Supplies
3.75mm circular needle (magic loop) 4mm - To ensure a nice loose cast off and on I choose to use a needle that is one size or so bigger. 8ply/DK yarn - 100grams total is ample for a pair of mid-length mitts.
A note on sizing
These mitts comfortably fit young girls hands (around 6-10years), but have been known to fit younger sisters too. If Mummy wants a pair, I suggest swapping to a 4mm needle. You can cast on a few extra stitches if you wish, as the rib is fairly stretchy, but do check for fit as you go. The thumb section should probably be a bit longer too.
Lacy Cuff
This is optional, but looks pretty and girly. Cast on 40 stitches with your 4mm needle. Joining to work in the round, work rows 1 and 2 for a total of 6 rows. Row 2 - k all stitches Nxt row (row 7) - k se 11 rows make a wee lacy cuff, with a garter stitch stripe at the tof
Beginning of Mitt Proper
(If you haven't done the lacy cuff, simply cast on 40 stitches on your 4mm needle) and begin here. Switching to your 3.75mm needle (and working in the round) work in 3x1rib as follows: \*k3, p1\* repeat from \*to\* around every row. On the samples shown I knit approx 26 rows before starting my thumb. Longer or shorter is a matter of personal preference, as are the 2 row stripes I used. Just as a tip - the stripes made it quite easy to count the rows and make sure both mitts matched... I am all about it being as simple to knit as it can be!
The Thumb Part
This part makes a nice stretchy gusset for the thumb base. At this point my stitches are divided for magic loop kntting in two groups of twenty, so I simply knit across to the last 4 stitches on the first half, m1, k3, m1, p1. Pattern across the second half of the stitches as they appear in k3, p1 rib. This puts all the thumb gusset stitches sitting between a sort-of furrow of purl stitches. Pattern across the beginning of the next row in k3, p1 rib, and when you get to the thumb gusset it will now be p1, k5, p1. Then pattern across the second half of the stitches as before. (Non-increase row). Simply continue in this manner, making 2 extra stitches on the thumb gusset every second row until you reach a total of 17 knit stitches for the thumb (excluding the purl stitches). End with a non-increase row. For a bigger hand simply keep this pattern going as desired (I found that 19sts on the 4mm needle was fine for an adult hand). Now is the nifty part... Pattern across the stitches, when you get to the thumb part, p1, cast off the knit thumb stitches, p1, and pattern around the rest of the mitt. Now, you have two options to choose from on your next row. The reason for this is that the mitt part that is covering the beginning of the fingers is quite narrow on the girls I was knitting for, so following option one I simple eliminated those 3 knit stitches that became the base of the thumb part, making the mitt narrower around after the thumb. On a larger hand the 2nd option retains the original 40 stitches around for the top of the mitt itself.. choose as you please. Next row, pattern around the mitt, when you get to those 2 purl stitches outside the thumb, purl them together. Alternative Next row, pattern around, to those two purl stitches where the thumb was, kfb into both of them, and continue around the mitt in pattern. The following row you should be able to simply pattern around the mitt in k3, p1 rib.
Top of Mitt
There are a couple of options here too... Simply continue the k3.p1 rib until the desired length (14-16 rows total after the thumb cast off seemed about right) then loosely cast off and you are done! OR - continue the k3, p1 rib for 6 rows, then do 8 or so rows of k2, p2 rib before casting off to narrow the mitt top a bit and keep those fingers extra snugglyand warm. The real trick to these is casting on the second one straight away... this avoids lonely single mitts, and I feel it increases the chances of them matching as you can better remember what you did on the first one!
