Mitred MItts

Some designs take a million tries to get them right (e.g. the Partly Biased Fingerless Gloves I published earlier this year) and others just work at once. This design is of the latter category. I had the idea, drew a picture, tried it and voilà - it worked.

These fingerless gloves are knitted flat and in garter stitch stripes. They start with a provisional CO, is worked in short rows around the thumb and closed by grafting. The combination of stripes and short rows results in a striking geometrical pattern.

Since these mitts are worked with two colours and at times with very short short rows it can be quite fiddly. It is NOT a beginner pattern.

The knitting pattern is available via

• Ravelry 
• Payhip
• Loveknitting (soon)

The pattern PDF is 13 pages long and contains:

• written row-by-row instructions for knitting a mitt in one size only – including eight in-process photos 
• a full chart
• short photo tutorials for the following techniques
• provisional CO with a crochet hook and how to undo it
• grafting in garter stitch
• short rows with wrap and turn and picking up the wraps and an explanation on doubly wrapped stitches
• weaving in yarn while carrying it (backwards and forwards)
• crochet CO

To knit these mitts you need the following materials:

• fingering weight yarn in two colors – I used a total about 35 to 40 grams: I used two (semi-)solid colored yarns with a good contrast (about 16 to 20 grams per color)
• 2.5 mm or 3 mm knitting needles (or another needle that gives you the gauge) – straight or circulars
• a crochet hook (about 3mm) and scrap yarn for the provisional CO and for the crochet CO
• 2 stitch markers 
• a tapestry needle for grafting and to weave in ends

The photo on the right shows two pairs that I knitted – one with 2.5 mm needles (top) and one with 3 mm needles (bottom); with one piece already sewn up and one before that step.

• With 2.5 mm needles 28 ridges (56 garter stitch rows) gave me 10 cm in height and 26 sts gave 10 cm in width (unblocked, since I didn't block the mitts). The finished piece is about 17 cm high (at it's highest point) and about 16 cm in diameter (without just below the thumb). 
• With 3 mm needles 25 ridges (50 garter stitch rows) gave me 10 cm in height and 24 sts gave 10 cm in width (also unblocked). The finished piece measures about 19 cm in height and about 18 cm in diameter (just below the thumb).

However, the pieces are all in garter stitch, so they are quite stretchy.

Summer Breeze Cowl

This colorful cowl is a light and airy accessory –  suitable for summer or early autumn. It looks especially good when knitted with variegated yarn because it shows off the short row construction.

This cowl knitted flat and all in garter stitch. It starts with a provisional cast-on, is knitted on a bias and with many short rows, and ends with grafting. Because of this construction the circumference is easily adaptable. 

It is a very repetitive pattern and only needs one 100 gram skein of lace weight yarn, so therefore it is a very portable project. However, you should be comfortable with short rows, binding off and casting on within a row, so it is not a beginner pattern.

The knitting pattern is available via

• Ravelry 
• Payhip
• Loveknitting 

The pattern PDF is 10 pages long and contains:

• written row-by-row instructions for knitting this piece – including 9 photos
• a schematic of the construction, i.e. how the diamonds stack up to create the whole piece
• charts of one diamond (in two variations)
• short photo tutorials for the following techniques
• provisional CO with a crochet hook and undoing it
• grafting in garter stitch
• short rows with wrap and turn and picking up the wraps 
• crochet CO (at the edge of a knitted piece)
• backwards loop CO

To knit this cowl you need the following materials:

• about 500 metres of Lace weight yarn – I used less than 100 grams of Wollmeise Lace (colorway Allegria)
• 3 mm knitting needles (straight or circulars)
• a crochet hook of a similar size (I used a 3 mm hook)  
• scrap yarn
• a tapestry needle – for grafting and to weave in ends

Knitted in Lace weight yarn the finished and blocked piece measures 24 cm in width and 125 cm in circumference (unblocked it was 19 cm in width and 118 cm in circumference). About 24 stiches measured 10 cm in width and 24 garter stitch ridges (i.e. 48 rows) measured 10 cm in height (blocked).

Partly Biased Fingerless Gloves

I love knitted pieces with constructions that are a bit out of the ordinary. These fingerless gloves have a middle part knitted on a 45 degree angle. They are all in garter stitch and mainly knitted knitted flat (back and forth) – with the exception of the thumb.

They are a great way to show off variegated or self-striping yarn. Because the lengths of the rows vary, colour pooling is less probable.

