For our second week of gift knitting, let’s talk about mittens and mitts. I think these make such great gifts - they are a great portable project and so quick to make. I do have to confess something though. I’ve only made a few mittens in my knitting career. Mittens turned out to be my gateway to socks and well, once I discovered socks, I couldn’t stop making them. But, I’ve recently rediscovered the humble mitten and am planning quite a few as gifts this year.
Here are some of my favorite patterns:
Helen’s Basic Mittens is a perfect starting point to create a unique pair of mittens – you could add stripes, cables or use a wonderful variegated yarn.
Bella’s Mittens is a free pattern on Ravelry by Subliminalrabbit. I think these would be perfect in Cascade Baby Alpaca Chunky. It’s warm and oh so soft and comes in a wide variety of colors. I love that these mittens have an extra long cuff to keep cold wind and snow from getting inside.
Fingerless Mitts are so popular this year and it’s easy to see why. Perfect for keeping your hands warm but your fingers free to type or knit! I love the Fallberry Mitts from Anne Hanson of Knitspot. Life everything Anne designs, they are a perfect blend of function and beauty. If you’ve never read Anne’s blog, I highly recommend it. I can get lost in there for hours reading about her projects and viewing her wonderful photos.
Or, maybe you’d like to knit the best of both worlds? Snap Dragon Flip Tops by Ysolda Teague is a combination of both mitts and mittens – fingerless mitts with a mitten top that can be flipped over for extra warmth or flipped out of the way for when you need to keep your fingers free.
So, if you’d like to be entered in this weeks contest, just leave a comment with your favorite mitten pattern or if you’d prefer a tip for making the perfect mitten. The prize this week is 2 skeins of Cascade Baby Alpaca Chunky in your choice of color from any that are in stock. We’ll draw the winner on Monday, November 14. Good luck!
ETA – the winner has been selected and comments are now closed. Come back on Wednesday for a chance to win another great prize!
I think your choices are great!
I love the pattern Arden! I have not been able to make them but I love the way the look. They are a free pattern and you can find them at:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/arden
Another one of my favorites is October leaves: they have a beautiful cable on the side of the inside of the mittens that branches out to embrace your thumb with two lovely leafs on each side. You can find the pattern here:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/october-leaves-fingerless-mitts
Lastly, another one of my favorite is Argylers, they are a beautiful simple pair of mittens. You can find them at:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/argylers-handwarmers
Ooh, I love too many mittens to post them all! I do have a tip though; mitten blockers! I got a set and they’ve been invaluable. My row guage often changes by day, so when one mitten turns out a wee mite longer, I can easily block them on my mitten blockers. The ones I have came with thumbs too!
oooo i do like a lot of those mittens,
I would say gauge is super important in mittens. Make sure your gauge is on or you will end up with oven mitts~
my favorite pattern so far is the fiddlehead mittens! They are a bit of work but so pretty!
I must piggy-back on your confession — I’ve never made mittens yet at all! I’m debating whether 2012 will be the Year of Socks, or Year of Mittens. Really, I should tackle each of them early on, and then ride the natural obsession that follows.
I love the Snap Dragon Flip Tops! I’ll have to ask Mama to knit me a pair of those while she teaches me how to knit my own, hee hee….
Trace
I’ve made 2 pair of fingerless gloves, aka mitts. The pattern I used was purchased from the Suri Alpaca site http://www.surinetwork.org/ and doesn’t appear to be available for non-members anymore.
But, I loved making these for myself and my daughter. I have a picture of them on Ravelry:
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/milehihounds/fingerless-gloves.
Living in South Texas we don’t have much use for mittens. I love fingerless mitts though. I really need to make those Fallberry Mitts!! I am making two pair of Fetchings (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fetching) for gifts this year.
I’ve made lots of mittens, but my favorite is probably Bellas’ Mittens.
What a great variety of patterns and ideas. Some years ago someone suggested to me knitting mittens with sock yarn held together with lace weight mohair. I made them as teacher gifts one year. Warm and soft and cozy. Rav amchart
My favorite (so far) are fingerless mitts I made for my daughter. They’re called Mitt Envy on Rav (free pattern). I definitely would like to make a pair for me
– here’s a link to the pair I made.
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Knit-Wit2/mitt-envy
I like Veyla by Ysolda. So pretty!
I’ve made multiple pairs of fingerless gloves so far and I think that my favorites are the Nalu Mitts (Free pattern on Ravelry! http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/nalu-mitts)
They would be perfect in any of the colorways of madelinetosh dk that Doodlebug Yarns carries! Since it’s such a simple pattern it would work well even with variegated colors like Earl Grey, yet also brings out the beauty of gentle tonal variations like Moccasin.
I love fingerless mitts, and particularly the patten you chose!
I would love to be the winner, especially since Monday is my birthday. That would be awesome.
Happy birthday a bit early!
Thanks!
