It’s been a while since I posted a Finished Object Friday entry. It’s not for a lack of FOs. It’s more because I’ve been busy with preparing for and cleaning up after Thanksgiving. And watching a lot of hockey games. And doing a lot of knitting. And doing some reading, too.
Unfortunately, when it comes to blogging, I’ve been a bit of a slacker. I’m determined to change that and get back to posting more regularly. Only time will tell whether I succeed. 🙂
Fingerless mitts. What more can I say? They are all the rage now, and for very good reason. Fingerless mitts help keep your hands warm while leaving your fingers free to operate the touch screen on your portable device–smart phone, tablet, iPod touch, etc. They are also wonderful for people like me who don’t like to wear gloves when they drive. And they are an excellent way to add an extra layer of warmth to the hands on a frigid day by slipping them over a pair of gloves. It doesn’t hurt that they look pretty, too.
For a knitter, fingerless mitts are a dream project. They can be knitted in any thickness of yarn, from lace weight (doubled) to bulky, but fingering, sport, and worsted weight seem to work best. There are tons of fingerless mitts patterns, both free and paid, available on Ravelry, but once you know the basic construction, it’s simple enough to design your own. They take only a small amount of yarn, usually less than 100 grams, and very little time. Depending on the pattern, a single mitt can be completed in an evening’s worth of knitting. And it’s pretty easy to guesstimate size by trying the mitts on. Ribbed patterns are very forgiving. 🙂
In the past couple of weeks, I’ve finished three pairs of fingerless mitts, two of which are my own design. Aren’t I clever?
clockwise from lower left: Maureen’s Zig Zag Mitts, Midwinter Staghorn Mitts, and Twisted Fold Over Mitts
The Staghorn Mitts are knitted from one ball of Knit Picks Chroma worsted weight, which is a singles yarn that is incredibly soft, using 4.25mm dpns. I don’t know how well it will hold up with wearing, but the mitts are luscious freshly knitted.
Midwinter Staghorn Mitts, front and back
I used this pattern from Tera Johnson that is available free on Ravelry. I made only a handful of modifications to the pattern. I added some extra rounds of 2 x 2 ribbing to the cuffs, and I did an extra gusset increase.
Don’t look too closely at my fingernails. It isn’t a pretty sight. 🙂
But otherwise, I knitted the pattern as written. And, as you can see, I was able to match the color repeats almost perfectly, in spite of there being a knot in the ball of Chroma.
The blue heather mitts, knitted from one skein of Cascade 220 on 4.25mm dpns, have fold over cuffs both at the wrist and at the fingers.
One mitt with the cuffs folded, the other with the cuffs unfolded
The double fabric gives extra warmth and adds versatility. On very cold days, the cuff at the fingers can be unfolded to cover the fingers, almost like mittens, and the cuff at the wrist can be unfolded under the sleeve of the coat but over the sleeve of the inner garment to keep out the wind. Clever, eh?
I admit to stealing this idea. When pattern surfing on Ravelry, I saw a pair of mitts that had a fold over cuff at the fingers and thought it was a great idea. So I stole it. 🙂
Anyway, the Twisted Fold Over Mitts are a simple 2 x 2 rib with 3 columns of RT (right twist-knit into the second stitch on the left-hand needle, then knit into the first stitch and drop both stitches from the left-hand needle) pseudo cables on the back of the hand to gussy them up a bit.
Don’t they look warm and cozy?
If you knit them in just 2 x 2 rib, the mitts will be reversible, that is, each mitt will fit both the left and the right hand.
The red mitts, Maureen’s Zig Zag Mitts, are also my own design. They are the same basic mitts as the Twisted Fold Over Mitts, but only the wrist has a fold over cuff, and the RTs have been replaced with alternating C2B and C2F to create a zig-zag cable that looks a lot like rick rack. (Do young people today even know what rick rack is? LOL)
You can see both the palm side and the back-of-the-hand side in this picture. I apologize for how crappy the picture is. My camera doesn’t do red for some reason.
The yarn is Lion Brand Wool, which is Aran weight (a heavy worsted weight) in scarlet, and it is a lovely wool to knit with. It’s one of the few worthwhile yarns you can purchase in big box craft stores like Michaels.
I have a large storage container filled with single balls of worsted weight yarn, so expect a lot more fingerless mitts this winter.
All Kinds Of Knitting 