The pattern PDF is available via

• Ravelry 
• Payhip
• Loveknitting 

The pattern PDF is 13 pages long and contains:

• written row-by-row instructions for knitting these gloves in one size – including twelve photos of the different stages (the finished piece (unstretched garter stitch) measures 17 cm in height, with a circumference of 15 cm at the top and 17 cm at the bottom)
• explanations how to adapt the pattern to other sizes
• explanations how to knit a variation of these pieces with  stockinette stitch in the middle
• short photo tutorials for the following techniques
• Magic CO
• kbf (a stitch symmetrical to a kfb)
• Three-Needle Bind Off
• German Short Rows and how to work the resulting “double-stitch”
• Picking up Stitches from a gap to avoid holes

You should be comfortable with using the magic loop technique to knit these pieces.

 

To knit these fingerless gloves, you need the following materials:

• About 150 meters of fingering weight yarn - 
• for the ones in the title picture I used Hedgehog Fibres, Skinny Singles, (colorway Goblin)
• for the ones with the contrast stripes, I used Lana Grosse Meilenweit Socktober (colorway 18314321, green), with Wollmeise Pure (dark blue) for the contrasting stripes
• for the ones with a stockinette part (see below) I used Supergarne Aktiv 4-fach (colorway 3358)
• 3mm circular knitting needles – at least 80 cm long
• 3 stitch markers – one of them removable
  

Harlequin Cowl

I like a cowl to sit as snugly as possible around my neck, but I also like it to warm my shoulders. That's why I designed this one, that starts wide (around the shoulder), but gets narrower at the top (around the neck). It is knitted in two-colour brioche in the round and bottom (shoulder) up.

This knitting pattern is available via

• Ravelry 
• Payhip
• Loveknitting 

The PDF for this knitting pattern is 12 pages long and contains:

• row-by-row pattern instructions
• photo tutorials for the brioche increases and decreases you need to knit this piece:
• brk2inc
• brkLdec
• brkRdec
• brk4inc
• brk4dec 
• a chart of the main pattern repeat

In order to knit this pattern you should know how to knit two-colour brioche.

Inside View

To knit this cowl you need the following materials:

• a total of about 500 metres of light fingering weight yarn in two contrasting colors
• 3.5mm knitting needle (I used a 60 cm one in the beginning and a 40 cm one in the end – however, you can use longer ones using the Magic Loop technique)
• a cable needle (alternatively, a removable stitch marker) for the brk4dec stitch
• 16 stitch markers – one of them (the end of round-marker) different from the others

The finished (and blocked) piece measures 44 cm in height. It's circumference is 95 cm on the bottom and 52 cm on the top (unstretched; stretched, i.e. for putting it on, you can get it as wide as 62 cm).

I had the following gauge: 21 stitches gave 10 cm in width and 24 rows gave 10 cm in height.

Brioche Intersections Scarf

I love two-colour brioche - it is a gorgeous technique because it creates a lovely, squishy texture that is comfortable to wear. Plus, it can be used to create quite intricate patterns.

This pattern is for a beautiful wide scarf – and uses a stitch where two brk-columns cross to create a pattern of Xs.

The knitting pattern is available via

• Ravelry
• Loveknitting 
• Payhip

The pattern PDF is 16 pages long and contains

• row-by-row pattern instructions
• photo tutorials for the following brioche stitches
• brk2inc (two-stitch increase in brioche)
• brkLdec (left leaning two-stitch decrease in brioche) 
• brkRdec (right leaning two-stitch decrease in brioche) 
• brkX (combination of a two-stitch decrease and two-stitch increase in brioche - to create Xs)
• a schematic of the construction and the increase/decrease stitches

To knit a similar scarf you need the following materials

• a total of 310 grams of fingering weight yarn (i.e. about 155 grams of each color)– in two colours: I used two semi-solid yarns
• Wollmeise Pure (dark blue) 
• madelinetosh Tosh, Merino light, Frosty 470-O (very light mint)
• 3.25 mm knitting needles – straight with double points or circulars
• 2 stitch markers
• a tapestry needle for weaving in ends
  

The finished piece measures 155 cm in length and 42 cm in width (blocked).

As for gauge: in pattern 21 sts measured about 10 cm in width and 23 rows about 10 in height.

Railroad Crossing Fingerless Gloves

I love knitting fingerless gloves. They usually are a relatively small project, but they can have quite fun and interesting constructions. These ones are designed in triangles around the thumb. The design makes use of the garter stitch feature that one ridge has about the same width and height. The knitting directions changes a few times, so it is a great way to display some self striping sock yarn.

I called them Railroad Crossing Fingerless Gloves because the flat piece reminded me of the traffic sign.

