Claire's Gloves: Getting a Custom Fit

Is it just me, or do store-bought gloves never fit you properly too? Even the stretchy ones aren't right for me. I think it might be that they're designed for women with long fingernails, and I wear my nails trimmed quite short (I work with my hands, plus I'm a musician, so long nails are out). At any rate, bought gloves almost always have fingers that are a bit too long. The pleasure of handknitted gloves is that you can get a perfect fit. The process involves trying on the gloves as you approach each finger tip (same for the thumb). On and off, on and off. If you're making these for someone else, make sure they're around for the few hours it takes to do this, and that they're prepared for the process. It's worth it.

I record on a diagram how many rows I knitted for each digit so that I can make the second glove to match.
Today, I finished up this prototype glove. I was particularly pleased with the join between the thumb and the palm. Even before the weaving in of the ends, it was nice and snug.

Once all the knitting was done, I turned the glove inside out to weave in the ends, using the ends between the fingers to close up any remaining gaps.

In stocking stitch, I like to weave in ends on a diagonal. It preserves the stretchiness of the fabric and is invisible from the right side. The colour of this close up of the thumb weaving -in is much closer to the terra cotta colour than the hideous pink in the rest of today's photos.
 

I tried on the glove to assess the fit...

gave the thing a soak in a kitchen bowl, then laid it out to dry.

Tomorrow I'll have a fresh look at it to see what changes/improvements I might make. Do I want to retain the little bit of chevron at the top of the hand? Do I want to add the bars to the back of the cuff (at this point it's plain)? Am I satisfied with the fit of the innovative increasing (FYI, Deb, I made the thumb a couple of stitches narrower than called for in your chart, since I wanted a closer fitting thumb for a dressy glove).
I'll start writing up the pattern tomorrow. Anyone interested in a little test knitting? Just leave me a message on Ravelry.