Tag: fingerless mittens

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Two Free Patterns: Mittens and a Beanie

Today I have published two new free patterns. They are part of my ongoing quest to find useful things to knit from leftover sock yarn. Both can be knit in plain, self-patterning or self-striping yarns, or you can create your own unique stripes from scraps or mini-skein sets.

Fingerless Sock Yarn Mittens

These full mittens can be made in any sock yarn, leftover scraps are ideal for striping or colour blocking. It is written to fit child (8-12yrs) (teen, small adult, medium adult). Finished sizes (palm circumference) 16 (19, 21, 23.5) cm / 6½” (7 ½”, 8 ½”, 9 ½”). The samples shown are all sized for a teen/small adult. The pattern can be easily adapted to fit larger hands.

The mittens are knitted finger-tip to cuff on circular needles/DPNs, and feature a gusseted thumb and a ribbed cuff.

The samples shown were knit in West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply: Fingering/4ply; 400 m / 460 yds in 100 g / 3.53 oz; shown in Zara’s Rainbow (stripes) and Woodland Awakening (variegated); and in Debbie Bliss Rialto Luxury Sock; Fingering/4ply; 400 m / 460 yds in 100 g / 3.53 oz; shown in Coachella.

The pattern features lots of ideas for you to create unique mittens. It has been tech edited but not test knit, except by me.

The pattern is free to download from the Granary Knits Ravelry Store, and also free (with the option to pay a little if you want) from the Granary Knits Payhip Store.

Sock Yarn Beanie

This beanie can be made in any size, from newborn to adult, and is knit in the round from the crown down to the brim. There are two options for the crown: knotted I-cord or a plain flat circle; and two options for the brim, either rolled or ribbed.

The samples shown were knit in West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply shown in Zara’s Rainbow (stripes); Regia 4-fadig in a discontinued self-patterning shade; A Little Bit Sheepish graduated hand-dyed mini-skein set in shades of purple.

Sizes given are for Newborn, 6 mths, Toddler/Child, Teen, Adult, Large Adult (head circumference 35 cm / 14”, 40 cm / 16”, 44.5 cm / 18”, 52 cm / 20 ¾”, 54 cm / 21 ½”, 59 cm / 22 ½”.

The pattern features lots of ideas for you to create unique beanies. It has been tech edited but not test knit, except by me.

The pattern is free to download from the Granary Knits Ravelry Store, and also free (with the option to pay a little if you want) from the Granary Knits Payhip Store.

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Chicken Knitting Ebook

Of all animals, I think I have always like birds the best, probably influenced by my Mother, who kept Zebra Finches, Canaries, and Lovebirds, and avidly watched the wild birds in her garden. She even had a Silkie cockerel, rescued from a school egg-hatching program and given the run of the house and garden for many years. It was not until 2007 that I kept any birds of my own, and I started with hens. I liked the idea of fresh eggs for breakfast, but the day we acquired Hetty, Betty, and Letty, was the day I lost my heart to them. As soon as I held one in my arms, I was smitten, and the longer I have kept them, and the better I understand them, the more I see their individual characters, their behavioural traits, their likes and dislikes, their amazing colouring, the variation of comb and wattle shapes, their unique song.

When I started designing knitted textiles, my flock of hens (and one cockerel) featured very prominently in my inspiration. This first collection of patterns is a result of that inspiration, and covers the stranded colourwork designs based upon feather shapes and colours.

The patterns in the ebook collection are:

Feather Cap Beanie
Fingerless Feather Mittens
Full Feather Mittens
Feather Cowl

Each pattern is available individually at the Payhip Granary Knits Pattern Store.

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Fingerless Feather Mittens Pattern Released

Designed to match the Feather Cap Beanie, these fingerless mittens reflect the patterns and colours of my little flock of beautiful Cream Legbar hens (and one cockerel).

Fingerless Feather Mitts are stranded knit mittens, using ten colours of Jamieson’s of Shetland wonderful pure wool Spindrift yarn. The motif itself and the colours I have chosen reflect the feather patterns and colours of my lovely Cream Legbar chickens: Freddie, Sorrel, Sage, and Lavender. From a distance they look a like a dull brown, but close up, their feathers are a beautiful brown/grey, with touches of cream and pink. The four background colours and six foreground colours reflect this lovely effect.

Sorrel

Suggestions are made for other colourways, notably a lovely monochrome palette.

The pattern is available from the Granary Knits Pattern Store .

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Incorporating a Thumb in Top-down Mittens

There are, of course, several ways to knit a mitten, and I have tried most of them. My favourite technique, at the moment, is to knit the thumb first, place it on waste yarn, and then begin the mitten at the fingertip end, knitting down the hand until you reach the point when you incorporate the thumb. You can try the mitten on at every stage, to get the most comfortable width for you and the best length before you add in the thumb. It also has the advantage that the technique for casting on for full mittens is identical to that for toe-up socks, so if you are a sock knitter, the method is entirely familiar.

This technique is used in several of my mitten patterns: Fingerless Feather Mittens, Full Feather Mittens, and my free pattern for sock yarn mittens; this photo tutorial is an aid to those patterns. The thumb is incorporated into the mitten and a gusset is then knit to taper the mitten.

Thumb

First, knit your thumb, according to the pattern you are using. This can be a half-thumb (for fingerless mittens) or a full thumb.

Thread the first 2 stitches and the last 2 stitches of the round onto a small piece of waste yarn, and thread the remaining stitches of the thumb onto a longer piece of waste yarn.

Mitten

Work the first part of the mitten, from fingertip/fingerless mitt ribbing, to the point where the thumb joins the palm. The mittens are identical for the purposes of attaching the thumbs. Ensure you have worked the mitten to 2 stitches before the end of the round where you will attach the thumb. Using a piece of waste yarn, thread the two stitches from the beginning of the mitten round and the 2 unworked stitches from the end of the round onto the waste yarn, as you did for the thumbs.

Take one of the pre-prepared thumbs and remove the longer piece of waste yarn as you place half the remaining thumb stitches onto one of the mitten needles and the other half onto the other needle; the 4 stitches still on the waste yarn should be sitting adjacent to the mitten stitches also on waste yarn.

Round 1: Knit around the mitten and thumb once, the start of round now being the last mitten stitch of the round, adjacent to the first thumb stitch.

Round 2: ssk the first mitten stitch with the first thumb stitch, knit across the thumb to the last thumb stitch, k2tog the last thumb stitch with the next mitten stitch. Knit around the mitten to the end of round. [2 stitches decreased]

Round 3: knit

Repeat rounds 2 and 3 until all thumb stitches have been decreased.

Knit straight until mitten reaches your wrist bone, then add the cuff of your choice.

Once the gusseted thumb has been incorporated into the mitten, you can close the gap by grafting/Kitchener stitching the 4 stitches of the mitten with the 4 stitches of the thumb. See YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJFRI-_EQeA for a great tutorial on Kitchener Stitch.