January is too early to start thinking about spring flowers, but as the days begin to grow longer it’s hard to help it. Even here in New Mexico the first leaves on trees and tender blooms in the flower beds are still weeks away, but there are still tiny signs of the world coming to life again – the rosemary is in bloom already, and tender shoots of hyacinths and daffodils are starting to emerge.

It may be early yet for the plants, but it’s the perfect time to plan your garden, start thinking about your spring hikes, and look forward to spending more time outdoors as the days lengthen and grow warmer. And since we’re still in the middle of knitting season, mitts with a spring theme are a perfect small project for those still-long evenings. Both the leaf and flower designs are charted for both hands, so you can make a matching pair of either design, or an unmatched pair as I have done. Yarn quantities are given for making them both ways.

Early Spring mitts are knitted in the round, in stranded colorwork that is charted, and have a gusseted thumb. They come in one size to fit an average woman, but size can be adjusted by changing gauge. Any fingering or sock weight yarn can be used, but the large design elements make these mitts the perfect project for that favorite handpainted or tonal yarn that can be tricky to use in colorwork. Quantities needed for the contrast colors are small, so these mitts are also a perfect project for leftovers.

Skills required:
• Long tail and backwards loop cast on
• Knit and purl stitches
• Yarn over
• Knit 2 together
• Simple right and left leaning increases (M1L and M1R)
• Stranded color stockinette knitting
• Knitting small circumferences in the round
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Yarn quantities:

For an unmatched pair, as shown:
• Main color – 125 yds
• Contrast colors – 50 yds each of two colors

For a matched pair, of either leaf or flower design:
• Main color – 125 yds
• Contrast color 1 (main contrast color): 95 yds
• Contrast color 2 (accent contrast color): 7 yds