Cruiser

 

I love these mittens. They’re easy and quick to make and they’re so incredibly soft and warm. I named the mittens after a ski run on Blackcomb Mountain, since we’re going to be wearing our mittens in the village (while drinking hot chocolate) after a long day of skiing. The cable in the center is nicely unisex, making this pattern a good addition to the "how could I forget so-and-so’s gift?" pattern pile. The cable is just enough to keep things interesting and, as an added bonus, easy to memorize! Another bonus: after the ribbing, there’s no more purling! These mittens can be scaled to any size and the pattern offers instructions in three sizes. Small will fit small women’s hands or large kids’ hands. Medium will fit most women and small men’s hands. Large will fit large women’s hands and medium men’s hands.

 

The instructions for left and right mittens are the same except for the placement of the thumb stitches. You can read more about the afterthought/peasant thumb here or EZ’s method here. The yarn used is a worsted weight, about 10 WPI. I highly recommend the Road to China yarn, but it is pretty expensive unless you can find it on sale. Try to find a replacement yarn with alpaca, wool, and silk (difficult, but worth it!). Wool for elasticity, alpaca for warmth, halo and weight, and silk for the depth of color and softness that it brings. Knit Picks Andean Silk or Classic Elite Portland Tweed might be good substitutions.

 

Edit 11-27-08: The cuffs of these mittens are kind of loose, so if you like snug mitten cuff, try going down a needle size or two. You can also cast on fewer stitches, but then you have to add more increases to the hand. I kind of like the looser cuff for mittens (but my glove cuffs must be snug!) but Lowell likes them snugger. I just want to save you the pain of having to rip out a half-done mitten just to re-knit the cuff.

Edit 12-01-08: The thumb instructions had some issues, so I’ve changed the instructions in the brackets to fix the problem.  The stitches for the thumb should be the first stitches of the second half of the right mitten. (Did that make sense?)  Left mitten thumb is fine.  Also, the small size instructions actually include instructions now.  Oy.  Can’t explain what happened there.  Proof-reading fail.  Sorry!  Errata/fixes are in purple.

Edit 11-16-09: Added “join in the round” to instructions.  Oops.

Edit 1-06-11: Removed “stitch holder” from the Extras; it’s not actually needed.  Added instructions for an “m1.”

 

 

Cruiser

Download the PDF: Cruiser

• Finished Size: Small (circumference 6.5”x length 5.5”) [Medium (7.5”x7”), Large (8.5”x7.75”)]
• Needles: Size 6 (4.00 mm) double-point needles
• Yarn: Road to China, Lapis; 2 [2, 3] skeins
• Yardage: 130 [140, 170] yards
• Gauge: 24 sts/24 rows = 4″ in stockinette stitch
• Extras: Cable needle, tapestry needle, 6″ piece of smooth scrap yarn or stitch holder

Special Stitches

1×1 Rib: K1, p1 to the end of the round.

m1: Insert the tip of the left needle from front to back under the strand of yarn between the stitches  and knit into the back of this new stitch.

C4F: Slip next 2 sts to cable needle and hold in front. K2, then k2 from cable needle.

C4B: Slip next 2 sts to cable needle and hold in back. K2, then k2 from cable needle.

 

Cuff

CO 34 [40, 46] sts.  Join in the round, being careful not to twist.

Work 1×1 rib for 1.5 [1.75, 2.25] inches

Next round: K5 [5, 6], m1, *k8 [10, 11], m1* three times, k5 [5, 7]. 4 sts increased; 38 [44, 50] sts

 

Hand

Round 1: K2 [3, 5], [[C4F, k8, C4B, k2[3,5]], knit to the end of the round.

Round 2, 4, 6: Knit

Round 3: K4 [5,7], [[C4F, k4, C4B, k4[5,7]], knit to the end of the round.

Round 5: K6 [7,9], [[C4F, C4B, k6[7,9]], knit to the end of the round.

