I wanted a pair of really warm Mittens to match a bright red coat I have. I had just gone on a trip in November to Ann Arbor, MI where I bought the perfect shade of tone-on-tone Malabrigo Twist in an awesome red with orange undertones to match my coat and I had a trip to Calgary, AB, Canada planned for mid-December. So even though I live in Katy, TX, near Houston, I needed some warm mittens. I looked and looked for just the right pattern that used worsted weight yarn and had some kind of cabling. I couldn’t find anything that was just right. So I decided to design a pair of my own, and here it is.

I have very long thin fingers and always need a women’s large glove but I had several others who wear a women’s large that have thicker hands and/or fingers try the Great size on and they fit very well. Wee fits a large child or youth or small woman’s hands, Middling fits most women and a small man’s hands, Great fits a large women’s hands or a men’s Middling hand. You could probably go up a needle size for a men’s large or use one size larger needle with instructions for the next smallest size down to have a less dense mitten.

I like a nice defined cable and a densely knit mitten to be extra warm. I used a braid that is 9 stitches wide for the cabling so you don’t have to worry about mirror-imaging. Using size 4 needles and framing the braid with 3 stitches of purl on each side really makes the braid pop. I also used a twisted ribbing that is slightly reminiscent of small braids themselves.