In Which the Pirate Finishes Fleeps, Again and Again!

Last weekend I finally sewed the magnetic snaps to Michael’s gloves, but there were problems… First I sewed the snaps directly to the gloves. That seemed fine while I was doing it, but in reality when I tested them, there was too much pull on the knitted fabric. So I added wool felt reinforcements to the wrist snaps, but because I haven’t got an instinctive feel for sewing the way I do for knitting, I put them on the outside of the cuffs, between the snaps and the knitting (and then I took a picture, so you can see here how wrong I was).

When I showed Pirate-Husband, as I probably should have done the first time around, he told me the right way to do it would be to use bigger pieces of wool and put them on the insides of the cuffs, sandwiching the knitting between the felt and the snap. I borrowed an x-acto knife from him and I’ve finally got them right… just one day before deadline. WHEW.

Not only do the snaps work better, and I’ve less fear of them pulling out of the knitting, but they look much better too, now that the felt is on the inside. I’m so pleased with the way these came out – and now that I know how best to attach the snaps, I may add some to my own Fleeps! Unfortunately, mine are getting to be a little thin. I might get another season out of them, but then it will be time to knit a second pair for myself. Maybe I’ll hold off on the snaps until then; after all, my Fleeps have been flopping for a couple of years now… and just last night, I found that the top of one finger was wearing dangerously thin. I’ve reinforced it with leftover yarn and all is well again! People often ask me if I’ve worn through any of the socks I’ve knit (I haven’t), but no one ever asks me about these. I wonder why not – they see so much more use.