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What are the Best Tips for Making Knitted Mittens?

Sheri Cyprus
Sheri Cyprus

For starting to make knitted mittens, worsted weight yarn used with two strands held together is often a good, economical option. Intermediate and advanced knitters can use small knitting projects such as mittens to try out interesting patterns such as cables and Intarsia. For one-of-a-kind mittens, yarn scraps may be used to create multi-colored striped patterns.

Knitting mittens with two different variegated yarn strands held together creates a detailed, multi-colored effect that can look rich and interesting as well as unique. This is one of the best tips for creating knitted mittens from scrap materials since less material of one yarn type will be needed per mitten. A solid color and a variegated one may be used to knit mittens that look attractive, but the effect won't be quite as detailed.

Knitting needles and yarn.
Knitting needles and yarn.

Knitted mittens, with their clear shape and thumb section, may look daunting to many beginner knitters, but they are actually fairly easy to make as long as basic knit, purl, increase and decrease techniques are mastered. Being able to knit to the gauge specified on the pattern is also important or the mittens are likely to be the wrong size. A great tip for helping to ensure a good fit is for the knitter to outline the wearer's hand on paper with a pen or pencil. After measuring the outline in inches or centimeters, it should be clearer which size mentioned in the pattern is likely to be the best choice. If the knitter does make the wrong size of mitten, it's usually fine to unravel the work and start again with the same yarn.

When knitting mittens, it is important to achieve the specified gauge, or stitches, per inch.
When knitting mittens, it is important to achieve the specified gauge, or stitches, per inch.

While intermediate or advanced knitters may experiment with different stitches, beginners should make mittens using a stockinette stitch of alternating knit and purl rows. Patterns that contain techniques other than knitting, purling and simple increasing and decreasing should be avoided by beginners unless they have mastered these stitches. Making stripes of colored yarn scraps is a technique that beginners may want to use to make their mittens stylish.

For more experienced knitters, Intarsia, in which different colors are used to make designs, can make the tops of the mittens interesting. When using Intarsia techniques on mittens, winding different colored yarns on small bobbins is usually a good idea since the project isn't large. Using cable needles on the tops of knitted mittens can give them a classic, sophisticated look.

Discussion Comments

bythewell

@Iluviaporos - Mittens do look cute on kids. I think they look cute on adults as well. I've been teaching myself how to knit mittens because I really like the look of them, particularly when they have a lacy bit around the wrist.

And I've been hoping to sell them online as well, since I have access to a cheap source of really good quality wool.

The best thing about mittens, in my opinion, is that the flat surface over the fingers gives you a nice area to try different patterns and things like that. You can do a whole picture, which isn't as possible when you're making gloves instead.

Once you get the basics down, they are a lot of fun to play with.

lluviaporos

For a while I thought there was no point to mittens except to make kids look cute. I mean, they don't allow you to use your fingers separately so they make you very clumsy outdoors.

But, I eventually realized that mittens really are warmer than gloves. I guess because they leave more of a clear space for the fingers to warm up together. Which is why they are ideal for children and adults who don't need much finger function.

My grandmother used to hand knit mittens for me, which I really loved as a child. It's nice to know that they were really practical as well as cute.

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    • Knitting needles and yarn.
      By: picsfive
      Knitting needles and yarn.
    • When knitting mittens, it is important to achieve the specified gauge, or stitches, per inch.
      By: Ekaterina Lin
      When knitting mittens, it is important to achieve the specified gauge, or stitches, per inch.