I did save the helpful Pam Allen info on thumb gussets. I'm surprised that there was no information on doing a peasant thumb which is lot easier than a thumb gusset and easy seems to be the focus in knitting magazines these days. Nancy Bush uses the peasant thumb in all the gloves in Folk Knitting in Estonia (see photo of my version of Landra's Gloves below) although I think she calls it Stocking Thumb Straight. The peasant thumb in gloves looks weird when the gloves are not being worn as you can see but I think they are just as comfortable as gloves done with a gusset. Your mileage may vary.
Anyway, here are some of my glove knitting tips. I hope Lisa, my fellow terminal glovitis sufferer, will post some as well.
GLOVE KNITTING TIPS
1. I ask family and friends to trace their hands (like children do when they're making a turkey) on a page in my knitting notebook and sign it along with their birthday and any particular glove preferences. I've successfully made gloves to fit from these drawings - just hold up the glove in progress to the drawing to size it.
2. Most glove fingers have a tapered top and I begin the decreases at the top of the finger when I get to the center of the fingernail of that finger. For the very top I draw all the stitches together in what Nancy Bush calls a "heart of a blossom" closure. I've done kitchener stitch for the tips but it really isn't worth the extra trouble. Whichever method you use for glove fingertips do a really neat job of securing the yarn ends in your fingers. If you are messy and make a lump it will forever annoy you when you're wearing the gloves. Yes, I do know this from bitter experience! sigh
3. I find gloves can be knit to fit better if you start knitting the fingers at the little finger - that also is the only way you can adjust them so that each finger starts at a different point with the little finger being the lowest point. Stick your hand in the glove at regular intervals while you're knitting it to check the fit of not only the hand but the width and length of each finger.
4. There are three ways to deal with small holes that may appear at the base of the fingers. You can add extra stitches when you pick up stitches for the finger and then decrease them on the next row. I dislike the way this looks. You can twist the stitches purposely when you pick up the finger stitches, i.e., knit them through the back loop. This doesn't often work well enough for me. Or you can do as I do and take the yarn end at the base of each finger and use it to tighten up the area after you're done knitting and working in the ends.
5. Most hands have fingers that do not start at the same horizontal axis. Nancy Bush recommends that you start the little finger about 1/4" lower than the rest of the fingers but I take it further and do the fourth finger lower than the middle and index finger as well.
6. To block gloves to fit better, I wet the finished glove and try it on. Move the hand and fingers around a bit to help it get the right shape.
7. I think a lot of knitters have slightly different tension for the glove fingers so check your gauge on the fingers as well as on the main body of the glove. This tension change may be because you're worried the needles are going to fall out of the knitting when doing the tiny fingers. I usually use a larger size needle for the glove fingers to keep the gauge consistent. Some patterns recommend going to a smaller needle just for the fingertips but I think this is only necessary if you're using a thicker yarn.
8. Gauntlet gloves and mittens are designed to go over your sleeve cuffs and outerwear so make sure they are wide enough at the gauntlet to fit over several layers of clothing or a coat sleeve.
9. Sometimes in knitting glove fingers in several colors I get little bumpy "ridges" at the beginning of each needle. I think this also is because of the tendency to knit the fingers at a tighter tension (so as not to lose the needles) so I purposely make sure to carry both yarns loosely at needle changes on glove fingers.
10. Previously I've tried to save time by leaving the remainder of the stitches on the dpns while knitting a finger. Don't do this! First of all, it stretches and enlarges the stitches at the edge of the dpns nearest the finger you're knitting but more importantly you won't save time. Thread a needle and put the stitches being held on it and tie a loose knot. No more yarn catching on the stray needles or poking yourself while knitting.
11. There is no particular type of thumb I prefer for women's gloves but for men's gloves I always make gloves where the thumb sticks straight out from the side of the glove - called the Basic Thumb Gusset in the current IK article. Nancy Bush calls them Side Thumb Shaping.
12. I highly recommend an excellent and long article called Gloves Galore by Nancy Bush from the Fall 1996 issue of Interweave Knits. There is even a sidebar on knitting gloves from the finger tips down. There are several patterns for gloves and mittens including some really neat Sjomann Man's Gloves - colorwork and small needles.
One last item on gloves - I said previously that I finally managed to find glove needles in sizes lower than 0 (for Sanquhar gloves for instance) at Knitter's Underground. I ordered a pair of "specialty glove needles" in size 0 but I didn't read the description well enough. What I received were 8" long Inox needles. For some reason I thought since they called them glove needles they were 4 or 5 inches long. As far as I can tell there are no online sources for glove needles in small sizes - 0 or less. Please let me know if you find any!
