Turning Mittens....

Into Glittens:

I have had several people write me asking how I make my "glittens". As I made this pair, I took photos (sorry - I am not much of a photographer) and will try to give you more information.

First, I make mittens. Where I want them to open up for the glove part, I knit across with one row of contrasting waste yarn. Notice the tan row on the palm side of the mitten on the right.

I remove that waste yarn, putting the live stitches back on needles.

On the "mitt" side, I work 3 rows of ribbing and then bind off, making sure that I leave a long length of yarn at the start and that I have the same on the other end after binding off. These ends will be used later.

Then I cast on stitches (leaving a long length for sewing later on) and knit the glove and finger part in the round

I like to make the fingers each a different color, leaving sufficient yarn to gather up any gaps that might develop between the fingers.

When the glove section is completed, I put it on, and whip stitch the cast on edge into the color strandings on the back of the mitten, making sure that I don't go all the way thru - which would create havoc with the colorwork pattern on the "good side" of the mitten.

Then with the two ends hanging off the ribbing, I securely tack down the edge of the ribbing to the mitten.Thats it!!

This is the 27th pair that I have made. The only problem I see is that people like them so much, I get requests for them all the time. Sometimes I am in the mood to make them...sometimes not so much!! The color stranding and double thickness make them extremely warm and practical (if not too fashionable!!).

Some are made with gauntlets that really keep the wind out of your sleeves. Those are my favorite, but some folks prefer regular cuffs. The current pair is for a man, hence the darker colors and the ribbed cuff. I plan to make a hat with the same yarns. This yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash. My normal yarn is Dale of Norway Heilo - which is a DK weight yarn.
If anyone wants any more details, stitch counts, that type of thing, let me know. I really don't have a written out pattern, but I can share my basic guidelines with you. The very first pair I ever made came from an old knitter's magazine. But, I have made so many modifications and changes over the years, the current version is far from the original. Hope that answers the questions that some of you had, and that I have not bored everyone else to death.

Now - I have one more mitten to make into a glitten.... catch ya later..... K