Pattern for handknitted lobster gloves?

[donnamb]

I was at a bike craft show earlier in the week and really liked these felted lobster gloves made from recycled wool sweaters (http://static.flickr.com/107/317186974_140e28f59c.jpg). It got me thinking (duh!) about the fact that I could knit and perhaps I could knit myself (and others) lobster gloves, felted or not. However, I am not good at all at designing my own patterns.

Have any of you knitted your own lobster gloves? Perhaps you know someone who has? Share a pattern?

[Ritehsedad]

IMHO, the wind will go thru them like sh*t thru a goose.

[The Weak Link]

In my neighborhood you can get beat up for wearing lobster gloves. If you're lucky. More likely you'd be shot.

[donnamb]

IMHO, the wind will go thru them like sh*t thru a goose.

Even felted?

[FlowerBlossom]

I was at a bike craft show earlier in the week and really liked these felted lobster gloves made from recycled wool sweaters (http://static.flickr.com/107/317186974_140e28f59c.jpg). It got me thinking (duh!) about the fact that I could knit and perhaps I could knit myself (and others) lobster gloves, felted or not. However, I am not good at all at designing my own patterns.

Have any of you knitted your own lobster gloves? Perhaps you know someone who has? Share a pattern?

I haven't, but, it wouldn't be hard for me to figure out.

Have you ever made a pair of mittens, in the round, that are felted? In the round would probably be easiest for this project.

I've never made lobster mittens, but, would be willing to "make up" a pattern, if you'd be willing to be a tester for my pattern. PM me. I've never done any felting, but, a prototype in regular yarn would be an important first step.

If these prototyopes aren't warm enough for using on their own, they would be a nice underlayer.

[Stacy]

Wind resistant Polartec might make a better liner than felt.

[Ziemas]

I don't know how cold it gets in Portland, but if I were you I'd look for something like WindStopper or another wind and water proof fabric to put in them. If you don't you'll have both cold AND wet hands.

[vger285]

Wind resistant Polartec might make a better liner than felt- that would really be a no brainer!
Feminism is the profound notion that women are human beings- now who in there right mind would ever believe anything like that? bike or no bike? hahhahahhaha!

[Bockman]

I just like saying, "Lobster Gloves!"

[Ritehsedad]

Even felted?

I don't really know. I don't have a good feel for how wind resistant felted wool would be.

When its real cold I have ski mittens on with two pair of liners and hand warmers and my thumbs still get cold.

[FlowerBlossom]

Felted wool is a lot more dense than knitted wool. If done correctly (ie, maintaining the lanolin), they should be extremely good in wet weather.

I wear knitted mittens while biking in the winter, and, prefer them over even goretex, because, the little bit of wind that gets to my hands helps to regulate temperature, so that my hands don't sweat. When I lived in MN, keeping my hands from sweating was my biggest challenge in keeping warm.

[donnamb]

I've PM'ed you, FlowerBlossom. You've got yourself a couple of pattern testers if you want.

For the guys who were wondering - all waterproof cycling gloves eventually get wet in the Pacific Northwest rainy season. I've got a pair of super duper Pearl Izumi's that get soaked after about a 30 minute ride in a typical winter downpour. Wool does, too, but even wet wool will keep your hands warm in our coldest temperatures, which admittedly are no where near as cold as Maine's. We don't usually get any colder than 30-35 Fahenheit, and it generally stays in the 40s and 50s. No clue about Latvia, but I grew up in Michigan, and never got the point of wool until I moved out here. I suspect it's the humidity that makes all the difference.

[jyossarian]

If you need someone to test the lobster claws, I'd be willing. I can't knit though so someone would have to knit them for me. :D

[vrkelley]

IMHO, the wind will go thru them like sh*t thru a goose.

You could make a shell liner for the outside. The yarn shop can show you how to do that.

The pattern probably has another name besides lobster mit.It looks like the mit is made in several parts and I'll bet if you post the question and the picture on a knitting forum, they can get you the pattern for free.

