The Tiny Santas sprang into existence as a Christmas present for my stepdad. He collects Santas, and I suddenly realized that as a knitter, I could get a little carried away with that theme. These mittens are where I started. I fully confess that I chortled with glee during their design process as I watched the little bellies and beards take shape. Give me whimsy and a Christmas theme any day! I hope you get as much enjoyment from them as I do.

Construction
The Tiny Santa mittens are knit using traditional colourwork stranding techniques, including Muhu Vits and corrugated ribbing. All the techniques are fully explained.

They start at the cuff and are worked in the round and feature a forethought/afterthought thumb (with two design choices -- the holly one pictured and a “camouflaged” one with more Tiny Santas!) The fingertips are grafted together at the end, or you can flip them inside out and use the 3-needle bind off technique to finish them up.

Colourwork charts form the bulk of the instructions, with a couple clarifications in the written instructions that accompany them.

Sizing
The hand width is generous enough to fit up to a Women’s size large hand (but it isn’t too big on a Women’s medium, either), but finger lengths vary wildly from person to person, so an additional, longer option is available.

Finished hand width: 4.25”
Finished hand lengths: 7.25 (8.5)“

To change the width, change the needle size.

Yarns
The mittens shown were knit using these colours, and Yarn Forward & Sew On will have kits available; call the store to reserve one. www.yarnforward.com

Yarn Forward Kits November 2017 Include:
MC: Dark Green, 20 - 30 g Estelle Alpaca Merino Fine (100 g = 400 m, 55% Merino Wool, 25% Nylon, 20% Alpaca)
C1: Red, 8 - 12 g Estelle Alpaca Merino Fine
C2: White, 20 - 30 g Cascade Yarns Heritage Sock Yarn (100 g = 400 m, 75% Merino Superwash, 25% Nylon)
C3: Peach, 4 - 6 g Cascade Yarns Cherub Baby (50 g = 210 m, 55% Nylon, 45% Acrylic)
C4: Light Blue, 10 - 15 g Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk 4 Ply (50 g = 170 m, 75% Extra Fine Merino, 20% Silk, 5% Cashmere)

If you’re knitting from your stash, the smaller amount is the yarn needed for the smaller size, the larger amount for the larger size. I’ve listed it in grams so you can weigh your small balls with a kitchen scale.

Needles
2 US / 2.75 mm needles for working small circumference in the round -- DPNs, Magic Loop, or 2 circulars. The instructions do not refer to a specific needle type.

Level of Difficulty
This pattern is spicy. It assumes you’re already familiar with

• knitting small things in the round,
• stranded knitting,
• increasing and decreasing,
• placing stitches on waste yarn,
• Backwards Loop Cast On,
• grafting or 3-needle bind off

It includes instructions for:

• the optional Estonian Braid Cast On
• creating Muhu vits
• picking up and knitting stitches at the thumb corners
• wet blocking