Pomatomus gloves: thumb gusset instructions

A couple of people on Ravelry asked for these,
so here they come.

Materials: Lang Merino 150 Superwash, 150m/50g, 2mm needles

Left glove

Cast on 72sts as for Cookie A's Pomatomus socks, work two pattern repeats from Chart A.

Thumb gusset:

Note: you will need to use CHART B to work the straight edge to either side of the thumb gusset at the same time as you're working the thumb gusset. See further down for how.

The thumb gusset begins in the first rd of the third pattern repeat.

Rd. 1: Work 24 sts in patt, then: place marker, m1 by knitting tbl into the k2tog of the previous rd, place marker, cont in patt to end of rd. (Note for reference: your rounds will begin and end at the pinky finger edge of your hand; the thumb gusset begins two-thirds of the way around on the palm side.)

Rd. 2 & 3: Work in patt, knitting the single st between markers tbl.

Rd. 4: Work in patt to marker, slip marker, *m1 by knitting tbl into the horizontal strand of yarn before the next st on the left needle*, k1tbl, repeat **, slip marker, cont in patt to end of rd.

Rd. 5 & 6: Work in patt, knitting the 3 sts betw markers tbl.

Rd 7: Work in patt to marker, sl m, k1tbl, *m1 by purling tbl into horizontal strand of yarn before the next st on the left needle*, k1tbl, rep **, k1tbl, sl m, cont in patt. (5 sts between markers)

Rd 8 & 9: Work in patt; work sts between markers as you find them.

Rd. 10: Work in patt to marker, sl m, k1tbl, *m1 by knitting tbl into the horizontal strand of yarn before the next st on the left needle*, rib next 5 sts, rep **, k1tbl, sl m, cont in patt. (7 sts between markers)

Rd. 11 & 12: Work in patt; work sts between markers as you find them.

You get the idea. The thumb gusset is taking shape between the markers: it begins and ends with a border stitch knitted tbl with ribbing between them. You work the gusset increases every third row by making 1 st on either side of the gusset to the inside of the border stitch. The new sts you make will alternate between knit and purl to create regular ribbing.

Continue working the thumb gusset increases until you have 21 sts between markers. You will work two more rds over these 21 sts before putting your gusset sts on waste yarn and continuing to work the hand over the remaining sts.

Now for what's happening at the same time on either side of the thumb gusset. To work a straight "seam" out of which the thumb gusset grows, proceed as follows:

For the first 5 rds of the third pattern repeat (i.e. while starting the gusset), work from Chart A as before. (Chart A is identical to Chart B here.) From the 6th round onwards, you need to follow Chart B on either side of the thumb gusset. Note that you'll work the left edge of the chart, i.e. the END of the chart pattern, on the palm side of your gusset (i.e. just BEFORE you get to the first marker) and the right edge of the chart, i.e. the BEGINNING of the chart pattern, on the back-of-hand side (i.e. AFTER you've worked the gusset stitches and slipped the second marker). It's counter-intuitive, but trust me!

So round 6 goes as follows: Work the "repeat twice" section of Chart B twice (identical to working Chart A), yo, sl m, work gusset sts, sl m, p1, k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, p1, k2tog tbl, k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, work "repeat twice" section to end of rd.

Rd 7: Work "repeat twice" section twice, yo, k1tbl, work gusset, p1, k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, p1, k2tog tbl, p1, k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, work "repeat twice" section to end of rd.

Rd. 8: Work "repeat twice" section twice, yo, p1, k1tbl, work gusset, p1, k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, p1, k2tog tbl, k1tbl, p1, k1tbl, work "repeat twice" section to end of rd.

Etc. etc. It looks more complicated in print than it is when you start doing it!

Now. Remember the bit in Cookie's sock instructions about rearranging stitches at the start of each new pattern repeat? When you finish the third repeat you'll only be two-thirds of the way up the thumb gusset, and rearranging stitches with the gusset in the way is obviously not an option. Luckily you don't need to do anything on the palm side of the gusset because of the extra knit stitch at the left edge of Chart B. On the back-of-hand side knit together the last knit stitch before the marker with the knit stitch after the marker. Put this stitch on the right (gusset) side of the marker. Continue the round in patt as normal (yo, k2tog tbl, p1, k1tbl etc.)

Work 11 rd of the 4th pattern repeat.

In 12th rd, put thumb gusset sts on waste yarn and continue working the hand in patt over the remaining 72 sts. You will find that the sts just before and after the thumb gusset will dovetail neatly into the pattern of Chart A. Finish the 4th pattern repeat ***and work the first 11 rows of the 5th to get to the height of the finger crotches.***

(For a better fit, though, it's best to start the pinky further down from the rest of the fingers and knit a hand extension over the other three fingers to bring the crotches up to the correct height. If anyone wants step-by-step instructions on how to do this, comment and I'll post them.)

Update, 17 July 2008: Instructions for hand extension and fingers are in the post following this one. Instructions for hand extension commence at the bit between triple asterisks (***...***) above.

For the right glove, start the thumb gusset after working 48 sts in patt in the first row of the 3rd pattern repeat, in all other respects the right and left gussets are identical. For the straight seam on either side of the gusset: remember: right edge of Chart B on palm side, left edge of Chart B on back-of-hand side.

To mirror the Pomatomus pattern, save copies of Chart A and Chart B, open the files in your favourite graphics editor, flip them around their vertical axis, save, and print. You can then knit them as you did the regular ones, substituting k2tog where the chart says k2tog tbl.