I’ve opened the Pandora’s box of knitting. It was only a matter of time, but I knew that once was able to knit mittens there’d be no going back. As soon as I passed the struggle of starting a project on four needles, these mittens came together extraordinarily quickly. And as soon as I finished this pair I was on to the next within hours. I won’t get ahead of myself, but I will say that I mixed crochet with knitting for the first time—yet another Pandora’s box opened.
I didn’t even know where to start when it came to knitting mittens, so I did some YouTube browsing to hunt down a tutorial. One or two cat videos later, I stumbled upon this gem from InterUnet: How to knit mittens. Finding this video was the start of my weekend knitting/coffee/Breaking Bad binge.
The video that I watched to learn how to make these is much more detailed. Likewise is the pattern in the notes section of the video. I have paraphrased with my limited pattern-writing skills and adjusted the number of stitches in the round (32 from 36 for a smaller hand). As usual, it’s just enough for me to remember what I did and for a knitter to get the gist of it.
Knit Mittens
*As seen in this original tutorial from InterUnet: How to knit mittens
In The Round
Materials:
- Worsted weight wool or acrylic yarn
- Size 7 needles (5 double pointed)
- Tapestry Needle
Stitches Used:
- Knit
- Purl
Pattern for a 20cm hand circumference:
Cast on 32 stitches
Redistribute the stitches evenly on each needle (should be 8 per needle)
– Cuff: K2 P2 in 2 x 2 ribbing for 20 rows
– Mitten: Knit another 15 rows
On the 16th row, K2 and hold 6 stitches with a safety pin; then add another 6 stitches on the needle and finish the round
Knit another 30 rows and start decreasing (K2tog on each needle until 1 st is left on each—weave the tail through the last 4 stitches and insert inside)
– Thumb: Replace the safety pin with a needle; add another 10 stitches across 2 needles (weaving yarn throughout existing stitches around the open thumb hole) and knit for 15 rounds
Decrease the thumb: K2tog on each needle until 1 st is left on each—weave the tail through the last 3 stitches and insert inside)
Happy Knitting!
J
