Made two sets of mitts from one skein of Madelinetosh tosh merino light.

Mitts #1
Made per pattern instructions.
CO: 50 sts
Size 4 DPNs to cast on
Divided 15-10-15-10 sts onto 4 needles
Joined onto size 3 needles
Wrist: 7” or 62 rows
Thumb Hole: 2” or 17 rows
Hand: 2” or 17 rows
Bind off: Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy
Yarn weight: 42 grams

Within a couple times of wearing, I did not like the feel of the slash thumbhole against my hand. I also did not like the stretching of the yarn at either end of the slash. I tried picking up stitches and knitting a 1:1 rib for a few rows as others had mentioned. It works. It’s not as pretty as the gusset thumb, but it works.

The key to this mitt is how clean it looks when fresh and lying there on the table. The softness and colorplay of the yarn looks great.

Mitts #2
CO: 60
Wrist: 6” or 51 rows
Thumb Hole: 2 1/2” or 20 rows
Hand: 1 1/2” or 15 rows
Yarn weight: 46 grams
Skein 1 remaining yarn weight: 24g

I decided not to do a thumb, but both JJ and I think it might feel a little better with a thumb, perhaps warmer on hand. Cold day in MN. I may tinker.

I kept forgetting to do the last round halfway back again to the starting point, not the thumbhole. When weaving in the ends, I preferred to weave them into the body of the mitt.

The Madelinetosh is really nice. Very soft for wool. Wide but gentle color play of rich browns, charcoal and shots of denim and indigo blue. I would like to try this brand in other sizes and textures. Sock yarn perhaps is next.

I encountered one knot, which I have to say is disruptive and I am on the fence on how to remedy. In this case, I tried a Russian join. I am not sure I threaded it through long enough, but I tried knitting double for awhile. Hopefully it will hold.

Length is nice for either long and straight wear, or folding for a cuff to help prevent drafts at the wrist.

I prefer a more snug mitt. I have small hands and the CO 50s originally felt nice, but I wonder if they will stretch out. I am a bit lazy on washing. Not sure if that will stretch them out further too. Will try to update my note later. Feel free to heckle me if you see this and it has been awhile.

This really is a lightweight indoor gentle work mitt. Something for while you knit, read, or light computer work. But it is wool, so maybe it can take more than I think.

I am really impressed by Maddylew’s Cycling Arm Warmers, and want to try her method of changing DPN sizes to alter the rib fit. Size 3 for arm length, size 1 for snug wrist, then size 2 to finish.

Yes, I believe I will crack open my second skein of Whiskey Barrel. If I gauge it correctly, I can get a total of 5 pairs of fine handsome mitts out of two skeins.

Now to figure out how to do a good looking thumb.

Mitts #3
Learned how to do a gusset thumb from World’s End Fingerless Gloves.

Did 35 rows on size 3 needles

GUSSET
Switched to size 2 needles. I was going to try to switch to size 1 needles at some point to try a snugger wrist, but forgot. :(

The gusset features an increase of two using M1L and M1R with the gusset growing between them. I started the gusset on the opposite side as the start (where my CO long tail is). I tried to get towards the middle of the other side, using one of the K3 (knit). I did one knit, then a M1L, one knit, then a M1R, then one knit (K1, M1L, K1, M1R, K1).

The gusset in World’s End has us do an increase row followed by 3 regular pattern rows, for a 4-row series. I wasn’t sure how big to make the thumb and waffled when the number of thumb stitches got to 15. I did another increase, so wound up with a total of 28 rows, so that my number of thumb stitches is 17. This actually means 8 sets of the 4-row series, which results in 19 knit stitches. I forgot and got confused on my second mitt! You reserve one knit stitch on each side when you do the Join.

Trying a Double-Ended Stitch Holder for the first time to hold the thumb stitches and it is really cumbersome. But I couldn’t find any smaller or U-shaped stitch holders that had a closure at the end. I’d like those extra stitches to hang down and out of the way.

JOIN
After the 35 rows, do the pattern up to the thumbhole. Knit the 1st stitch, then place 17 stitches on a holder. Carefully maneuver to snugly knit the last stitch, and proceed on with the rib knitting.

On the row after the Join, I had a bit of extra yarn between the two joined stitches. So I picked it up into a simple yarn over and knit it. I figure it is nice because it brings it back into a K3-P2 pattern.

