Fjords Mittens

Fingerless Mitts

FJORDS

Knitting description

The mitts are knitted from the bottom up using the Magic Loop method. First the ribbing and cuff are worked, then the thumb gusset is formed. After that, the thumb stitches are separated, and the work continues across the palm. The knitting is finished with ribbing, and at the very end the thumb stitches are worked to the required height.

Materials and tools

Needles: 3 mm circular needles with an 80/100 cm cable.
Yarn: Dyol Glenmix Tweed 700 m/100 g in 2 strands or Dyol Glenmerino 750 m/100 g in 2 strands.
Alternative yarn: Holst Garn NOBLE 50 g/333 m; Schachenmayr Tuscany Tweed 50 g/170 m; G&G Filati Millefili Supergeelong Nm 2/15 in two strands; Sesia Scotland 700 m/100 g in two strands; New Mill Magreb 750 m/100 g in 2 strands.
Amount used: 50 g.
Other tools: tapestry needle, waste yarn, markers, scissors.

Gauge after wet blocking

Since the mitts are knitted in the round, for a more accurate result I recommend knitting the swatch in the round as well. Gauge of a swatch worked in the round: 10 cm — 24 stitches, 10 cm — 34 rows. That is, 2.4 stitches fit in 1 cm.

The finished mitts are designed for four sizes by palm circumference: size 1 — 17–18 cm, size 2 — 19–20 cm, size 3 — 21–22 cm, size 4 — 23–24 cm.

Knowing the gauge, it is easy to calculate the required number of stitches: multiply the number of stitches in 1 cm by the palm circumference. For a circumference of 18 cm we get 18 × 2.4 = 43.2; for 20 cm — 48; for 22 cm — 52.8; for 24 cm — 57.6. Round non-whole and odd values, obtaining the final result: size 1 — 44 stitches, size 2 — 48 stitches, size 3 — 52 stitches, size 4 — 58 stitches.

1. Start of knitting. Ribbing

Cast on 44/48/52/58 stitches using the elastic German twisted cast-on. In this tutorial, joining into a round is not provided for, since I myself knit without joining. If desired, you can join into a round by casting on 1 additional stitch. We do not count the cast-on row — we count the next row after it as the first.

Distribution of stitches

Since the pattern repeat on the upper part of the hand is 24 stitches, distribute the stitches onto two needles as follows. For size 1: 24 stitches for the upper part and 20 stitches for the lower. For size 2: 24 stitches for each part. For size 3: 26 stitches each. For size 4: 28 stitches for the upper part and 30 for the lower.

Ribbing

Work 5 rows of ribbing according to the chart for your size. The charts use the following symbols: knit stitch, purl stitch, and twisted knit stitch.

Size 1:

Size 2 and 3:

Size 4:

2. Cuff

After the ribbing, we move on to the cable pattern, which is worked on the upper part of the hand. The charts use symbols for stitches left in back of the work and stitches left in front of the work. For sizes 1, 2, and 3, the pattern is worked according to its own charts:

For size 4, work 3 pattern repeats, which is 24 rows. Remember that the stitches of the lower part of the hand are simply knitted, without the pattern. For convenience, mark every 8th row with a marker — this way you won't get confused and can always count how many rows have already been worked.

3. Thumb gusset

When the cuff is worked, we begin forming the thumb gusset. The gusset is formed by increases from the strand with a right and left slant, located at the edges of the lower part of the hand. First work 4 rows according to the pattern, and in the 5th row begin the increases. While the gusset is being formed, the upper part of the mitt continues to be worked according to the pattern. The increases are made gradually until a total of 15 stitches have been allocated to the thumb.

In the charts, the stitches that will appear during the work from the increases are shaded in gray.

Chart for the right hand, sizes 1 and 2:

Chart for the right hand, sizes 3 and 4:

Chart for the left hand, sizes 1 and 2:

Chart for the left hand, sizes 3 and 4:

4. Separating the thumb stitches

When the gusset increases are complete (in total, we allocate 15 stitches to the thumb), slip these stitches onto waste yarn, and above them cast on stitches for the bridge. Number of bridge stitches to cast on: size 1 — 3 stitches, size 2 — 4 stitches, size 3 — 5 stitches, size 4 — 6 stitches.

After separating the thumb stitches, work 2 rows according to the pattern. Then the additionally cast-on stitches need to be decreased to return to the original number of stitches. Initially, there were 20/24/26/30 stitches on the lower part of the mitt; we allocated 1 stitch to the thumb and added 3/4/5/6 stitches at the bridge. To return to the original number, 2/3/4/5 stitches need to be decreased, respectively. Work the decreases according to the chart for the required hand and size.

After the thumb has been separated and the decreases have been worked, knit to a comfortable length — this can be 2, 2.5, or 3 repeats. Finish the mitt with ribbing: work 5 rows of ribbing in the same way as at the beginning.

5. Thumb

The last stage is the thumb. Transfer to the needles the 15 stitches separated for the thumb, as well as the open bridge stitches. To avoid ugly holes, additionally pick up 4 stitches along the edges.

If the final number of thumb stitches is too large, you can make decreases: remove the 4 additionally picked-up stitches and return to the original number of thumb stitches. Then knit the thumb to the required height.