I love handknits for hands, and as a result of all that time spent thinking about, making, and wearing mitts, gloves, and mittens, I’ve got some pretty specific ideas about what makes an ideal pair. I’ve designed these faux-bois mittens with those criteria in mind. Long cuffs, a gusseted thumb, and most importantly: really rad colorwork. I can’t get enough faux woodgrain, especially in an expected material like wool. This bold, graphic design lends itself equally well to funky color combinations or to monochrome. To keep the knitting interesting and play up the organic qualities of the wood grain motif, each mitten features a unique, non-repeating, non-symmetrical design that wraps around from back to palm. You can personalize the carved heart on the left mitten with the letters of your choice or leave it blank.

Worked in a fingering-weight wool/nylon blend, these mittens are practical as well as warm, and despite the small gauge, I’ve always found colorwork knits up surprisingly fast. (Perhaps it’s the fun of seeing more of the design emerge with every row.)

Finished Size: Women’s medium: 8 1/4” around widest part of palm, not including thumb, and 10 1/4” from cast on edge to fingertips.

Yarn: Knit Picks Palette, 100% Peruvian Highland Wool; 231 yards/50 grams: 1 skein each of Bark (A) and Asphalt Heather (B). Small amount of a CC for letters.

Needles: Size 3 (3.25 mm) double-pointed needles (or any size needed to achieve gauge); Size 2 (2.75 mm) double-pointed needles (or one size smaller than main needles).

Notions: Waste yarn (less than 1 yard), tapestry needle, stitch markers.

Gauge: 32 sts x 28 rows = 4” in stranded St st on larger needles.

Notes: I’ve done my best to avoid excessively long floats, but there are a few. In general, I recommend “catching” any floats longer than about 6 stitches to prevent snagging when you put your mittens on. Catch floats more frequently on the thumbs and as you begin to decrease at the top of the mittens–I find they get more unruly as the diameter of the knitting decreases. Additionally, since stranded colorwork has less “give” than plain knitting, be careful of your tension, particularly in the thumb.