Mad Tea Party Fingerless Mitts
Laika Ahlstedt
I have loved steampunk for a while now. I also love Alice in Wonderland. And when I organized the Wonderyarns yarn & goodies club with the talented markkas, I had the perfect opportunity to play around with my two love interests. Ruffled cuffs fascinate me. They're simple but yet elegant, easy and quick to make and posh up an outfit immediately. There are quite a lot of patterns for ruffled cuffs, but none of them really appealed to me - the most common issue with them was that in order for them to warm my hands as well they would need to be so long that they would be in the way all the time. So, I decided, I'm going to improve things. I unvented these mitts, inspired by many pretty socks with a ruffled cuff that's flipped down when the socks are worn. I hope you will enjoy these as much as I know I will.
Not all people like ruffles. So I included a version with the ruffled cuff omitted. It's also very easy and potentially super cool looking to knit the mitt in one colour and the cuff in another - perfect if you want your cuffs white but dread staining your mitts. The ruffle can also be worn unfolded, making the mitts long enough to warm your armstoo. When these are knitted in fingering weight, they produce a mitt that fits a large hand (mine's $8.5"$ around at the palm, thumb not included). The pattern has been test knit for a smaller hand (8") in finer yarn, in this case Lai-la-lai Yarnz Thermal Duo, $100\,\%$ Wool, $620\textup{m}/\textup{100g}$ The mitts are knitted top down, so you'll be able to use up all your yarn should you wish to. Do bear in mind that the ruffle takes a bit more yarn than the cuff for the same length.
What you will need
Yarn: Lai-la-lai Yarnz Bamboo Silk Sock, $60\,\%$ wool, $20\;\%$ bamboo, $20\;\%$ silk; $420\mathrm{~m~/~}100\mathrm{~g~-~}$ 1 skein is more than enough. For a slightly smaller size use Lai-la-lai Yarnz Thermal, $100\,\%$ wool; $620\textup{m}/\textup{l}00\textup{g}$ You can substitute the yarn with any similar weight yarn - a thin sock yarn should do fine. Needles: a set of $2.25\;\mathrm{mm}$ dpns or to get gauge $^+$ a set of $3\;\mathrm{mm}$ dpns Other stuff: a needle to weave in ends, stitch markers Gauge: 29 sts and 43 rounds $=4~"$ in stockinette stitch in the round, after blocking
Mitt (make 2)
Edging:
Cast on 63 stitches and divide them evenly on dpns. First you'll knit a scalloped lace edging. For a more unisex look, feel free to use garter stitch for a few rounds. The round 2 seems a bit fiddly when read, but when you're knitting it it will make sense.
Round 1: Purl all sts.
Round 2: $\ast\mathrm{K}2$ , K1, slip back to the left needle, pull next 4 over, yo, knit the slipped stitch again\* -repeat $^{*}-*$ to the end of the round. Round 3: K2, yo, kfb, $^{*}\mathrm{k}3$ , yo, kfb\* to last stitch, k1 - 54 sts Done! Now you have a pretty edging and can knit all sts round after round until you reach the crook of your thumb. Remember to try the mitt on frequently.
Gusset:
Measure around your thumb and count the sts needed from the mitt on that width by placing the measuring tape on the knitted fabric. Mine was $3.25"~(8~\mathrm{cm})$ and 23 sts. Round it up or down to next uneven stitch count if needed. Substract 3 sts (mine: $23\textrm{-}3=20)$ ). You will need to end up with an even number. This is the amount of sts you will cast on for the thumb. Use the provisional cast on method. Knit 13. Place marker. CO the thumb stitches in the end of needle 1 (move extra sts in the end to needle 2 if necessary). Then move half of the stitches you just cast on to the working needle, to avoid gaping where needle 2 joins in again. Place marker. Knit to the end of the round. Knit 2 rounds. Decrease rounds: Round 1: Knit to first marker, slip marker, ssk, knit to 2 sts before second marker, k2tog, knit to end. Round 2: Knit all sts. Repeat the decrease round every other round until there are 2 sts between the markers. End with a knit round. - 56 sts Knit 5 rounds. Cabled wrist Ruffled fold cuff:
[k2tbl, p2] to end. Repeat for two rounds more. Work rows 1-10 of chart A once. You can choose either a folded ruffled cuff or a simple ribbed cuff. If you want to knit the ribbed version, simply keep on knitting in the twisted rib (k2tbl, p2) until the cuff is long enough and use the picot cast off to cast off.
Ruffled cuff
[k2tbl, p2] until the cuff is 2.5" long. Increase round: [knit 14, M1] to end of round. - 60 sts Turn the mitt inside out, so the wrong side is facing you. Youl knit the ruffle on the wrong side, so when it's folded down it will be right side out. Knit 1 round. Switch to $3\;\mathrm{mm}$ needles to work the ruffle. Ruffle repeat: Round 1: [k2tog, yo, k1, yo, ssk, k3] to end of round. Round 2: Knit all sts. Work the ruffle repeat until the folded cuff reaches the thumb gusset. You can adjust the length of the ruffle by knitting more or fewer repeats. Next round when the ruffle is at desired length: [k2tog, yo, k1, yo, ssk, yo, slip 2 as if to k2tog,. knit 1, psso, yo] to end of round. Knit one round. Cast off all sts loosely.
Thumbs (both styles)
Pick up the provisional stitches evenly on three needles, starting at the crook of the thumb so that you will work all the provisional sts from right to left with the cast on edge of the mitten pointing up, around to the crook. Attach yarn on the crook where you started picking up stitches and knit all sts. Pick up and knit 3 sts across the crook. You might want to leave a tail long enough to sew some possible holes out. Knit until $0.5"$ short for the desired length. [k1tbl, pl] to end for three rounds. Cast off. Wet the mitts and block them. Block the palm and wrist only gently into shape and the ruffle just a bit stretched. Don't block the life out of it, just so it sets prettily. The ruffle will look horrible before blocking, so don't get scared if it doesn't look neat while you knit. And you're done! Should you have any questions, please ask them at lailalaiyarnz@ gmail.com or via Ravelry from Lailai. Thank you, I hope you'll enjoy my pattern! pua d日doo yoeg yonoun ux und 回