 

The knitting pattern is available via

• Ravelry 
• Lovecrafts
• Payhip

The pattern PDF is 20 pages long and contains 

• written row-by-row instructions for knitting this piece in one size only – including 19 in-process photos
• an explanation (plus schematic) of the construction,
• short photo tutorials for the following techniques
• crochet CO (at the edge of a knitted piece)
• kbf – knit through back and front of a stitch, a stitch that is symmetrical to a kfb
• german short rows (with double-stitches) and how to work the resulting double-stitches 
• pick up and knit 
• pick up and connect, i.e. picking up a stitch and connecting it in a 90 degree angle to your knitting

This is NOT a beginner pattern.

Size and Gauge

To get a certain variation in size I knitted not only in 3mm needles (see picture on the right, top pair of mitts), but also one pair with 2.5 mm needles (see picture on the right, bottom pair of mitts):

• With 3 mm needles 26 ridges (53 garter stitch rows) gave me 10 cm in height and 23 sts gave 10 cm in width (with an unblocked swatch, since I didn't block the mitts). The finished piece measures 19 cm in height, with a circumference of 15.5 cm at the top and 19 cm at the bottom.
• With 2.5 mm needles  28 ridges (56 garter stitch rows) gave me 10 cm in height and 25 sts gave 10 cm in width (also with  unblocked swatch). The finished piece measures 16.5 cm in height, with a circumference of 14.5 cm at the top and 17 cm at the bottom.

To knit these fingerless gloves you need the following materials

• 150 meters of fingering weight yarn weight yarn 
• the pink-yellow ones (title picture) are knitted in Sockenwolle 4-fach Citron by Daniela's Wolltopf (colorway Neolino) - here's a link to the yarn's Ravelry page
• the green/brown/azure blue ones (smaller ones in picture displaying the different sizes) are knitted in Regia 4-ply (Regia Spring Fling Color, colorway 3812) 
• the sky blue/light green ones with a bit of red and purple (see picture showing different views below) in knitted with Zwerger Opal Gutenachtgeschichten 4-ply (colorway Das Mädchen und der Blumendrache) - here's a link to the yarn's Ravelry page
• 3 mm knitting needles – I used 80 cm circulars as main needles to knit the thumb
• two additional 3mm knitting needles – I used dpns to knit the panels around the thumb
• a crochet hook that is a bit bigger than the knitting needles (I used a 4 mm hook) 
• a tapestry needle – for grafting and to weave in ends

Different views (left: before sewing up, middle: back of hand, right: palm)

Rail Fence Fingerless Gloves

The inspiration for these mitts comes from a quilt pattern I saw on social media. I asked myself whether it would be possible to arrange similar panels around the thumb to created a pair of fingerless gloves. After a few tries, it worked. In fact, you could actually view it as one big entrelac piece around a thumb.

The name of quilt pattern that first inspired me is Rail Fence. However, the similarity is only visible if you look at the an unseamed mitt laid out flat. Because of the changes in knitting direction, this is a great way to showcase your self-striping yarn. 

This knitting pattern is available via

• Ravelry 
• Payhip
• Loveknitting 

The pattern PDF is 14 pages long and contains

• written row-by-row instructions for knitting this piece in one size only – including 15 in-process photos
• an explanation (plus schematic) of the construction, and explanations how to make them bigger or smaller
• short photo tutorials for the following techniques
• crochet CO (at the edge of a knitted piece)
• kbf – knit through back and front of a stitch, a stitch that is symmetrical to a kfb
• short rows with wrap and turn and picking up the wraps
• pick up and knit, pick up and purl
• pick up and connect, i.e. picking up a stitch and connecting it in a 90 degree angle to your knitting

The finished piece measures 17 cm in height and about 17 cm in circumference (top and bottom and about a cm more at its widest point. The picture on the right shows one finished mitt and one just before sewing up the side seams.

As to gauge, in garter stitch 12 stitches gave 5 cm in width, and 12 ridges (24 rows) 5 cm in height – this was measured on an unblocked piece.

To knit these mitts you need the following materials:

• 130 meters of fingering weight yarn weight yarn - I used self-striping:
• for the ones in the title picture I used Zwerger Opal Rainforest, Colorway 9902
• the pair on the pictures below was knitted with Zwerger Opal Blütenpracht, Colorway 54, Mohn Poppy
• 3 mm knitting needles – I used 80 cm circulars as main needles
• two additional 3mm knitting needles – I used dpns
• a crochet hook that is a bit bigger than the knitting needles (I used a 4 mm hook)  
• a tapestry needle – for grafting and to weave in ends