Evolution of a Pattern – Damascus Glove

 

Inspiration for the Damascus Gauntlet Gloves.

This the story of my first officially published pattern.  I have self published for a few years and then there was the Design competition, but this the first, submitted design idea!

It all started when I was looking for the definition of the term gauntlet.  Was it the upper part of the glove or a style of glove?  While looking I was sidetracked by the picture of these Knight’s Gauntlets from Wikipedia.  Made from Damascus steel, chased (decorated) with silver and lined with red silk – I thought that they were gorgeous!  They inspired me to create my own version of the Damascus Gauntlet Glove.

Damascus Glove - original version.

A cabled cuff, knit from silver-grey Drops Alpaca and lined with red Kid Silk.  They were quite wild and very cool.  What should I do with such an intricate glove?They really were not at all suitable for work!  Why not try submitting them to Vogue Knitting?  They are very dressy and uptown looking.  I could see them with a “little black dress”.

I submitted it to Vogue in April 2011.  I waited to hear back.  It took a while.  In August 2011 I received an E-mail that asked if the pattern was still available?  If so, would I be interested in writing it up for the Winter Vogue.  The pattern was still available and Yes, I was still interested!

There needed to be a few changes.  It would have to be reknit with a different yarn.  No problem – the yarn was a different gauge – OK a little bit of a problem!  The Deadline was Sept 30th, a bit of a challenge as the ruffle is somewhat time-consuming to knit!  Vogue wanted to know if it was possible?  Was it possible – of course! No way was I missing this opportunity!

Vogue Knitting sent along the yarn.  For the body of the glove, some absolutely gorgeous Alpaca, Silk and Cashmere from Knit One Crochet Two, Ambrosia, a sport weight wonder with great hand and stitch definition – we now carry it at Mad About Ewe, in about 18 colours.  For the ruffle, Douceur et Soie, also from Knit One Crochet Two,  a 70% kid mohair and 30% silk laceweight.

Finished and Ready to Ship

So with a few modifications in mind I started knitting and note taking.  It was looking good until after the thumb shaping.  Then I tried to try the glove on.  It was too small!  Back to the drawing board.

I frogged the glove and cast-on again.  I went back to my original stitch count, but kept the cables at 8 rows instead of the original 10.  That worked out perfectly.  After that it was mostly just knitting.   As a bonus, because of the shorter length of each cable, there were less stitches in the ruffle – making it a much quicker knit!

Detail of Ruffle!

I have submitted a few other idea’s since then and two more patterns have been accepted, knit, written and shipped off.  Each experience has had its own learning curve and excitement attached.  I love every minute of it all.

The pre-view pictures and the Vk360 video are now up on the Vogue Knitting website.  The Magazine is due in the your local stores around Jan 4, earlier for some and later for others (West Coast is always later!).

Vogue Knitting's pre-view pictures.

Happy Knitting

Lynette

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