Thursday, August 17, 2017

Single Stripe Mittens

Single Stripe Mittens
pictured in size small

Sometimes I buy yarns because they BEG me to bring them home, all puppy dog eyes and soft squishiness. Sometimes I buy yarns because they're on great sale, and I'm my mother's daughter. And sometimes (like this time) I buy yarns because I happen to wander into a LYS in Lithuania and it's so small that I feel like I HAVE to buy something, but they stock almost exclusively Turkish and Italian yarns (so I can't find anything local) and nothing really catches my eye. Such was the case for me recently, until I finally spotted this nice alpaca. And then, of course, I used it for this fun design, which avoids any broken stripes by nestling the color change against a two-stitch stripe up the side rather than placing it at the beginning of the round.

Oh, and as a side note, this yarn is slightly non-standard sized, for recommended needle size and gauge, and you will probably find more yarns that give you 20 stitches per 4 inches on a slightly larger needle. If that's the case, simply adjust your needle size to gauge as needed. :)

Updated February 6, 2021

Sizes: Small Adult (Medium Adult; Large Adult) (the small is for a hand roughly 7 1/2" - 8" in circumference at the base of the thumb and 7" from base of palm to fingertips, and the large for a hand roughly 8 1/2" - 9" in circumference at the base of the thumb and 8" from base of palm to fingertips - and finally, go medium if you're between)

Yarn: Alvita Alpaka (100% Alpaca; 109 yards [100 meters]/50 grams); #90 Brown - one skein (one skein; one to two skeins) (color A) & #10 Ivory – one skein (all sizes) (color B)

One mitten, near a tree. You
can just get a peek at the stripe
down the side...
Needles: one set of double-pointed needles (dpns) in size US 6, one set of dpns in size US 4

Notions: Tapestry needle

Gauge: 20 stitches = 4 inches on size 6 needles

So let's get started! Using your size 4 needles and your color A yarn, then, cast on 40 (40; 44) stitches loosely, distribute between three double pointed needles as follows: 12 stitches on first needle, 16 on second, 12 on third (12 stitches on first, 16 on second, 12 on third; 14 stitches on first, 16 on second, 14 on third) and join in round. Then we'll work some ribbing for the cuff, as follows:

Ribbing Row: * k1, p1; rep from *

Knit this ribbing row until ribbing measures roughly 2" (2.5"; 3"). Transfer work to your size US 6 needles and knit one row around. Clip your yarn tail, since we'll be changing colors halfway through our rounds. Then, we'll begin our color pattern, as follows:

Row 1: using your color B yarn, k19 (k19; k21); then, using your color A yarn, knit until end of round