[vrkelley]

women are human beings
Agreed. I guess some blokes need reminders

[FlowerBlossom]

I can't enlarge the photo enough to see "all the parts", but, I think that it might have been cut-and-sewn.

Unlike the ones in the photo, the pattern I have in mind will have no seams, and, I hope to "design" it with detailed instructions so that the person knitting it will be able to adjust the the gauge (needle size + yarn size) to fit the climate/season/personal body temp of choice. I imagine something like "Need something windproof? Make these with size Z needle and XY yarn, and felt them (see listed books for instructions). Need something for early spring or late fall days, for those chilly early morning rides? Make them lighter, with size A needle and BC yarn. Need to make a test-pair for jyossarian? Try the most itchy and stiff wool you can find, and, "forget" to put in a thumb." ;)

[FlowerBlossom]

If you need someone to test the lobster claws, I'd be willing. I can't knit though so someone would have to knit them for me. :D


But, you could learn!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jYa_rJyG18

[donnamb]

I can't enlarge the photo enough to see "all the parts", but, I think that it might have been cut-and-sewn.

It was cut and sewn. The ones in the photo are made from recycled wool sweaters. They're very nice, and if you don't knit, this may be the way to go. Natalie (the crafter) crocheted the pieces together, but one could also sew them. I could see a blanket stitch for that rustic look to mimic the crochet, or use a sewing machine to make the stitching less visible. You just have to remember when you're felting to make them bigger, 'cause they shrink.

When you've got a slight knitting obsession problem, however, you become a bit fixated on actually knitting it yourself, wouldn't you agree, FlowerBlossom?

I was also thinking about embellishments, namely something on the palms for gripping, perhaps leather in a cold, dry climate, and something synthetic and grippy for cool, wet climates. (Slimy leather is yucky!) It seems like high-viz tape sewn to the left glove and on the side that is seen when we signal would be cool, too. But I jump too far ahead. Pattern first...

Incidently, Natalie is a custom bike framebuilder, professionally. I guess she just makes the lobster gloves for fun.

[FlowerBlossom]

When you've got a slight knitting obsession problem, however, you become a bit fixated on actually knitting it yourself, wouldn't you agree, FlowerBlossom?



Absolutely!!!

[Shiznaz]

http://www.sweetpeabicycles.com/blog/

Blog entry on these gloves I stumbled across

[vrkelley]

http://www.sweetpeabicycles.com/blog/

Blog entry on these gloves I stumbled across

:beer: As always Shiznaz rocks :beer:

[Bikepacker67]

http://www.sweetpeabicycles.com/blog/

Blog entry on these gloves I stumbled across

Interesting vid on the 'Secret to Happiness', if you scroll down the page. :)

[FlowerBlossom]

http://www.sweetpeabicycles.com/blog/

Blog entry on these gloves I stumbled across

Those are very pretty! I like the contrasting stitching. They also used old wool sweaters, felted them (washed in hot water and with lots of top-loader agitation, sometimes more than once), then sewed them together.

There are lots of cool yarns that could be used for the decoration, including metalics. I would probably first sew them together on a sewing machine (for strength) and then top-stitch (by hand) the decorative stitch. Blanket stitch, a cross stitch, etc., would work.

[vrkelley]

FlowerBlossum,
If the sweater is knitted how do you keep the edges from raveling. On another home-made bike gear project, I tried a basic zig-zag stitch but the seams still raveled on the first washing.

[FlowerBlossom]

It seems like if you felt the sweater first, then cut out your pattern (for whatever you are making), the raveling should be less. The fibers should be so tangled that it won't be as big an issue as with un-felted knits.

Perhaps, for your project, I assume unfelted, did you cut the sweater along the row(s)?

Knitted objects are knitted row-by-row, right to left (probably different direction on a machine knit, but, otherwise 'by row' as with hand-knitted). Thus, this is how they unravel...across the row. If you instead cut vertically, you just cut the ends, and if you stitch those ends, they can't move to unravel.

