About the mittens construction

Mittens are knitted on the double-pointed needles 3.5mm (US4) needles in the round. You start knitting it from the ribbing using the knit and purl through the back loop stitches. Then you change to the stockinette stitch to knit the palm and the thumb. Thumb is shaped by adding stitches using M1R & M1L techniques. Eventually work is split between palm stitches and the thumb stitches. While thumb stitches are resting on the holder you continue knitting the ribbing around the fingers and bind off stitches. Then you pick up stitches around the thumb to knit a few extra rounds and bind off. 

TIPS

• I recommend to knit on the double pointed needles but if you feel comfortable you can also knit it on the circular needles. 

• enjoy it! this design is all about the pure pleasure of knitting! 🙂

Here is the list  of all the stitches and abbreviations used in the pattern. Whenever mentioned in the pattern they will also be linked to a dedicated video tutorial at the top of the section. 

Click on the technique abbreviation to open a tutorial.

• • k/k1  – knit / knit 1 stitch
  • p / p1 – purl / purl 1 stitch
  • ssk improved – slip knitwise, slip purlwise, knit 2 stitches together
  • k2tog – knit 2 stitches together
  • M1L – make 1 left, Insert the left needle from front to back under the horizontal strand and knit it through the back loop
  • M1R –  make 1 right, Insert the left needle from back to front into the horizontal strand and knit it through the front loop

Here is the list of all techniques used in the pattern. Whenever mentioned in the pattern they will also be linked to a dedicated video tutorial.

Click on the technique name to open a tutorial.

• • long tail cast on
  • magic loop 
  • adding stitches through a back loop 
  • putting stitches on hold
  • picking up stitches
  • bind off

TIP:

• before you start knitting this project go through the video tutorials and make sure that you know all the stitches and techniques.  If you do not know them, just grab a spare skein of yarn and practice on a small sample until you are comfortable using it in your bigger project. Practicing on the go seems to be tempting but you may just lose a lot of energy and unnecessarily destroy your precious yarn.

Let’s start knitting!

Intro

You start knitting mittens  from creating an elastic ribbing

You knit  on the 3,5mm (US4) double pointed needles  in the round.

Abbreviations & Techniques 

• k1 tbl – knit 1 stitch through a back loop 
• p1 tbl – purl 1 stitch through a back loop
• long tail cast on
• magic loop 

Pattern

Cast on 34 stitches  using a long tail cast on technique and form a magic loop. Use a marker to indicate the beginning of the round. This marker will also be the main marker in the project.

Round 1 :  *k1, p1, repeat * till the end of the round

Repeat Round 1 total of 24 times.

Now creating an elastic ribbing is completed and you can start knitting the palm of your mittens.

Tip

• if you use double pointed needles, knitting  the first round is always the most difficult to establish the structure.  But the second round gets so much better 🙂

.

proceed if you completed the elastic ribbing

Intro

In this section you will knit a palm and part of the thumb. You start knitting in the round using a stockinette stitch. Then you add 2 extra markers to indicate the stitch increase for the thumb and continue knitting until you put thumb stitches on the holder and finish the palm section with a ribbing around the fingers. Thumb is shaped by adding extra stitches every second round. 

This is still  knitted on the 3.5mm (US4) double pointed needles  in the round. 

Abbreviations & Techniques

You can practice respective techniques. Click on the technique abbreviation or name to open a tutorial. 

• • k/k1  – knit / knit 1 stitch
  • p / p1 – purl / purl 1 stitch
  • M1L – make 1 left, Insert the left needle from front to back under the horizontal strand and knit it through the back loop
  • M1R –  make 1 right, Insert the left needle from back to front into the horizontal strand and knit it through the front loop
  • adding stitches through a back loop 
  • putting stitches on hold
  • bind off

Pattern

Round 25:  knit across the round

Repeat Round 25  total of 6 times. 

Add 2 extra markers in the following way (counting from the beginning of the round): 16 stitches, marker 1, 2 stitches, marker 2. Stitches between those two markers indicate the thumb. 

Round 31: knit to marker 1, slip marker, M1L, knit to marker 2, M1R, slip marker, knit till the end of the round

This way you should add 2 stitches.

Round 32: knit across the round

Repeat Round 31 and 32 total of 10 times (meaning 5 times each round).  This way you should add  10 stitches in total. 

Round 41: knit to marker 1, place all the stitches between marker 1 & 2 on the holder, add 4 stitches using a through a back loop method, knit till the end of the round. 

Round 42: knit across the round

Repeat Round 42 total of 8 times.

Round 50: *k1, p1, repeat* across the round

Repeat Round 50 total of 8 times.

And bind off.

Palm section is completed. You can now knit the thumb.

proceed if you completed knitting the palm of your mittens.

Intro

In this section you  put back  the thumb  stitches on needles and pick up  extra stitches in a place  they were added in the previous step.   You keep on knitting in the round on the double pointed needles size 3.5mm (US4).

Abbreviations & techniques

You can practice respective techniques. Click on the technique abbreviation or name  to open a tutorial.

• • k/k1  – knit / knit 1 stitch
  • k2tog – knit 2 stitches together
  • ssk improved – slip knitwise, slip purlwise, knit 2 stitches together
  • picking up stitches
  • bind off

Pattern

It is the time to place the stitches back on the needles. Then pick up 6 stitches ( 4 stitches that were added in the previous step plus 1 extra stitch before and after those 4 stitches). Place a marker in the middle of those 6 stitches to mark the beginning of the round.

And bind off.

Repeat the same for the second mitten.

There are last three things you need to do to before enjoying your mittens:

• if you want to make sure that the ribbing keeps it shape over time, you can sew a thin elastic thread along the bottom edge

• wave in all loose ends 
• block your mittens.  Meaning, give them a gentle hand wash in  warm water. Ideally just soak them for a few minutes and press out the water, never wring!  Lay the garment on a clean towel and roll it up like a jelly roll to extract water.Then let dry flat on a new towel or a mesh rack, never hang-dry. Give your mittens  final shape –  you can adjust the fit slightly bigger or smaller, and as the garment dries it will set in place. Do not exaggerate – wool stretches easily 😉

congratulations! your mittens are now ready to wear! how does that feel?