Wow, I hadn’t realized how far behind I’d gotten on my craft posts :-). I’ll try not to flood my friends’ “friends” pages, and keep this down to one or two a day. Besides, this is the only one I don’t have to go and take pics of before I can post :-).
These were actually complete in February, in time for our honeymoon trip (which had such nice weather that they never got used). But at least I have them for future winters.
Note: Edited to add photo of finished mittens.
OK, I was wrong about the pics — I only had shots of the two in-process stages. Still, here’s my notes, and I’ll add I’ve added a photo of the finished product once the battery for the camera recharges :-). As with all of the patterns I’m posting, this is under the Creative Commons License at the bottom.
These are based on this Felted Mittens pattern, with unfelted cuff inspired by this pattern (also on Ravelry). These notes were written as I worked, with some changes made as I’m posting. I worked under the assumption of 25% shrinkage, and wanting these to fit not-too-tightly on my hands. FTR, women’s one-size-fits-all gloves are usually too tight.
Again, I want to state that this is what I did for my mittens, which (as you’ll note in the felting comment below) didn’t quite work as planned. If you try these, feel free to adjust the number of rows and stitches accordingly. I just give this as a guideline (and an archive for me *g*).
Materials: Lion Brand felting wool (Pearl Grey, color #149), crochet hook size I-9
Gauge (unfelted): 14 sts = 4″, rows = ? (forgot to check – bad crafter)
Directions: Chain 43.
R 1: sc in 2nd ch from hook, continue to end (42 sc), ch 1
R 2: sc in 1st sc made to form a ring (be careful not to twist the piece, or you’ll have a Mobius Mitten *g*). Mark this st as the beginning of the round. sc around (total 42 sc)
R 3-13: continue working in rounds of 42 sc
R 14: Ch 7, sk 7 sc, sc in next sc and continue around
R 15: sc in ch and around, 42 sc
Continue working straight sc rounds until piece measures about 12 rows short of desired finished length (total 32 rows). Work 3 extra sc to compensate for the row marker having migrated to the right.
(note: “dec over next 4 sts” was done by crocheting 2 sc tog twice)
R 33: 2 sc, dec over next 4 sts, sc in next 17 sts, dec over next 4 sts, sc in next 15 sts. (38 sc)
R 34: sc around.
R 35: 2 sc, dec over next 4 sts, sc in next 15 sts, dec over next 4 sts, sc in next 13 sts. (34 sc)
R 36: sc around.
R 37: 2 sc, dec over next 4 sts, sc in next 13 sts, dec over next 4 sts, sc in next 11 sts. (30 sc)
R 38: sc around
R 39: 2 sc, dec over next 4 sts, sc in next 11 sts, dec over next 4 sts, sc in next 9 sts. (26 sc)
R 40: sc around
R 41: 2 sc, dec over next 4 sts, sc in next 9 sts, dec over next 4 sts, sc in next 7 sts. (22 sc)
R 42: 1 sc, * 2 sc tog, 1 sc in next st *, Repeat from * to * around, ss to join.
Cut yarn leaving about an 8 to 10 inch tail, pull yarn through the last ch1. Using a yarn needle, weave yarn through the sts of last Row, pull tight to close up the end of the mitten, weave in yarn to secure closing and fasten off.
—
Thumb: R 1: Join yarn, ch 1 and 1 sc in the first st of thumb opening, 1 sc in the next 8 sts, pick up 9 sts around the remaining thumb opening, ss to join to first sc. (16 sc)
R 2-12: Sc around. Continue working in a spiral as you did with the rest of the mitten. Add a few more rows for larger (longer) thumb, subtract rows for smaller (shorter) thumb.
R 13: 1 sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc tog, 1 sc in next 6 sc, 2 sc tog, 4 sc. (14 sc)
R 14: Sc around.
R 15: 1 sc in next 2 sc, 2 sc tog, 1 sc in next 5 sc, 2 sc tog, 3 sc. (12 sc)
R 16: Sc around, ss to join.
Cut yarn leaving about an 8 to 10 inch tail, pull yarn through the last ch1. Using a yarn needle, weave yarn through the 10 sts of the last row, pull tight to close up the end of the thumb, weave in yarn to secure closing and fasten off. Weave in the tail end at the beginning of the cuff.
—
Repeat for other mitten. If desired, the position of the decreases on the hand can be shifted so that the mittens are “handed” (right and left).
Preparing for felting (I’m adding this part after the fact, since I didn’t make notes at the time): Using crochet cotton or some other contrasting yarn/string that won’t felt, work a row of loose sc around the wrist of each mitten. This will leave openings to work the cuff onto after the felting process. There are many ways to felt; search online, but these are the felting tips I used after reading several.
Note after felting: I checked it every 5 minutes, and stopped at the third check even though there was still some stitch definition because I was afraid the thumbs would be too tight if they shrank any more. They shrank more around than lengthwise, so the finished mittens are a bit long. Not too long to go ahead and wear, but if I do this again I’ll increase the number of stitches a bit while leaving the rows the same. Or, I’ll increase both (but circumference more than length) so I can felt it longer.
Cuffs: Pick up 42 loops as you undo the cotton row, distribute over 3 #7 DP needles.
Rnd 1: work in K1 P1 ribbing around.
Continue in K1P1 ribbing until desired length (I did 22 rows) and loosely cast off.
Enjoy your nice warm mittens 🙂
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.