The original inspiration for Woodland Mittens was the Woodland Hat, which I designed a few years ago for the (now defunct, sadly), Ravelry Designer’s Challenge based on a woodland theme.

This stitch pattern brought to my mind the image of moss in the knots of trees, with it’s double-moss stitch enclosed within the cable sections.

I thought that the stitch pattern also would work well for a pair of mittens, and so, these mittens were born! The mittens are knit from the 1 by 1 ribbed cuff up and the thumb is done with a side-seam thumb gusset. The cable motif continues through the top decreases of the mitten.

The mittens are mirrored, with a different left-hand and right-hand mitten. Each mitten has a cable pattern on the back of the hand and a slipped-stitch textured palm. The extra yarn on the palm helps keep the hand warm and provides an additional layer against friction and wear (as well as providing help in making snowballs!)