My husband (believe it or not) has the best idea for mittens….Anyone who has kids might like to save all their handmade mittens and then put them in shadow boxes along the stairs or in a hallway with the name and age of the child who wore them. Make them all in a row down the hall/stairs! Sometimes he’s a genius!
That is such a great idea!
I don’t have a favorite pattern but I really loved “fetching” which is a simple rib and cable. Great for a fast gift. I suggest when you are picking up for a thumb hole, pick up a few more stitches to close any holes and reduce down to the correct amount in the next two rounds.
Aside from a pair of small fingerless gloves, I have never made mittens before. However, yesterday I bought a sweater with 3/4 sleeves, and now I am looking for a mitten pattern! I was thinking about making “Toasty” be Leslie Friend (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/toasty-2) since I am all about casual and simple! These are not “true” mittens, but apparently quite popular, and look quick and simple to make.
I LOVE the Snap Dragon Flip Tops, what a great idea, I want a pair. My tip for knitting mittons and gloves is get back to basics and check your tension, I have lost track of the amount of times I forget to do this and end up with a pair of man gloves on my petite lady hands lol
I really like the basic mitten pattern. Simple. Practical. And Pretty. What more could you ask a mitten to be!
I have been several pairs of fingerless mitts, my favorite pattern is Irishing Hiking Mitts.
I’m going to cheat and not show you mittens but gloves. This is the awesomest gloves project I’ve done: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Arjaaa/glove-repair-project
Next on my list are Ysolda’s Snap Dragon Flip Tops. They are not just smart, they are gorgeous, too.
oops. website mentioned should be .com not .net
I don’t have a favorite pattern, I just do a basic mitten but I’ve knitted many pairs of fingerless mitts and love to try new patterns.
I love the Alice Carroll All Rib Mittens: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-alice-carroll-all-rib-mitt
My favorite mitts are Catching Butterflies by Tiny Owl Knits…they’re soooooooo sweet!!!
I think I would pick those really pretty Helen’s Basic Mittens…I’ve not done mittens before and I need basic
nhsarab at yahoo dot com
I love mittens! I have made a pair of thrummed mittens, reversible mittens and currently knitting on my Fiddleheads. I get a lot wear out of my mittens.
I have enjoyed the comments – many good ideas.
I love the End of May pattern – I’ve made 4 pair – - so far!
I’ve never made any mittens before! All of the patterns above are appealing to me in different ways, but I really like the horseshoe cables on Bella’s Mittens.
To Barbara^^: it’s my birthday on Monday, too! Happy birthday to us!
I have never made mittens before either, but I plan to make the Northman mittens soon! Got all the yarn ready to go.
The best tip I can give is learn how to do Elizabeth Zimmerman’s “fetching” for thumb gussets. It is the most amazing thing ever! I just did it for the first time yesterday and I can honestly say that I will never do thumbs any other way from here on out.
I’ve been eying the Bella Mittens for awhile now!
Well tonight my favourite pattern is Piggy Mittens by SpillyJane (free on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/piggy-mittens). I just finished them for my mother-in-law (who has a thing for pigs), and I think she will love them! Very cute.
I also recently finished two pairs of Marly Bird’s Dual Cable Fingerless Mitts and they are gorgeous. The Fair Isle cable cuff is an impressive feature. Highly recommended! http://www.ravelry.com/projects/knittingwithwords/dual-cable-fingerless-gloves-2
knittingwithwords on Ravelry
I like knitting both mittens and fingerless mitts. There’s such amazing colourwork ones out there but I haven’t had the courage to try them yet. I adore the Winter Twilight Mitts but I’m not sure if they qualify as a quick knit…
The Lana Gloves are great as well though, and probably a lot faster to knit.
I love all sorts of fingerless mitts and have made quite a few pair as gifts. Picked up more ideas from reading all of the comments. Perfect!
I just love a good cabled mittens, but I think those flip tops are awesome. I’d love to try them.
I’m squiggi on ravelry
I do like the Bella Mittens!
Those snapdragon mittens are awesome! emjozwiak on Ravelry
The latest pair of fingerless gloves I’ve made is http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/verso-recto-fingerless-gloves . They knit up fast and the design is really striking.
I’ve only ever made the Vancouver Fog fingerless mitts, but I love them!
I’m really excited to make the Fiddlehead Mittens–I’ve got all my yarns but haven’t had time to make them yet.
I love the way the Nereid gloves turn out. I’ve made two pairs of them and I always gets lots of compliments.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/nereid-fingerless-gloves
I’ve always wanted to make fetching but cold Wisconsin weather just doesn’t lend itself to fingerless mitts. My new favorite has become Helen’s Basic Mittens that you showed us above.
I love the bella mittens, but I would knit them as fingerless mitts, or maybe even as convertible mittens with the flap top like snap dragon flip tops.
The fallberry mitts are very pretty. Although I don’t know if I would have the patients to knit them.
