I made these to keep my hands warm before I go climbing, and as I warm up, because I found that working with cold hands led to joint problems. They needed to be fairly lightweight, warm, and very stretchy. Considering their purpose, I love the strong graphic pattern at the wrist, and I prefer it to the plainer fingerless mittens and gloves I've seen. I hope you like them too.

A quick note on copyright:

As the designer of this pattern, I would love to hear your comments on it. If it inspires you to try your hand at designing, so much the better—I’m an engineer, not an artist, so if I can do it, anyone can.

Very rough inspiration for the color patterning was taken from a 1946 booklet titled "Scandinavian Sweaters", in which a Norwegian Star is edged by chevrons on the sweater's yoke.

I would prefer that you contact me and request permission before distributing this pattern to a large group or selling items made from this pattern. Doesn’t mean I’ll say no, but I’d like to keep track of these things.



What you’ll need:

The ability to do, or willingness to learn: Knitting and purling in the round, increases, and two-color knitting.

120 yards of sport weight machine-washable yarn in the main color, and 20-30 yards each of two accent colors. (I used a combination of Stahl Hobby and Gjestal Superwash Sport.)

Size 4 (US) double-pointed needles, or whatever needle arrangement/size gives you an unstretched gauge over 2x2 ribbing of about 11 stitches/inch (in other words, unstretched, the base of the wristwarmer is about 2 inches across).

Your usual notions.

Notes:
I have fairly slender wrists, medium (though expanding from all the climbing!) forearms, and large hands for a woman. Adjustments to sizing can be made by eliminating the wrist shaping, increasing the gauge, or adding or removing stitches in the color pattern between the chevrons and the filler bits.

Directions:

Base of Wrist: Cast on 44 stitches with accent color #1. (I prefer to cast 22 stitches on 1 needle, 11 on the second, and 11 on the third. The 22 stitches will be centered on the back of the hand, the two groups of 11 will ultimately form the palm. However, if you have a preferred method of keeping track, feel free to use that. The directions will not be incomprehensible if you do what you like.) Connect the stitches, being sure not to twist your cast on row. Knit one row, then k2p2 across one row.

Switch to the main color. Maintain k2p2 ribbing for 25 more rows.

Color knitting: Knit 3 rows in plain stockinette, then begin the color pattern, which starts with the first stitch of the non-palm side, working each row just once.



Key:
-White block: main color
-Dotted block: rows 1-5: accent color #2. Row 6: accent color #1. Rows 7-11: accent color #2.
-"f" indicates the columns of stitches that will be facing you if you were wearing this mitt with your palms facing down. "b" indicates the bottom.

When the chart has been completed, work 3 rows of plain stockinette in the main color, then establish a k1p1 ribbing.

Hand Shaping for LEFT Hand:After the first row of k1p1 ribbing has been worked, locate the second-to-last stitch worked, and place a marker to its left. In other words, if you arrange your knitting so that the palm (the side with the big X) is facing you, you should have placed a marker between the second- and third-leftmost stitch. This is where the thumb shaping will occur--if you look at your left hand palm-side down, your thumb is on the right side, slightly lower than the palm. Double-check to make sure your marker is located in the correct spot. (I'm being especially careful with these directions because I almost made two left hands! Make sure you have everything set up correctly.)

Maintain the k1p1 ribbing, and every other row, increase by 1 stitch on either side of this marker. On the non-increase rows, work the increased stitches in a manner that maintains the pattern--you're increasing by 2 stitches, so the pattern shouldn't be disrupted.

Continue increasing two stitches, one on each side of the stitch marker, until you have 11 more stitches on either side of the marker (66 stitches total).

Hand Shaping for RIGHT Hand: Should be the exact opposite of the left hand. If you arrange your knitting so that the palm (the side with the big X) is facing you, you should have placed a marker between the second- and third-RIGHTmost stitch. Again, line this up with your hand to verify that everything's where it should be. Increase one on each side of the marker every other row as for the left mitt until you have 66 stitches total.

Making a Thumb: Now that you've increased to the width of the thumb, you'll bind off those stitches so you can put your thumb through.

The first stitch bound off will be located 10 stitches to the left of the stitch marker. Locate this spot. When you reach it, bind off 20 stitches (46 stitches remain).

The rest of the hand: Continue k1p1 ribbing in the round, connecting the points where the binding off began and ended. Work 6 more rows of k1p1 ribbing in the main color, then switch to accent color #1. Work 2 rows in ribbing, then bind off.

Finishing: Weave in ends. If desired, work 1 row of crochet in accent color #1 around the thumb hole.


A quick note on copyright:

As the designer of this pattern, I would love to hear your comments on it. If it inspires you to try your hand at designing, so much the better—I’m an engineer, not an artist, so if I can do it, anyone can.

Very rough inspiration for the color patterning was taken from a 1946 booklet titled "Scandinavian Sweaters", in which a Norwegian Star is edged by chevrons on the sweater's yoke.

I would prefer that you contact me and request permission before distributing this pattern to a large group or selling items made from this pattern. Doesn’t mean I’ll say no, but I’d like to keep track of these things.