He lives in an oak-wood and has a great wooden house; and as a man he keeps cattle and horses… … He does not eat them; neither does he hunt or eat wild animals. He keeps hives and hives of great fierce bees, and lives most on cream and honey..

-- J.R.R. Tolkien, from The Hobbit, describing Beorn

These close fitted mittens are worked in a slipped stitch fabric that resembles the honeycomb shapes built by bees. The palms and inner side of the thumb are worked in eye-of-partridge stitch, a sturdy stitch often used for the heels of socks. The caps of the mitten flip back so the fingers can easily be freed for situations needing more manual dexterity than mittens usually allow. The back of the mittens are worked seamlessly to preserve the stitch motif, with the ribbed opening for the convertible cap being only on the palm side of the mitten.

The mittens are worked in worsted weight yarn on smaller than normal needles, creating a dense, warm fabric that is very nearly wind proof. The three sizes will fit an average woman’s small, medium or large hand, or an average man’s extra small, small or medium hand. The finished mitten will fit snugly but will stretch slightly with light blocking or with wearing over a period of time.

Materials Needed:

• @22o yards of worsted weight yarn
• 3.5mm (US size 4) dpns or circular needle large enough for magic loop, or size needed for gauge
• end/start round stitch marker
• 1 additional stitch marker to mark middle of round (optional)
• waste yarn or flexible stitch holders

Pattern updated in 2020.