Important Update Jan 25, 2018: I noticed an error in the pattern and have now updated it. Please re-download the pattern if you have already printed it!
It’s warm here in Australia, especially on the mainland where my family and most of my friends are. So, I thought, what better time than now to post a pattern for mittens?! Just jokes, but maybe some of you in the northern hemisphere are looking to make some nice new mittens that will show a little skin as the weather starts to heat up for you.
I was inspired to design these mittens when I was looking through my copy of The Up, Down, All-Around Stitch Dictionary by Wendy Bernard. I love this book. Let me know in the comments below if you’d like me to do a review of it! There is a section where Wendy writes instructions on how to use her stitches to design your own garments, including a pattern for some pleated mittens. As it happened, I didn’t follow her directions and the stitch patterns I used aren’t exactly the same as any stitch pattern in her book, but she switched on my pattern-designing brain.
About the Mittens
The French Rhubarb Fingerless Mittens are simple to knit, with little scallops on the bottom edge and two bit scallop on the top of each mitten. The little scallops aren’t really scallops, but they look like them to me. They’re simply a side-effect of the stitch pattern, but I think they add a lot to the finished product.
These mittens are named in honour of a dear friend of mine, because for some reason they remind me of her. She got married in 2015 and she wore a Georgian-inspired, lacy ivory wedding gown. It suited her and her personal tastes perfectly, and these mittens remind me of her and that gown.
A Note on the Pattern (it’s reversible!)
The main stitch pattern, which I’m calling the Eyelet Rib Pattern, was designed by me (although it’s fairly simple so maybe I’m not the first person to invent it). I think it is gorgeous, most gorgeous worn “purl”-side out, what most would consider wrong side out. So I’m leaving it up to you how you prefer to wear them, but here they are with the “knit”-side out vs the “purl”-side out. The quotation marks, if you’re wondering, are because the mittens are knitted in the round, so very few actual purled stitches are actually worked. The only stitches that you actually purl are in the edging and the casting off.
Before we Continue…
It’s timely that I’m posting this pattern which reminds me of my friend, whom I’ll call Rhubarb for the purposes of this post. As I mentioned in my last post, I spent a few days last week enjoying a relaxing stay on beautiful Bruny Island with my husband, baby girl Peanut, two friends who have a little girl a similar age to our Peanut, and Rhubarb and her husband. We had a lovely time despite the mosquitoes (and babies who liked to take shifts in napping so we could never go out all together). We played board games late into the night, cooked for each other, read (or knitted, in my case) on the deck, and laughed at the babies playing. Here are a few photos of Peanut on the beach. It was an unexpected beach visit due to our holiday house not being ready for us, so we wandered down unprepared, only to have Peanut run/stumble/crawl straight into the water while I frantically removed the insert from her cloth nappy before it swelled with seawater. We played this great game where I fish her out of the water, haul her to dry land, then repeat the process as she bolts for the water again. Fun times!
Yes, Peanut is wearing the last pattern that I shared on this blog, the Wiser Baby Sun Hat. That hat has had a lot of use this summer.
The Pattern!
I’m sure my neighbours must have thought me insane if they happened to look over their fence this afternoon on this hot day, to see me taking pictures of my mittened hands feeling a grape leaf. You’re welcome for the photos!
I hope you enjoy this pattern for the French Rhubarb Fingerless Mittens. I would love it if you could make a project on Ravelry for this pattern if you do make them, so I can see how they turn out!
You can download the PDF here: French Rhubarb Fingerless Mittens
Yarn: Moda Vera Biscay in White
Needles: Four 3.75mm double-pointed needles
Notions: Stitch markers, scrap yarn, tapestry needle
Tension: 22sts x 23 rows = 10cm2 in eyelet rib pattern
Eyelet rib pattern
Round 1: yo, slip 2tog knit-wise, k1, pass slipped stitches over together, yo, k1.
Round 2: P all sts.
Mittens (Make 2 alike)
Cast on 36 stitches. Distribute evenly across 3 dpns and join to work in the round, being careful not to twist stitches.
Work 22 rounds in eyelet rib pattern.
Next round: Work 16 sts in eyelet rib pattern, k4, work a further 16 sts in eyelet rib pattern as set.
Shape thumb gusset:
Work 16 sts in eyelet rib pattern, k2, pm, k2, work 16 sts in eyelet rib pattern as set.
Next round: Work 16 sts in patt, k2, sm, m1, sm, k2, work 16 sts in patt as set.
Work 2 rounds as set without increasing.
Increase round: Work 16 sts in patt, k2, sm, m1, k until next marker, m1, sm, k2, work 16 sts in patt as set. 3 sts between markers.
Work 2 rounds as set without increasing.
Repeat these last 3 rounds until there are 11 sts between markers. Work increase round once more (13 sts between markers).
Next round: Work in patt to first marker, remove marker, transfer next 13 sts onto scrap yarn, CO 1 st using backwards loop, remove second marker, work in patt to end.
Work 4 rounds in eyelet rib pattern for all sts.
Edging
Round 1: P all sts.
Round 2: *[ssk]x3, [k1, yo]x6, [ssk]x3, repeat from * to end.
Round 3: P all sts.
Rounds 4: K all sts.
Repeat rounds 1-4 once more. Cast off purl-wise and weave in ends.
Thumb
Remove scrap yarn and distribute live sts across 3 dpns. Knit 1 round, then pick up and knit one stitch over the gap where the inside of the thumb meets the hand. 14 sts on needles.
Knit 4 more rounds. Cast-off purl-wise. Weave in ends.
These mittens can be worn either side out, so be sure to weave ends in as neatly as you can.
I hope you enjoy this pattern as much as I enjoyed designing it!
Peace,
Kat
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