Lamb's Pride Worsted Mittens


 
I started these about 5 years ago and finished them just in time for the cold weather here in the North East. As I made NO notes you're mostly on your own here - the key to these warm mittens is the gauge of 5.5-6 st/inch. They got used to brush off my car this morning and kept my hands dry even as the snow on them melted while I drove to the grocery store. The mohair content of the yarn fuzzed them up a bit, too. And the winds of downtown Boston penetrate my flannel lined wool coat more than these mittens.

I started with one of the basic mitten patterns from Homespun Handknit and just kind of did them. If you've never made mittens before this may not be a pattern for you.

Gauge 6 stitches/inch. I used size 4 needles, I think.

1 skein Lamb's Pride worsted. Don't worry about the extra twist in the yarn, the vertical stripes in mittens are pretty cool. Mine are eggplant purple.

Basic plan for women's med or man's small (my size <G>):
Cast on 44 stitches over 2 needles join and work in K2, P2 ribbing for 3.5 inches

Switch to St stitch for 0.5 to 1 inch

Increase for thumb - looks like I did 6 increases total, spaced every other round

Rnd 1: k1, knit into front and back of next stitch, knit to last 2 stitches of round, knit into front and back of stitch, k1

Rnd 2 and all even rnds: knit around

Rnd 3: k2, increase, knit to last 3 stitches, increase, k2

Rnd 5: k3, increase, knit to last 4 stitches, increase, k3

Rnd 7: k4, increase, knit to last 5 stitches, increase, k4

Rnd 9: k5, increase, knit to last 6 stitches, increase, k5

Rnd 11: k6, increase, knit to last 5 stitches, increase, k6

Rnd 12: knit and then place stitches between increases (total of 14) on a piece of waste yarn.

Cast on 4 stitches across thumb gusset and continue in St. Stitch for 3 more inches.

Decrease 9 stitches evenly around next round.

K 3 rounds

Decrease 9 stitches

K 3 rounds

Decrease 9 stitches

K 2 rounds I think there should be one more decrease in here, but the mittens have fuzzed enough that I can't really tell.

When they look like mittens, run the tail through the remaining stitches and weave in the end. I decreased too many times, and the tips of mine are a little pointy.

Thumb: Transfer stitches to needles, pick up 4-6 stitches across gap knit a few rounds and start to decrease. The thumbs of mine are really fuzzy, and I can't even tell how many stitches I started with, let  alone how the decreases went. It looks like I did 3 evenly spaced decreases.


Contributed by an unknown lister

 


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