Fugue 賦格

Fugue by Kate Davies

Lana Grossa Cool Wool Merino Superfein in 444 (dark heather gray) & 412 (medium heather gray)

3.25 mm & 3.5 mm needles

Tam: 2011/11/5~7

Mittens: 2011/8~13

My cousin Dolly went to Tokyo to fulfill her dream: study Japanese in Japan.  She left Taiwan in late September when the weather was still warm. I was thinking about knitting her something to keep her toasty up there in winter. She has plenty of scarves already knitted by her mother, my aunt. So I thought a tam would be nice to keep her head warm but wasn't sure she would wear one. 

表妹到東京去念日文了. 九月底過去十天氣還熱. 那時我有在想是否要打個什麼東西給她,日本東天很冷的. 圍巾她已經有很多條, 都是阿姨打給她的, 所以當時想帽子應該是不錯的選擇, 只是不知道她戴不戴帽子而已.

After she settled down and started her classes the weather changed. My aunt commissioned me to knit a tam for her, preferably  a stranded one. Exactly what I had in mind! And Fugue almost came up immediately after mu aunt and I had the conversation. I sent the picture to both my aunt and cousin, to make sure she likes it (more on that later), and bought the pattern. Then went shopping for yarn, which was easier than most of the time for Dolly likes gray scale colors, and these Lana Grossa Cool Wool Merino Superfein grays were calling out to me!

表妹到東京一陣子後, 天氣開始冷了. 阿姨就請我幫她打個帽子, 因為她走路上課, 東京冬天風大, 吹得頭很痛. 真是剛好, 我就想打帽子給她. 打的帽子還希望是配色的. 一說到配色馬上想到賦格. 我還先把賦格的照片給阿姨和表妹看, 確認她有喜歡, 才下單買織圖. 再來就是去買毛線. 這次買毛線輕鬆多了, 因為表妹喜歡灰色系, 且這組 Grossa Cool Wool Merino Superfein 的線看起來不錯, 也有好幾種灰色可選.

I followed the pattern religiously. Really. I listened to Bach's Fugue while knitting the tam and mittens as suggested by Kate Davies. Seriously, it calmed me down almost immediately and I didn't make any mistakes on the stranded work! The stranded work looks way more difficult then it really is, and it was a joy to knit listening to Bach's Fugue.

我完全依照織圖打, 甚至遵從設計師 Kate 的建議, 打的時候要聽巴哈的賦格. 因為設計賦格的靈感證是來自巴哈的賦格. 真的, 一聽賦格馬上就可以靜下心來打, 且這個配色花樣看起來很複雜, 但打起來一點都不困難, 也許跟聽了賦格心靜有關係? 總之, 聽巴哈賦格打賦格真的是件很享受的事.

 

 

I even like the inside of the tam. The stranded work looks equally fascinating.

連反面我都喜歡. 這個配色花樣即使在反面也是一樣的令人覺得讚嘆.

 

 

 

When knitting the second mitt, I totally forgot to do the stranded work by reversing the chart, and didn't realize that until both mitts were finished. Luckily it wasn't too obvious when they are worn. 

打第二隻手套時完全忘記花樣要反過來看, 兩隻手才會對稱. 等到打完以後才發現, 還好帶起來沒有很明顯不對稱.

Introducing Dolly with Fugue in Shinjuku, Tokyo.

表妹戴賦格帽於東京新宿街頭.




*** Dolly is very specific with her things. If you bought her something without making sure it was her style, her color, she would not even touch it. That's why I had to send her the picture of the pattern.

表妹對東西有很明確的要求. 如果妳買個東西給她沒有事先確認是她喜歡的樣式或顏色, 她連碰都不會碰的.

Mittens for S&S 兩小的手套

Cold fronts have been hitting Taiwan consecutively for over a month, and it's getting colder and colder. We were having single digits suchs as 6C in the city. It's really harsh for houses in sub- tropical Taiwan are not equipped with central heating. Although the twins have cashmere berets to keep their heads warm, but the hands were like icicles. I needed to knit up 2 pairs of mitts FAST!

一個月多月來寒流不斷, 越來越冷. 兩小雖有 cashmere 的貝雷帽保護頭和耳朵, 但手還是露在外面, 到了幼稚園都變成冰棒手. 所以我得馬上生出兩雙手套來給兩小.


After searching through Ravelry, downloading and saving many patterns for mittens, I decided to knit Gifted by Kate Gilbert. It's easy to read, to knit and I happen to have some worsted weight leftovers. Scarlett's yarn is leftover from her Babydoll Tunic while Sebastian's yarn is leftover from my Oblique Cardigan.

花了不少時間在 Ravelry 上賴賴索, 抓了一堆手套織圖後決定打 Kate Gilbert 的 Gifted. 簡單好打且剛好有點的剩線可用. 若的是她泡泡袖娃娃裝剩的線, 謙的是我斜斜開襟外套剩的線.


They took me an afternoon and a night. Actully Scarlett's 1st mitt took me most of the afternoon, for I ripped 2 times. I wanted to make it right. Not to big but has to have a little room for growth, and not to tight then it could only be worn this season. After Scarlett's 1 st mitt, it was as easy as a breeze.

2 雙手套花了一下午 + 一晚上. 其實若的第一隻花了幾乎一下午, 拆了兩次, 我想把它弄對. 我想打有一點鬆分可以讓手掌大但又不能太大, 太小了就只能待這兩個月. 若的第一隻弄清楚後, 後面 3 織就很輕鬆了.


And I enjoyed knitting them! I wanted a pair for myself!

這手套打起來很好玩, 我自己也想要一雙!



The right hand thumb is 2 rows longer than the left. 若右手拇指比左手多兩排.


Sebastian's thumbs are 2 rows shorter than Scarlett's. She has longer fingers. 謙的拇指比若的少2排.若的手指比較長.


Actually, I wanted to knit stranded mittens or mittens with motif (Hello Kitty, Totoro etc.). But as it was emergency, so I had to knit with solid colors.

其實, 我是想打配色或是有花樣的 (Hello Kitty, 龍貓等等), 不過這次是急著要戴, 所以先打素色的囉!