Repeat Round 1-6 until the mitten measures 2.25 [2.5, 2.75] inches from the cuff, ending on any round.

Right Mitten: Next round, continuing the pattern as established, work to the end of the double brackets [[ ]] then knit the next 4 [5, 6] sts with the scrap yarn; slide scrap yarn sts back to the left needle and knit them again with the working yarn.

Left Mitten: Next round, continuing the pattern as established, work to the last 4 [5,6] sts of the round, then knit the next 4 [5,6] sts with the scrap yarn; slide scrap yarn sts back to the left needle and knit them again with the working yarn.

Continue working Rounds 1-6 as established until mitten is about 1.5 [2, 2.25] inches short of desired length (about 4 [5, 5.5] inches) not including cuff, trying to end on Round 5. If not, continue working the instructions in the double brackets [[ ]] if possible during the decreases.

 

Top Decreases

Round 1: K1, ssk, k13 [16, 19], k2tog, k2, ssk, k13 [16, 19], k2tog, k1. 4 sts decreased; 34 [40, 46] sts

Round 2, 4, 6: Knit

Round 3: K1, ssk, k11 [14, 17], k2tog, k2, ssk, k11 [14, 17], k2tog, k1. 4 sts decreased; 30 [36, 42] sts

Round 5: K1, ssk, k9 [12, 15], k2tog, k2, ssk, k9 [12,15], k2tog, k1. 4 sts decreased; 26 [32, 38] sts

Round 7: K1, ssk, k7 [10, 13], k2tog, k2, ssk, k7 [10, 13], k2tog, k1. 4 sts decreased; 22 [28, 34] sts

Round 8: K1, ssk, k5 [8, 11], k2tog, k2, ssk, k5 [8, 11], k2tog, k1. 4 sts decreased; 18 [24, 30] sts

Round 9: K1, ssk, k3 [6, 9], k2tog, k2, ssk, k3 [6, 9], k2tog, k1. 4 sts decreased; 14 [20 ,26] sts

Size M and L: Round 10: K1, ssk, k4 [7], k2tog, k2, ssk, k4 [7], k2tog, k1. 4 sts decreased; 16 [22] sts

Size L only: K1, ssk, k5, k2tog, k2, ssk, k5, k2tog, k1. 4 sts decreased; 20 sts

Cut working yarn, leaving an 8” long tail and graft the remaining stitches together using Kitchener Stitch.

 

Thumb

Carefully remove scrap yarn from the thumb stitches, placing live stitches on two needles. There will be 4 [5, 6] stitches below the hole and 3 [4,5] above.

Join yarn at the the thumb on back of the hand. K4 [5, 6], pick up 3 [3, 4] sts along the gap, k3 [4, 5], pick up 3 [3, 4] sts along the second gap. 13, [15, 19] sts

Join in the round and knit until thumb measures .75 inches shorter than desired length.

Size S and L only: K2tog, knit to the end of the round. 1 st decreased; 12 [18] sts

Round 1: *K3 [3, 4], k2tog* three times. 3 sts decreased; 9 [12, 15] sts

Round 2: *K1 [2, 3], k2tog* three times. 3 sts decreased; 6 [9, 12] sts

Size S only: *K2tog* three times. 3 sts decreased; 3 sts

Size M and L: *K1 [1, 2], k2tog* three times. 3 sts decreased; 6 [9] sts

Size M only: *K2tog* three times. 3 sts decreased; 3 sts

Size L only: *K1, k2tog* three times. 3 sts decreased; 6 sts

Cut working yarn, leaving a 6” tail. Thread the tail through the remaining stitches and fasten off.

Weave in ends.

 

 

Please Note: I post my patterns as soon as I’ve completed them because I’m excited to share them with you. They have not been fully tested, but they are free. I’ve made every effort to make sure that the instructions are clear and error-free. There may be typos or pattern mistakes and if you find them or have any questions, please let me know by posting a comment or emailing me, dailyskein at gmail.com.

 

This work by Cailyn Meyer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.