Amil Fingerless Mitts
These simple, knit in the round, fingerless mitts are intended to celebrate the beauty of the yarn. They can be made in any length from wrist to elbow. They are identical and interchangeable, so no need to worry about mirroring the thumbs. A quick knit in worsted weight yarn, they would be a good first mitt for a new knitter. Difficulty Level: Easy (links to on-line tutorials on last page) Skills: Knitting in the round, long tail cast on, knit, purl, make one right and left increases, pick up stitches, bind off in pattern Sizes: S {Women's S/M, 6"/15cm} (M {Women's L/Men's S, 7.5"/19cm}, L {Men's M/L, 8.25"/21cm}, XL (Men's XL, 9"/23cm ) Yarn: Worsted weight, 85 - 220 yards As shown: depending upon size and length. WL/MS longer mitts: 150 yards Machine washable yarn is best to Malabrigo Rios, color: Playa ensure mitts don't felt during WS/M shorter mitts: 85 yards wearing (or washing.) Malabrigo Rios, color: Indiecita Needles: Use one or two circular needles or double pointed needles as preferred, US 7 - 4.5 mm. Optional: To ensure a loose cast on and bind off, use a size US 8 - 5.0 mm. For a more slender thumb, use a US 5 - 3.75 mm to knit the thumb above the gusset, and a US 6 - 4.0 mm to bind off. Notions: 3 stitch markers and 1 stitch holder or scrap yarn (per mitt), tapestry needle Gauge: 5 st/inch in stockinet on size 7 - 4.5 mm Abbreviations: K= knit P= purl M1L = make 1 left M1R = make 1 right
Note: To determine how long the mitts should be, measure from the base of the thumb (where thumb joins wrist) to the desired place on the forearm. For a wider forearm, please see note at end of pattern. For short-short mitts, just knit the cuff and proceed directly to the thumb gusset. If using Magic Loop or two circular needles, the mitts can easily be tried on for size as the knitting progresses.
Pattern:
Arm & Wrist:
Using long tail method, cast on 32 (40, 44. 48) stitches with size 7 - 4.5mm needles or size 8 - 5.0mm to facilitate a looser cast on for stretchiness. Join for kniting in the round. Place marker to indicate where round begins. Switch to size 7 - 4.5mm needles if cast on was done with size 8-5.0mm needles.
Cuff:
Round 1:\*K2, P2\* Continue K2, P2 ribbing for 2" / 5cm (2" / 5cm, 2.5" / 6.5cm, 3" / 7.5cm)
Arm:
Round 1: \*P\* (this makes small ridge before beginning stockinet) Round 2:\*K\* Continue knitting all rounds until desired length is achieved.
Thumb Gusset:
Round 1: K3, place marker, M1R, K1, M1L, place marker, \*K\* Round 2:\*K\* Round 3:\*K\* Round 4: K3, slip marker, M1R, knit to second marker, M1L, slip marker, \*K\* Repeat rounds 2 to 4 until there are 9 (11, 11, 13) stitches between the markers, making a total of 40 (50, 60) stitches. Knit three rounds past last increase then, on forth round, K3, place the 9 (11, 11, 13) stitches between the gusset markers on a stitch holder or piece of scrap yarn, \*K\*.
Hand:
Round1: K3, then, using the long crossbar between stitches caused by placing gusset stitches on holder, M1L, \*K\* (The twisted increase will tighten up the gap and correct the number of stitches for the finger end ribbing.) Round2:\*K\* Continue knitting all rounds for 1" / 2.5cm (112" / 3.8cm, 11/2"/3.8cm, 2"/5cn
Finger Ribbing:
Round 1: \*P\* (a small ridge to match the one at beginning of arm stockinet) Round 2:\*K2,P2\* Continue K2, P2 ribbing for 3%4" / 2cm (%4" / 2cm, 1"/2.5cm, 114 " / 3cm) Bind off loosely in pattern using a size 8 - 5.0mm needle.
Thumb:
Round 1: Pick up a stitch on the center crossbar above the thumb hole, then 2 (2, 3, 3) stitches to the right side. Knit across the held stitches then pick up 2 (2, 3, 3) stitches on left side of thumb hole. Round 2: \*K\* Round 3: \*K1, P1\* Continue in 1x1 ribbing for 4 (5, 6, 7) additional rounds. Bind off loosely in pattern using a size 8 needle. Note: For a more slender/closer fitting thumb, pick up the stitches and knit with a size 5 - 3.75mm needles and bind off with size 6 - 4mm.
Weave in ends to finish. Do it all again for the second mitt (unless, of course, you did both at once.)
Just in Case:
Often, when picking up the stitches at the top of the thumb hole, small holes will be left around the join. This can be remedied by leaving a long tail when beginning the thumb and using the tail to fill in the spaces by weaving it in and out of the gappy area as the yarn tail is being woven in.
NOTE for Longer Gloves
The pattern as written will fit slender arms. If the arms you are knitting for are more muscular or voluptuous, you may need to make adjustments for proper fit. If the arm is just slightly less than slender, simply adding a little in length to accommodate for stretching width-wise should correct the fit. An extra page describing how to customize for larger arms is included with the pattern.
DK Weight Yarn
These mitts have been successfully knit in DK weight yarn by knitting the pattern as written but going up one
Tutorials:
www.knittinghelp.com long tail cast on knitting in the round with double pointed needles picking up stitches www.youtube.com The Knit Witch: make one left, make one right, bind off in pattern Cat Bordhi: circular knitting on two cable needles Liat Ghat: one circular needle - aka Magic Loop, two tubes at once on Magic Loop
Thanks to my lovely hand models, Karen, the longer blue mitts, Amil's Son for the XL brown mitts, and Dani (who was wearing bracelets under the shorter green mitts, that's why the cuffs are lumpy.)