I am in love with fingerless mitts.
I love the Fallberry Mitts by Anne Hanson (and almost anything she’s designed).
The patterns I’m mostly in love with right now are the Knotty Gloves (as fingerless mitts); Endpaper Mitts and the Kaladin- Yasmin > I really hope they will publish that pattern individually.
And then I want to make Susie’s reading mitts for my sister and Fetching.
Ah so many choices.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/knotty-gloves
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/endpaper-mitts
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Kalinumba/kaladin-im-wunderland
I’ve only made one pair of mittens “Basic Two Needle Mittens” (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/basic-two-needle-mittens) – they turned out really cute. I hadn’t learned to use dpn’s yet, so this pattern worked great for me!
I’ve made many pairs of fingerless mitts, but usually make up my own designs. It’s lots of fun to come up with different designs/patterns for a tube and just throw on a thumb gusset! =}
Rav: brighteyesjessy
I love mittens and fingerless mitts. I don’t have great success making thumbs, the gusset always ends up with holes. I love Quercus by Stephannie Tallent several of her designs look lovely just haven’t knit them yet.
My favourite mittens are octopus mittens! http://www.ravelry.com/projects/zilliah/octopus-mittens
I have a couple of fingerless mitts saved in my favourites… I plan to make them soon! I think they’ll make very good gifts…my favourite from that list is ‘The Pretty Lace Handwarmers’
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/pretty-lace-hand-warmers
I think they’re gorgeous in silk!
babyloveknit on Ravelry
I am perusing patterns and yarn choices for making my first mittens in many, many years. I’ve made several fingerless mitts and like the pattern “Susie’s Reading Mitts” the best. Have loved the way it’s turned out every time. (I usually make the body of it only 4″ long instead of 5″)
Zowmom on Ravelry
I love the Fallberry Mitts!
Gynx on Ravelry.
i love Bella’s mittens!
I think the Snapdragon mitts are great! Haven’t seen them before – going to add it to my queue
I love the Snap Dragon Flip Tops by Ysolda Teague
But then I saw these “J Crew” style mittens: http://www.vintageknits.com/jcrew.html
and for kiddies: Buggy Mitts A MOREHOUSE MERINO ORIGINAL PATTERN
featured in the book Morehouse Farm Merino Knits http://www.morehousefarm.com/KH/Patterns/BuggyMitts/
I’d love to win this yarn – thanks for having a giveaway!
My next pair of mittens will be Ellen Mason’s “Fried Chicken Mittens” – I really want to try her clever design for thumbs. And I’ll add some stitch patterning on the back of the mitten to match a pair of socks…it will be a sock-and-mitten set instead of a hat-and-mitten set. Why not?
Oh, my favorite mitten pattern would be RandiK’s Helene Mittens, a Norwegian design of a rose in colorwork.
Ironically enough, the Bella’s Mittens pattern here is the whole reason I learned to knit in the first place, so that one is definitely my favorite! What an excellent giveaway!
HermioneWeasley on ravelry
I’ve knit Snap Dragon Flip tops and really like them. I have knit a few others also.
I want to knit EZ mittens in Noro, Bella Mittens, and several others in the future.
I have lots queued.
I really love these fingerless mitts http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/double-take-mitts
I haven’t made traditional mittens in years. Socks have taken over my knitting life but I have managed to make a couple of pairs of fingerless mitts. In that category, Mitt Envy is my favourite pattern. In regular old mittens I like a basic mitten pattern that I can play with.
Have never made mittens; socks are fun and sweaters are awesome; have been looking into more items and different items; just all my needles are full
… love alpaca and what beautiful items 
I like this pattern: http://dizzylettuceknits.blogspot.com/2011/02/mitten-recipe-free-pattern.html
I’d have to say I like Bella’s Mittens best. They look SO cozy, and would be super nice to have in the deep of winter!
My favorite mitten pattern are the snapdragon mitts. My mom has recently gotten that book and is on her second pair, I can’t wait to finish up some of wips so I can join her, the leaf details make for a unique yet still comfy cozy look!
The fallberry mitts are lovely! I am partial to fingerless gloves over mittens though. The Snapdragon flip-tops have also been in my queue for awhile.
I have never made mittens before! I’m loving the Bella’s Mittens pattern, though, and I think I want to give it a try even if I don’t win this great giveaway! They would be such a perfect holiday gift
I absolutely ADORE mittens. In gloves, I think my fingers get lonely (LOL!) I’ve been hunting for just the right mitten pattern and I really like http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/linda-ks-yummy-mummy-wristwarmers Yes, they’re wristwarmers, but I figure I can just continue them up and finish them off as mittens! I’ve also been tempted by Pele by Berocco.
lovely giveaway!
Oh – hope I’m not too late. I would love to try out this yarn for some holiday knitting!!
I haven’t ever made mittens, but I am planning on attempting the Bella’s mittens.