A Rose by Any Other Name - Fingerless Gloves

     Yesterday I finished my first triple-color colorwork project: a pair of fingerless gloves.  I had gone to Michael's to pick up another skein of the gray I used, to finish the headband I was working on, and stopped to finger a maroon skein of Caron's Simply Soft that I've been eyeing for months.  As soon as I held them side-by-side, I knew they would look simply perfect together with a white yarn.  As I held them all together I could picture perfectly how I wanted the gloves to turn out, and cast on as soon as I got home!

     I searched Ravelry for at least half an hour before I found a chart that fit what I had in mind.  I really want to knit a Norwegian snowflake into a hat or gloves, but I knew I would be wearing these all year round, so I chose this flower design, so I wouldn't be reminded of winter in the middle of summer (my favorite season!).

     This is the chart I used.  A few months ago, charts like this were the sole reason I passed over any given pattern.  I was scared spineless of charts like this, especially because, often, there are no numbers as to what row or stitch is which.  My fear has officially been conquered.  Just like knitting socks and cables, I've found that they are in fact a breeze to master.  It was like turning on the light in the middle of the night to see that what you thought was the boogyman was just an outfit hanging in your closet.

     Over on Meredith's one sheepish girl blog, she created a section called Blogging for Confidence, where she pushes herself to try new things in order to boost her confidence (as you could probably tell from her title!) in herself.  I think I'm going to do the same thing, except Knitting for Confidence.  After the realization that reading a knitting chart is a piece of cake (and not at all like pulling teeth like I'd previously thought) I want to try as many techniques as possible this year that seem daunting to me.  The more I think about it, the more I love this idea!  I'm totally psyched.  I also really want to get into making more photoshop images like this for A String of Purls.  Five days late, but here are my resolutions nontheless!  It's good to have something concrete.

     The project you saw in the first picture underneath the gloves is my current work in progress... an assorted-stitch cowl, which I'm hoping to finish in the next few days.  Definitely by Monday.

     I'll be back tomorrow with a post on my new yarn loves!

xx

currently listening to.... Mr. Brightside - The Killers