of animals. Sounds sleepy and comfortable.
  Well on to more yarn related things. I'm currently working on a hot rice bag that you put in the microwave. I'm making out of Red Heart Soft. And before you think poorly of me for using Red Heart I must say that a lot of yarn that Red Heart makes is actually pretty decent. They do the Stitch Nation Yarn and they have a lovely yarn called Shimmer that I just love. All of these yarns have a great hand and I have to say that the Soft has a wonderful sheen to it plus, it is extremely soft, just like the name says.
    I have to say that it is an extremely common notion that crocheters are cheaper about buying yarn than knitters are. Well, I have to say on the most part this is true. I've never spend more than $40 on any single project, which was an afghan. Why is this? Well I have a theory: crocheters tend to make smaller projects that should be washable and the easiest yarn to wash is acrylic. Acrylic yarns tend to be cheaper and more readily available than nicer yarns.
Well, it is time for me to head off too school. TTFN and take care!
Liz