Knitted Mitts

Hi there,

I have been knitting up a storm in the past few weeks ready for Christmas. I could use this as an excuse not for keeping my blog up to date but I have been so busy and have really enjoyed getting stuck into my knitting and doing some proper projects!

I have always loved having a matching set of gloves and hat when it gets colder. This year I found some wool that I had bought ages ago but I had just ignored as I thought it was too gaudy to use. This wool was bright pinks, yellows and turquoises. I decided to give it another chance and experiment with this wool to find something to make that would make the most of the bright colours.

I have seen a lot of knitted headwarmers/headbands in shops so instead of buying one I decided to make one for myself. As my friend said it means you get something totally unique. I wanted to keep it simple to show the colours in the wool off and although I love following patterns in my many knitting books it was nice to make something up and over the weekend I got stuck in to some simple knitting.

Using my favourite 4mm needles and 2x2 rib I simply knitted a long strip that was wide enough to cover my head and stitched the ends together. I finished it with a little knitted flower which is so easy to make and I discovered them this year. What you do is stocking stitch a few rows and increase it to the size you want then twist it on the needle to make the petals. I really love my finished headband, the colours are really cheery and it is so cosy.
To go with my headband I decided to make some mittens. Now I do still need a few lessons on knitting in the round because frankly I am awful at it so I googled knitted mitten patterns on 2 needles. I read a few patterns and then made my own little pattern up as best I could. I am still learning.

I made the cuffs using 2x2 rows to match the headband and knitted about 20 rows. Then using stocking stitch I increased either side to get more give on the glove and then simply knitted the rows to the size of my hand and decreased the end and then I pulled the end through the stitches to make the ends round.
The hardest part for me was adding the thumbs. Picking up stitches worked on the first glove but the second did become a hammer toe lookalike. And I had to pull the whole thumb apart and start from scratch which every knitter knows is heart breaking but is always worth it in the end.

It is nice to have some very very bright cosy mittens I made myself that shows off the colourful wool I had discarded originally so I'm really pleased. and you can tell the difference technically from the very basic chunky hand warmers I made last winter, so I can only hope I continue to improve my mitten making skills as I get older and become a more established knitter.


I'm so excited at the moment I really feel like I've made headway with my knitting and I'm hoping to learn some new crafts in the New Year and finally master knitting in the round! I'm hoping to go along to some classes to meet other crafters and learn new skills. I do intend to keep my resolutions and do some up-cycling!

Lots of love
BomoKnitting