FINGERS
Did two inches (17 rows).
Bound off with Lori’s Twisty BO.

THUMB
Divide the 17 stitches onto two Size 2 DPNs. Use a third DPN to pick up 5 stitches from the Join area at the top of the thumbhole. I looked carefully and was able to do every other stitch. I also tried to make sure the picked up stitch was at an angle on the needle similar to what you would get with a cast on. I then moved 1 stitch from each of the other DPNs to the third one, hoping that it would help snug up the area.

Cannot remember how many rows! Light too dim to count well. Looks to be 8 rows. One pattern I read had us start knitting with the picked up stitches. When I look at my first mitt, I am concerned about gapping from the pickup process combined with the starting process. I am tempted to start where I split the 17 stitches, but that might leave a gap in the otherwise beautifully smooth gusset flowing up the thumb. Hmm… I will attempt to hide any gapping near the top.

Thumb BO: Use size 3 DPN needle and do traditional or simple bind off. I tried a stretchy bind off and it just flares. The thumb doesn’t need extra stretch. Oh crud. They don’t look the same. In fact, I think I need to redo it with size 2 DPNs.

Here’s the thing:
I finished the first gusseted mitt and was ecstatic. But then I got very sick and had other knitting projects I needed to get done by the holiday. I forgot to add a few notes, so when I knit the second mitt, there were I few things I tripped over, like the BO and the thumb details.

I still am uncertain about how much stretch occurs with these. My sense with just minor handling of my first gusseted mitt is that I can go down to the size 2 needle for the whole thing. My forearms have lost muscle mass and gotten a little narrow. Oh well. I have enough people bugging me for a pair of these. I can continue to experiment and make more and give them away!

Mitts #4
CO: 50 sts
Size 3 DPNs to cast on
Divided 15-10-15-10 sts onto 4 needles
Joined onto size 2 needles

WRIST
Looks like 40 rows will equal 4” on size 2 DPNs

GUSSET
. Work gusset on the opposite side as the start (where CO long tail is). Get towards the middle of the other side, using one of the K3 (knit).

Gusset pattern (K1, M1L, K1, M1R, K1)
. The middle K1 ‘grows’ by 2 with each addition
. The increase row followed by 3 regular pattern rows, for a 4-row series.
. Work 8 sets of the 4-row series. Resulting 32 rows, and 19 knit stitches altogether.
. 41 - 45 - 49 - 53 - 57 - 61 - 65 - 69
. Do not stop on the 8th increase row. Follow it with the 3 regular rows.
. Total rows should be 72 (40 + 32).

JOIN
I really do not like the gaps that occur in the Join area of gusseted thumbs. I have googled a bunch of techniques and may try one on this pair of mitts. For now, I will leave my notes for a simple join.

Simple Join
Work pattern up to the thumbhole. Knit the 1st stitch, then place 17 stitches on a holder. Carefully maneuver to snugly knit the last stitch, and proceed on with the rib knitting.

On the row after the Join, pick up extra yarn between join stitches and knit it. I figure it is nice because it brings it back into a K3-P2 pattern.

FINGERS
Work basic rib pattern for 17 rows (@2”) for a total of 90 rows.

Bind off with Lori’s Twisty BO using same size 2 DPNs.

THUMB
~See Join notes above~
~going to try Liat Gat’s recommendations
~https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uWTehyG38Ig
~http://knitfreedom.com/techniques/ultimate-mitten-thumb

Divide the 17 stitches onto two Size 2 DPNs. 9 stitches on the right needle, 8 on the left. Use a third DPN to knit 8 stitches from the Join area at the top of the thumbhole. Use Liat Gat’s method of knitting into two loops. Move 1 stitch from each of the other DPNs to the third one.

Unlike Liat, I knit the rest of Row 1 and Row 2. Then I decreased across the top (where I picked up the stitches). I k2tog 4 times. Then I adjusted the stitches to have 7:7:7 across the DPNs.

Work flat stockinette (knit) stitch for a total of 10 rows (1”).

Use same size 2 DPNs and do a simple Bind-off.

I really like Liat Gat’s method and teaching style. Her webpage has a very good explanation to go with the video. I am looking forward to experimenting and learning more!