To celebrate the start of the Indie Design Gift-A-Long 2024, this pattern and the others in my sale bundle are 25% off with coupon code giftalong2024 from November 21, 2024 at 5 pm EST to November 27, 2024 at 11:59 pm EST. Come join the Gift-A-Long group for inspiration, chat and cheer!

The Geoscientist’s Hat & Mittens are named after Danish seismologist Inge Lehmann, who in 1936 discovered the existence of planet Earth’s solid inner core. She wasn’t a geoscientist to begin with; but her background in mathematics allowed her to use the data from seismic waves to arrive at the correct conclusions about the inner structure of our planet. It took until 1971 before her results were shown to be correct by computer calculations!

Double knit sections make for decorative stripes on the back of the hand of these mittens and an extra warm double layer of fabric around the thumb. The combination with brioche stitches results in a reversible fabric – choose your favourite look and wear the mittens inside out if you want!

Skills required
Two-colour brioche knitting in the round over a small circumference (including increases and decreases), double knitting basics. Worked with only one colour at a time.
The pattern includes a photo tutorial for the brioche 4-stitch decrease.

Gauge and Sizes
The pattern is written for two sizes (M and L), and two gauges (suggested yarn weights: sport to light DK or DK to light worsted). This gives you four options for your desired hand circumference, ranging from 16.5cm/6.5’’ (approx. a women’s size S/M) to 23cm/9’’ (approx. a men’s size L).
The length of the mitten is easy to customize by adding or omitting a number of pattern rounds.

Yarn requirements (when using DK weight)
Approx. 132 (155) m/144 (170) yards of main colour and 82 (100) m/90 (109) yards of contrasting colour

Thank you to Jo Torr for technical editing and to my test knitters for their excellent work and helpful feedback.