These mitts may seem plain at first glance, but upon closer inspection there are signs of good and/or evil hidden on each hand, and eyes on the palms which can be protective or demonic!

Use illusion knitting (which is made of just knits and purls) to hide a star or a pentagram on each hand, so when you hold your hand out to a viewer, the shape will reveal itself. Make one hand good and the other evil, or just go all out with one or the other on both hands, if you prefer.

Use twisted and slipped stitches to put eyes on both palms; hold your hand out to an evil-doer as symbolic protection, or put your hands up to your face to turn your mitts into an instant creepy costume.

The eye on your palm can have good or evil meanings:

Hold an eye outwards towards someone looking at you with malice, to ward off the evil eye - there are many cultures with beliefs about the evil eye, and with eye symbols meant to protect from it. Several cultures even combine hands with protective eyes, like the Hamsa hand symbol used throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

Or, hold your hands up to your eyes, palms out, to become disguised as Tenome, a creature from Japanese mythology with his eyes in his hands, or The Pale Man, a terrifying monster from Pan’s Labyrinth.

Or, for fans of specific shows, your palm eyes can turn you into the Seer from Once Upon a Time, or a Sister of the Sibylline from Doctor Who, if you wear your mitts on the wrong hands to put the eyes on the back sides.

This is an intermediate level pattern; you need to be able to read your knitting, to know what knit vs. purl stitches look like, for example, and to keep track of a few different things happening at the same time.

Techniques used include: slipped stitches, twisted stitches, illusion knitting (made of knits and purls), striping, knitting in the round, keeping track of panels with stitch markers. The pattern includes a photo tutorial for twisted stitches, and technique notes for other techniques used.

Stitch patterns (illusion and eye) are all written and charted.

This is part of the leethal Dark Trio - 3 different patterns for gender-neutral accessories, each with a little hidden evil. The trio also includes Jonathan the brioche goat scarf, and Warren the satanic or chaotic hat. (Each single pattern is $6; the whole trio is $12.)

You need
- sport weight yarn in 2 contrasting colors - approx 70{80, 90, 100} yards / 65{75, 85, 95} meters in each color, for small{medium, large, extra large}
-- a round, smooth yarn will work best for the illusion, and blocking is somewhat important, so wool or another block-able fiber is recommended
- size US 4 (3.5mm) needles (or sized to get gauge)
-- a long circular (32”/80cm or longer) to use magic loop method, or a set of double pointed needles
- 6 stitch markers

The samples

Dark & light purples: Knitted Wit Welterweight Rambouillet sport weight (Beaujolais and French Kiss); size small; right hand pentagram / left hand star.

Grey & red: Brown Sheep Lanaloft Sports Weight (Dark Ash and Roasted Pepper); size extra large; both hands pentagram.

Gauge
21 sts per 4 inches / 10 cm in garter stitch, striped between the 2 colors (7 sts per inch / 2.5 cm in slip stitch pattern - k1, sl2 for 2 rows, sl1, k2 for 2 rows).

It should be a dense gauge. You can just swatch for garter stitch gauge (2 rows each color) and assume the slip-stitch pattern gauge will be close enough; then test the fit after you’ve worked the first couple inches (basically treating the first couple inches of mitt as a fully patterned gauge swatch).

Sizing

Circumference: There are four sizes: small{medium, large, extra large}, which are for hand sizes of approx 6.5{7.5, 8.5, 9.5} inches / 16.5{19, 21.5, 24} cm, measured around the middle of the hand, above the thumb. These are approx:
small = women’s small
medium = women’s medium / men’s small
large = women’s large / men’s medium
extra large = men’s large

Length: Total length, lying flat, is approx 6.25{6.75, 7.25, 7.75} inches / 16{17.25, 18.5, 19.75} cm.
The pattern includes instructions for adding length to the top and/or bottom if you want to.