Also, I think a straight stitch might be better than a zig-zag, and, doing this twice can't hurt. I'm making an educated guess here. I made a traditional Fair Isle Knit vest, and, it was knit in-the-round (a tube!), then, cut up the front to add a placket for buttons and button holes. But, before cutting, you machine-straight-stitch vertically along the each side of the location where you plan to cut. Then, cut. There's no raveling...it truly worked! Thank goodness, I spent a lot of hours making that "tube".

You can also PM me with the details of what you are working on, and, maybe I can help more if I know what you are making.

[Bikepacker67]

http://www.sweetpeabicycles.com/blog/

Blog entry on these gloves I stumbled across

It's really funny how the web works...
Your "stumble" caused me to stumble (http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/).

Really interesting speakers and topics, especially this one (http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=m_shermer).

So thanks for the stumble!

[Shiznaz]

I still like to 'surf' the net. Its what I used to do when I first started using the internet and just finding another page with pictures was exciting enough! Theres always something new to learn or ignore

[vrkelley]

It seems like if you felt the sweater first, then cut out...
By felt what do you mean? Is that some Knitting term or do you just rub the old sweater before cutting it to the shape?

[FlowerBlossom]

By felt what do you mean? Is that some Knitting term or do you just rub the old sweater before cutting it to the shape?

Apologies!

Felt is dense material, in general. You can buy "felt" in craft stores.

But, the felt I am talking about is wool. Or, felted wool. I am talking about the same thing (not the stuff in craft stores).

Felted wool is made by shrinking and agitating (knitted) wool. The agitation helps to further twist the fibers together, and shrinking the wool makes it more dense. You can always shrink a knitted wool w/o the agitation, and have a very dense product. Sometimes the only-shrunk-no-agitation product will look like a minuture of the original. (sometimes). The agitation assists in making a more uniform piece of fabric, for lack of a better description.

If you've never seen felted wool, I've seen a lot of dreadlocks reminds me of felted wool. Except, wool is washed to get it to look that way.......

Because the yarn is tighter (from shrinking) and the fibers in the yarn are more twisted together (from agitation), I think you would probably have less fraying than you had experienced previously. Unfortunately, I've never cut felted wool, so this is a major guess on my part. The local Goodwill store has a very small selection of non-wool sweaters (no surpise, it's winter), so, I won't be testing my hypothesis anytime soon. Bummer, I was looking forward to testing it out myself (and seeing if I could make a pair of lobster mittens from one sweater).

[braingel]

Bump!

Have you guys tried this yet?

[donnamb]

Bump!

Have you guys tried this yet?
FlowerBlossom is working on the pattern, then she has to get the pattern testers (my housemate and I are 2 of them) to test the pattern. These things take time, I'm afraid. I expect we could have handknitted, felted lobster gloves for next winter. Never fear, we shall post here when the time comes. :) FlowerBlossom, perhaps we could have a Winter Cycling forum drawing for the test gloves the testers don't want?

[braingel]

I'll see if my wife wants to make a pair before it warms up. I get to be the tester though!:p

[Ritehsedad]

Glad to see this bumped.

[braingel]

And, FWIW, my wife is a predominant wool expert, and she says that this:

the wind will go thru them like sh*t thru a goose.
is utter poppycock. You've never been blessed with proper wool attire, I take it;)

[vrkelley]

AmerICAN made gloves...how refreshing! How about a picture or 2 of the finished product? Maybe posting the final pattern with some how-tos?

[donnamb]

And, FWIW, my wife is a predominant wool expert, and she says that this:


is utter poppycock. You've never been blessed with proper wool attire, I take it;)
Actually, this was referring to unfelted wool in extremely cold, dry winter conditions. Ritehsedad has a good point for the type of winter climate he experiences.

[braingel]

Oh, well yeah, unfelted would be pretty useless. I guess I never think about "winter" and "dry" together anymore, but the missus didn't knit before we got out here, so I've never tried it out. Here, though, would be great...my favorite part about wool is that it's warmer when it's wet.