patterns >
The Busiest Bee
> Kaleidoscope Fingerless Mitts
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Kaleidoscope Fingerless Mitts
You Will Need:
• Fingering* weight yarn in at least three colors:
—28 (32, 36) yards (25.6, 29.3, 32.9 m) color A (center color)
— 50 (54, 58) yards (45.7, 49.4, 53 m) color B (inner border color)
—140 (164, 188) yards (128, 150, 172 m) color C (outer border & underside color)
Note: If many colors are desired (as shown), allot at least .88, 1, 1.13 yds (.8, .91, 1 m) for each center color, and 1.6, 1.7, 1.8 yards (1.46, 1.55, 1.65 m) for each inner border color.
• For size small, 2.25mm (US B) hook; for size medium, 2.75mm (US C) hook; for size large, 3.25mm (US D) hook; see “finished size” below to determine which hook to use
• metal yarn needle for weaving in ends, 2 safety-pin style stitch markers to aid with seaming
Skill Level: Advanced beginner (basic stitches, simple shaping shing)
Techniques: Start with magic ring, chain, slip, le crochet stitches (US terminology; equivalent to UK treble crochet), whip stitch seam
Gauge: After blocking, measure the width of one hexagon from the center of one side to the center of the opposite side
• For size small, one hexagon = 1.5” (3.81 cm) wide
• For size medium, one hexagon = 1.75” (4.4 cm) wide
• For size large, one hexagon = 2” (5.1 cm) wide
Finished size:
Small, 3.13” (7.95 cm) wide at top, 17.8 cm) long
Medium, 3.63” (9.2 cm) wide at top, 20.3 cm) long
Large, 4.13” (10.5 cm) wide at top, & 9” (22.9 cm) long
(See schematic on page 4.)
* Some countries call this “4ply” weight.
Being a profound lover of honeybees, I have a fascination with honeycomb shapes, i.e. hexagons. Being a profound lover of yarn, I own a lot of similar weight yarns in a variety of colors. Being obsessed with vintage things, I have always loved the look of classic granny afghans with colorful centers that are a study in random-on-purpose. As I made hexagons just for the joy of it, and laid them out together, I saw they’d make a perfect shape for fingerless gloves. The great thing is, no matter how you combine colors so long as you edge them with a bold neutral, they will always look nice.
These are great for stashbusting leftovers, or using precious or special skeins of yarns in rather small put-ups (like tiny bits of handspun). Don’t have much stash to bust? Get together with your knitting pals to swap odds & ends, or unravel a thrifted colorwork sweater.
Pattern PDF is 4 pages and roughly 1.6 megabytes. (For a full preview of the actual first page of the pattern, see the images to the left.)
Errata: changed orientation of chain stitches in seaming illustration to match the work. Before they were both pointing the same direction. Pattern reuploaded September 21, 2015
- First published: January 2012
- Page created: January 1, 2012
- Last updated: November 24, 2020 …
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