These colorful mittens started out their lives as a way to use up the impressive collection of fingering yarn that somehow accumulates when you are a sock knitter. I had used the Triangle colorwork pattern in socks also and was pleased how those turned out so I have used that motif again here. In their first iteration, these became fingerless gloves with an openings for the thumb and fingers. But the intended recipient insisted that she needed mittens and having started another project already, I didn’t want to start another pair from scratch. But upon reflection, I decided it was pretty easy to close the thumbs and knit a separate “toe” to close off the fingers. And then with some careful construction, actually have an openable mitten when needed.

Thus, I revised my instructions so that either fingerless gloves or mittens can be made—your choice! Be aware that if you choose to make the mittens, they will need to be blocked to expand the hand area. To keep the fingerless gloves functional, instructions are for a fairly snug folded hem at the top. I simply used the leg portion of my sock blockers and that was sufficient.

I have been working on my thumb design and have amended my previous thumb shaping to allow for a more natural and snug fit across the palm and thumb. This necessitated a quicker increase sequence for the gusset base than I had previously used, followed by some Kitchener stitching for a really nice thumb shaping/fit. This was a bit fiddly but very worth it in the end, I think.

Three adult sizes are given: M, L and XL. Note that the fit is snug ( = negative ease) so do not size down if you are unsure.

This pattern is suitable for the adventurous intermediate or advanced knitter comfortable with following a chart for colorwork, using DPNS (or a suitable alternate needle set up) and has mastered the Kitchener stitch. I have included several tutorial links that should be sufficient to help most knitters. I have knit these entirely with double pointed needles but have generalized the instructions so that knitter who use other needle set-ups can still follow the directions.