Thursday, November 25, 2010

Pattern for thrummed baby mittens

Thrummed mittens for bitty baby hands

These mittens were made for my little nannying charge, who loves to chew on woolens, especially on I-cord! She also is notorious for pulling things off of her hands and feet, so these have been made as “lose-proof” as possible through a two-part system. First, they tie onto the hands at the wrist. Second, there is an I-cord that travels from wrist to wrist that can be passed through the sleeves of a sweater.
Let's see you ditch these, kiddo!

Uses scraps and bits and ends. This pattern was made using a DK weight alpaca yarn: probably less than 100 yards, and Corriedale roving.
Size 4 needles (double pointed), gauge is not important so long as they fit the little hands. I used very little thumb shaping, you may decide to do the thumb differently.

HAND
Cast on 24 stitches

k2, p2 rib for 12 rows.

Next row, k2, yo to end (36 stitches)

Knit one row.

**Next row, k2, then pick up a tuft of yarn and knit with that instead of the yarn. It will leave one knit stitch on the outside that is poofy, and a tuft of roving toward the inside of the mitten. Be careful on the next row to not pull the ends out. Continue in this pattern: k2, thrum 1 to the end. **

Knit 3 rows.

Repeat between ** ** to end.

Knit 2 rows.

Isolate 12 stitches to one needle for the thumb. Ignore these until they are picked up again. Knit one row on the remaining 24 stitches.

Repeat between ** ** to end.

Knit 3 rows.

Repeat between ** ** to end.

Knit 1 row.

Next row, k2, k2tog to the end.

Knit 1 row.

K2tog until 7 stitches remain, break off end and pull through remaining stitches.

THUMB

*this thumb is long, you may elect to make it a couple of rows shorter. I wanted to err on the side of having enough room for wiggling.

Pick up 4 stitches from the body of the hand, knit 1 round starting with the stitches picked up from the hand (16 stitches). All decreases start on the inside part of the thumb.

Knit 5, thrum 1, then (knit 2, thrum 1) 3 times.

Knit 1, k2tog, knit to end.

(K2tog, knit to end) 2 times.

Next row k2, thrum 1 to the end of the row.

Knit 1 row.

Knit 1, k2tog to the end of the row.

K2tog to the end of the row, break off yarn and thread end through remaining stitches. Don't tuck in the tails, yet.

TIES

Make two lengths of 4 stitch I-cord about 100 rows long. These are threaded through the loops made by the yarn-over row that increased the diameter of the hand. I made sturdy knots in the ends of mine to make them more difficult to pull through the loops. In the case of the baby mine were made for, they also perform double duty as a teething toy. There will be one hole left. I used the yarn tails that were
left to fill in that extra hole rather than figuring out where I wanted one fewer hole to be in the first place. You may or may not do the same.

On the opposite side of the mitten from the thumb, pick up 4 stitches from the cuff. Mine tied on that side as well, so I centered this pick-up spot right under the hole I filled in. Knit an I-cord long enough to pass through the sleeves of an infant's jacket or sweater with about an inch of dangling ease. This will allow the mittens to be off of the baby's hands but not lost in the sleeves. You may make it long
enough that they could be tied behind the baby's back when they are not in use. My cord ended up being about 250 rows long. Connect the cord to the mitten using kitchener stitch or some similar method, tuck in all tails.