02-11-2018

I’ve decided to make the mitt cuffs ribbed (2x2) because I don’t love icord finishes and I’m trying to keep cold off my wrists. Remember that 62 st (the pattern number, and required due to colourwork patterning) is not evenly divisible by 4. So your K2P2 CO is 60 stitches. In the first even (fully knit) row after the ribbing, use the main colour and add 2 additional stitches to get to the colourwork pattern starting point.

FYI - these mitts hog yarn. Had to buy more of the white J&S because I’m pretty sure I will run out. Note to self - I didn’t run out of yarn…

Knitting on a Lining: How to Determine Vertical Measurements

Note that I’ve opted to do a ribbed cuff - not icord - so the instructions may not align with your mitts if you opt to make the mitts as instructed.

I’ve decided to knit on a lining in straight stockinette (the Heritage in blue) on a US 0. This is 2 needle sizes smaller and light fingering (thinner than either of the yarns used to make the mitt itself). But I know this yarn and needle size well - given that I knit most socks using these - and I trust that the lining yarn won’t shrink vertically or horizontally when blocked. Also, that the stitches will have optimal resiliency.

I figured out how to knit the lining by checking the vertical gauges of both fabrics in stockinette and then adding, to the lining, the required percentage of additional rows to reach the length of the main mitt fabric.

In this instance, I needed ~25 per cent more rows of the lining pattern to get to the same vertical sized lining fabric as is the length of the main mitt. I divided the mitt up into sections (top of rib to base of thumb, top of thumb to where the mitt tip decreases begin). Because this pattern is charted by rows, if you get gauge then you’re one step closer to figuring out the lining dimensions. I simply added the additional percentage required by row and added those rows into the lining.

Example

For ex: From the top of the thumb where it meets the mitt to the place on the mitt where the tip decreases begin constitutes 3 vertical inches. If I get 8 rows per inch with the main fabric (I did, and that’s instructed gauge for the smaller size), then I know that section - for the mitt - is 24R because the diagram, with rows numbered, proves it. If I need to add 25 per cent more length for my lining fabric, to get to the equivalent length of the mitt proper, that comes to 30R. (25 per cent of 24 is 6 and 6 plus 24 is 30).

Remember that you’re going to need to add in “dummy rows” (aka non-decrease or knit straight rows) in the decrease sections because the design instructed decreases occur on every row and you need more length for the lining than you do for the actual mitt. Just disperse “knitting straight” rows evenly throughout the given section.

Note that I didn’t do a gauge swatch of either yarn before making either the mitt or the lining. I simply chose my lining needles and yarn in smaller gauge / thinner yarn, made sure the lining wasn’t terribly off in horizontal gauge and knitted an inch and a half of it. At that point, I checked the vertical gauge of the lining. (My tension is consistent and I’ve worked with the yarn many times, so I’m confident I could determine the gauge from just over an inch of knitted fabric.)

How to Cast On the Lining

You can knit a separate lining for any mitt OR you can attach the lining to the mitt. That’s what I’ve opted to do and this is how I did it:

Note that this lining is cast on in such a way that the wrong/interior side of the mitt fabric (the side with floats) and the wrong/interior side of the lining (the one with purl bumps) face one another when the lining is situated inside the mitt…

• I turned the glove inside out to pick up the requisite number of stitches from the purl bumps of the stockinette fabric that are in the row first above the 2x2 ribbing.
• Don’t fret if you come up 3-4 stitches short. It’s hard to see what’s going on with all of those floats in the way. You can, in the subsequent rows, add in a couple of stitches to get quickly to the desired (and pattern instructed) stitch count. Note: If your gauge is totally off that of the pattern’s, your stitch number will be that of the number you cast on for the mitt, with the consideration that the horizontal gauge is going to need to play nicely. Since linings should be smaller than the main mitt, I’ve chosen to stay with the original stitch count. But see comment above about how I’m working with a lining fabric I understand well.
• Use info from Knitting on a Lining: How to Determine Vertical Measurements, above, to figure out your own personal vertical gauge and row number equivalents for the lining, given your variables, and just keep knitting till it’s time to follow the next pattern instruction.
• Effectively, the lining grows from the inside of the mitt (where it’s cast on) out in the opposite direction of the mitt. You will see the right sides of both fabrics as you knit the lining (but note that the cuff of the main mitt will be turned to the wrong side at first, so that you can knit the first couple of inches of the lining from the interior mitt, just above that rib.
• When you finish casting off the lining, simply tuck it into the mitt and its soft knitted side will touch your hands and will hide the floats on the interior of the mitt (kind of sad cuz they are cool to look at, but they aren’t super soft and they can catch).
• You may choose to tack the two fabrics together at the tip of the thumb, tip of mitt and top of thumb where it meets the body of the mitt, so that the lining won’t flip out when you remove the mitts. If you do, use the mitt yarn or thick thread in a common colour so that it isn’t visible on the outside of the mitt.

04-08-2019

Ribbing instead of iCord: For future reference: I cast on 60 st in K2P2 (4st pattern repeat). For first row after the ribbing, I knitted 1 row and, in that row, I added 2 extra stitches (just distributed 1 on each side of the magic loop) to get to the pattern stitch count of 62 stitches (just before beginning the first stranded row)

12-08-2019

Man this pattern was a challenge for me - I really don’t like doing stranded colourwork in small diameter knitting. Very unlikely I’ll do this again - which is unfortunate cuz I could stand to improve AND it’s a really great mitt pattern.

Having said this, for future reference, should it come to pass that I make these again with similar mitt yarn (and the same Heritage lining yarn), here are the specific instructions for the lining:

• Cast on 62 stitches from the first row after the ribbing. Note that you do have 1 even row because you need to un-rib before doing the colourwork AND because you need to get from 60 to 62 st (pattern number). Remember - you didn’t start with 62 on the mitt cuz you did K2P2 which is a 4-stitch repeat and 62 is not evenly divisible by 4.
• Knit 25 rows of straight stockinette to get to the base of the thumb.
• Base of thumb to thumb being put on waste yarn is 15R. Don’t mess with adding extra rows into the thumb gusset section. You will need to look at the pattern to see where to add in the M1s.
• Note that when you do the remainder of the thumb (overall length is 3” on the main mitt), you’ll want to add the extra/dummy rows in the main thumb portion (between rows 36 and 49) before the decrease section. This is 14 rows. Add an extra 2 rows before you start the thumb decreases. Look at pattern to see where the decreases are worked.
• In the thumb decrease section, add an extra/dummy row.
• From the top of the thumb divet (the opposite end of the gusset, that closest to the tip of the mitt) to the end of the max width of the glove (before the decrease section), the distance is 3”. The glove took 24 rows to work this vertical depth. Work 30R of lining above the upper thumb to get to the base of the top decrease section.
• From the top of the max width of glove to the bind off tip (the decrease section at the top of the mitt), the vertical span is 1.75”. The main mitt does this in 12 rows.Work 15 rows for the lining to get to the same depth. Look at the pattern to see where the decreases are worked.
• Bind off remaining stitches.