Tip Down Mittens
By Adrian Bizilia
Turn 4 oz. of your favorite spinning fiber into these simple yet effective mittens. Knit-to-fit from the top down in a range of yarn weights, the size is completely up to you. Don't forget that some fibers wear better than others. If you're working with a finer fiber, knitting at a tighter gauge will help your mittens last.
MATERIALS:
4 oz. handspun 2-ply yarn, DK up to Aran weight needles to create a firm fabric with your yarn- either dpns, one long circular, or two circulars measuring tape, stitch markers (2 different), waste yarn for holding stitches, and tapestry needle
FIT:
Measure around your hand, above but not including the thumb. Make your mittens 1/2" larger in circumference than your hand. Hands are divided into thirds. First 1/3 is from fingertips to thumb tip, second 1/3 is thumb tip to base, third 1/3 is thumb base to wrist. Add extra length for wrist and you have a mitten. CO - cast on st./sts. - stitch/stitches K - knit M1 - lift bar between sts. and knit it through the back loop K2TOG - knit 2 stitches together SSK - Slip first and second stitches separately as if to knit. Slip back onto left needle, knit together. PM - place marker PU - pick up inc.-increase/increases \* - repeat PATTERN: With figure-8 cast-on, CO 6 stitches. PM and join into round. Round 1: K Round 2: \*K1, M1, K1, M1, K1\*, repeat once. Round3:K Round 4: \*K1, M1, K3, M1, K1\*, repeat once. Repeat rounds 3 and 4 with the K sts. between the M1s growing by 2 sts. each time, until your piece is an inch or so long. Stop and measure your gauge as accurately as you can. Use this formula to figure out how many stitches around your mitten should be. measurement) + 1/2" x (sts. per ") = (total sts.)
2010 Adrian Bizilia. Allrights reserved. This pattern is for personal use only. Contact me at patterns@helloyarn.com with questions or concerns. I'm helloyarn on Ravelry.
Tip Down Mittens
By Adrian Bizilia By increasing in increments of 4, may not be able to get that exact number, but continue increasing until you have close to your target stitch count (better over than under). K straight, trying on as you go, until you get to the crotch of the thumb. K 3 more rounds for wiggle room. Now, K the first (for second mitten, the last) 1/5 of your total sts. onto waste yarn (K sts. with waste yarn, slip purlwise back onto left needle, K with your mitten yarn) for your thumb. Continue to K straight until desired length. CO 3 sts. onto left needle with backward loop method. K2 of those sts. onto right needle, SSK (3 sts. on right needle). \*Slip 3 sts. purlwise onto left needle. K2, SSK\* Repeat between \*s around entire mitten edge until all you are left with are 3 sts. on right needle. Graft 3 remaining sts with I-cord cast-on edge. Thumb: With mitten tip facing you, put sts. on waste yarn on needle. Turn mitten so that I-cord edge faces you and put those sts. on needle (there will be one more st. than the other side). Remove waste yarn. PM, join into round. Place another marker halfway around. K around, picking up one stitch at each end of thumb stitches and knitting it through the back loop with the next stitch. This will close up any holes. Knit straight until the thumb measures 1/4" less than your thumb. Decrease round: \*SSK, K to last 2 sts. before marker, K2TOG\*, repeat once. Repeat this round until there are 5 sts. left on the needles. Cut yarn, leaving 6" tail, thread through stitches and pull tight. Make another one! Weave in ends, wash, and block.
SAMPLE MITTENINFORMATION:
Pink and Green- Spun from Spunky Eclectic Corriepaca in the Orchard colorway. Yarn measures 614 ypp and 10 wpi. Mittens used 3.3 oz/ 127 yards. Mitten measures 8.5"in circumference and 10" long. Gauge is 4.75 sts. per ". Brown and Gold- Spun from Southern Cross Fibre's Polwarth wool in the Boys of Summer colorway. Yarn measures 804 ypp and 11 wpi. Mittens used 3.1 oz./ 156 yards. 9" in circumference and 9.5" long. Gauge is 5.25 sts per ". Both yarns are 2-ply.
2010 Adrian Bizilia. All rights reserved. This pattern is for personal use only. Contact me at patterns@helloyarn.com with questions or concerns. I'm helloyarn on Ravelry.
