Myra Beth Knits

My five year old picked out a ball of sock yarn at Hobby Lobby recently and requested mittens. I decided since I knew the vibe I wanted for these mittens I would draft something myself. The pattern that was born is the perfect basic mitten.

I love these mittens! They are quick and easy to knit. They are also a great stash buster for all of that leftover sock yarn we all have lying around. Currently, this pattern is only available in one size, but stay tuned because I will be adding additional sizes later this month! Keep reading for the perfect staple mitten pattern!

Materials

I used about 15 grams of fingering weight yarn for both mittens. It’s a really tiny amount of yarn, which makes this the perfect project for scrap yarn left over from your favorite pair of socks. Here is everything you need.

• Fingering weight or sock weight yarn
• US 2 (2.75 mm) circular knitting needles
• scissors
• tapestry needle

Gauge

The gauge for this pattern is 32 stitches and 40 rows equals 4 inches. Some knitters think that gauge does not matter for accessories. While a mitten is much smaller than a sweater it is still intended to be worn on the body. That means it needs to fit on the body it was intended for. The way you ensure that a finished object will fit as intended is by meeting gauge.

That being said, I rarely swatch for mittens because a mitten is not much bigger than a swatch. If you have to reknit your mitten because your gauge was way off you haven’t lost much time.

Abbreviations

• k – Knit
• m1r – Make 1 right
• m1l – Make 1 left
• sm – slip marker
• sts – stitches
• ssk- slip, slip, knit
• k2tog – knit 2 together

The Pattern

This pattern is written for magic loop knitting. However, you should be able to knit this project using double pointed needles with few if any modifications.

Cast On 48 stitches and work 25 rounds of 2×2 rib.

Switch to plain knitting. work 12 rounds.

The Right Mitten

We will now begin increasing for the thumb gusset. While the steps are the same for both mittens the thumbs are placed on opposite sides. Be careful that you don’t knit two lefts or two rights. It’s and easy mistake to make.

Thumb Gusset

• Round 1: K2. place marker. m1r, K2, m1l, place marker, k to end.
• Round 2: K all sts, slipping markers as you come to them
• Round 3: K to marker, sm, m1r, k to marker m1l, sm k to end
• Round 4: K all sts, slipping markers as you come to them

Repeat rounds 3 & 4 four more times. You should have 14 stitches between the two markers.

The next round you will move the thumb stitches to waist yarn and cast on new stitches for the palm.

Knit 2, move 14 sts to waste yarn, cast on 2 sts using the backwards loop cast on, knit to the end of the round.

Knit until the mitten is level with the top of the pinky finger. For my five year old this was 15 rounds.

Finger Shaping

Next, we will use decreases to shape the top of the mitten where your fingers go.

• Round 1: K1, ssk, k 18, k2tog, k2, ssk, k18, k2tog, k1
• Round 2, 4, & 6: Knit all stitches
• Round 3: K1, ssk, k 16, k2tog, k2, ssk, k16, k2tog, k1
• Round 5: K1, ssk, k 14, k2tog, k2, ssk, k14, k2tog, k1
• Continue decreasing in pattern every round until only 16 stitches remain.

Graft stitches together using the Kitchener stitch.

The Left Mitten

Knit as for right mitten until you are ready to knit the the thumb gusset. The gusset increases are the same for both mittens, but they are placed on opposite sides of the mitten so that the mittens mirror each other.

• Round 1: K20, place marker. m1r, K2, m1l, place marker, k to end.
• Round 2: K all sts, slipping markers as you come to them
• Round 3: K to marker, sm, m1r, k to marker m1l, sm k to end
• Round 4: K all sts, slipping markers as you come to them

Repeat rounds 3 & 4 four more times. You should have 14 stitches between the two markers.

The next round you will move the thumb stitches to waist yarn and cast on new stitches for the palm.

Knit 20, move 14 sts to waste yarn, cast on 2 sts using the backwards loop cast on, knit to the end of the round.

Knit until the mitten is level with the top of the pinky finger. For my five year old this was 15 rounds. Repeat the finger shaping as specified for the right mitten.