pepperknit

It’s no secret that I adore the Pomatomus sock pattern. It was the first pair of socks I ever knit, and then I went and engineered a pair that had mirrored scallops—my most proud knit to date. The whole Mermaid/Nereid fingerless mitts done up with the Pomatomus scallops was definitely too much to resist. But who was worthy?

I was heading down to Charleston, South Carolina, last weekend for the graduation festivities for my cousin Meaghan. I’m closest to Meaghan of all my cousins, despite the age difference, so I wanted something a little special. Since she went to College of Charleston, right there near the beach (college? at the beach?! oh how different our experiences were), the fish-scaly qualities of Pomatomus seemed all too fitting. Also, her mother’s side of her family generates ginormous feet, so there was no way I’d have time or energy to knit socks.

My friend Gina Wilde outdoes herself whenever she takes dye to yarn, but I can’t tell you how much I love this colorway—Koi Pond—in this yarn—Alchemy Yarns of Transfomation Bamboo. The sheen of bamboo coupled with the ruby reds and fiery oranges, all married together with the twisted ribs? A veritable orgy of perfection.

Details after the jump.

Nereid Fingerless Mitts (or a variation on the Mermaid Gloves) (or, really, just a variation on Pomatomus, because I only rudimentarily used the guidance of the Nereids)

Yarn: Alchemy Yarns of Transformation Bamboo, colorway Koi Pond
Skeins: 1 (with very little leftover!)
Needles: Addi Turbo US size 3
Started: Sunday, May 5
Finished: Tuesday, May 7
Notes: Like I said, it was only a loose following of the patterns, mostly because my yarn was a larger gauge than sock yarn. I used size 3 needles and only had 4 pattern repeats around the mitts for an average-sized glove. They fit me, they fit the recipient, they fit her mom . . . pretty much any woman who tried them on was able to wear them fine (I was a little worried about the thumbhole, but no one would admit that it was tight when I asked). And now they’re all requesting pairs for themselves.

My thumb gussets aren’t exactly what any of the patterns give, but they’re close (a thumb gusset is a thumb gusset, really) and as you can see they maintain the twisted rib. I just increased until I had what seemed like a good number of stitches. (With this yarn and this gauge, that number was 12. When I picked up stitches to knit the thumb I added 4 to close the gap at the top.)

No other fancy variations.

I adore them, and am pretty sad to see them go. It’s my only skein of that yarn, and I’m pretty lucky one skein of bamboo can make one whole pair of mitts. Though bamboo won’t make her hands overly warm, they’ll be perfect for a chilly office setting. My cousin heads into the Real World starting this fall, so this is a big welcome to the world of over-airconditioned offices and droning computer work! Ah, to be a grownup at last.

Photos taken on the beach at Isle of Palms, South Carolina. Ahhhh, a weekend at the beach was so nice.

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