Pinwheel Stripes Fingerless Gloves

I made these gloves (and a matching hat) for my little sister's 13th birthday present.  They're quick and easy to make - not counting a couple of false starts, it took me two evenings to make them.

Gloves

The pattern is worked in a series of cluster stitches:

Stitches

9 st cluster:  *yarn over, insert hook in next stitch, yarn over, draw yarn through the stitch, draw through first 2 loops on hook*, repeat * * 8 more times (10 loops on hook).  Yarn over, draw through all 10 loops, ch1.

5 st cluster: *yarn over, insert hook in next stitch, yarn over, draw yarn through the stitch, draw through first 2 loops on hook*, repeat * * 4 more times (6 loops on hook).  Yarn over, draw through all 6 loops, ch1.

4 st cluster: *yarn over, insert hook in next stitch, yarn over, draw yarn through the stitch, draw through first 2 loops on hook*, repeat * * 3 more times (5 loops on hook).  Yarn over, draw through all 5 loops, ch1.

If unfamiliar with making cluster stitches (which is basically like making a series of half-finished dc,  drawing a loop through them to join them together and closing with a ch st), you can find some good pictorial examples here and here, and a video here.

Pattern 

Using a 7 mm crochet hook and 8 ply yarn.

r1  33 Foundation sc in black. ch2, turn. (Note: I had to use extra turning crochet so that the edges of the piece did not end up too tight) 

r2  sc,  *skip next 3 st, 9 dc in next st, skip next 3 st, sc*, repeat * * to end. Change to blue. ch2, turn.

r3  4 st cluster, ch3, sc.  *ch3, 9 st cluster, ch3, sc*, repeat * * 2 more times, ch3, 5 st cluster. ch4, turn.

r4  4 dc into central stitch of cluster, sc into sc. *9 dc into central stitch of cluster, sc into sc*, repeat * * 2 more times. 5 dc into central stitch of cluster.  Change to black. ch2, turn

r5  sc in last dc.  *ch3, 9 st cluster, ch3, sc*, repeat * * to end

r6  sc.  *9 dc into central stitch of cluster, sc into sc*, repeat * * to end.  Change to blue.  ch2, turn

r7-13  repeat r3-6.  Tie off, leaving a long tail for sewing.

Sewing up

With wrong sides together, sew the edges of rows 1 and 13 together so that the centres of the clusters match up.  Sew halfway (two clusters), then tie off for the thumb hole.  From the other end, sew down one cluster length and tie off.  Tuck in ends both along the seam and along the edges.

As you will get a slightly different effect depending on whether it is row 2 or row 13 that is on the palm side of the thumb hole, it makes a difference which end of the glove you make the thumb hole on (At least, it does to perfectionists like me!).  Bear that in mind when it comes to sewing up, and you will need to do your sewing from opposite ends to make your gloves true enantiomers!

Edging and Thumb

Turn the piece the right side out. Tie on at the seam and work two lines of sc around both the top and bottom edges of the gloves.  I found that 23 st (5 across each of the half-clusters, 2 at the smaller black parts and 4 at the seam part) made a nice edging that wasn't too tight or too loose.

For the thumb, work 13 sc around the thumb hole starting a the bottom.  Join, ch3, 2 dc dec, 4 dc, 2 dc dec.  Join, ch1, sc around.  Join and tie off.  Tuck in ends