This is an historically accurate pattern brought up -to-date for the contemporary knitter. The original pattern is Rifle Mittens for Infantry on page 67 in Knitting and Sewing: How to Make Useful Articles for Men in the Army and Navy by Maud Churchill Nicoll, George H. Doran Company (1918)

Infantry men needed protection from the cold but required bare trigger finger and thumb in order to shoot. This accessory, worked in fingering weight wool, provided warmth without compromising tactile sensation.

The pattern sample was knit in Karabella Aurora 4 which is a sport weight yarn, but a fingering weight yarn also produces a men’s medium, while DK weight knit with an appropriate size needle to a gauge of 22 stitches in 4 inches produces a men’s size large mitten.

The knitting project at Fort Vancouver National Historial Site is no longer active.