The Sampler Fingerless Mittens and Phone Cosy knitting pattern is inspired by the Victorian needlework samplers that had rows of different stitches and also by a 1932 slipover jumper that had panels of different basic stitches that used knit and purl stitches. There is a stocking stitch palm - so the palm is a flat fabric, and a shaped thumb. The mittens are knit flat, whereas the Phone Cosy is knit in the round on double-pointed needles.

The mittens are knit on 4 mm knitting needles and are designed for double-knitting wool. The wool used to create the cover photograph mittens and cosy is Hobbycraft’s ‘Make the Change’ DK wool in ‘duck egg blue’ which is made from recycled polyester (85%) and recycled acrylic (15%). Stylecraft’s Recreate DK is a good substitute.

Materials
1 100g ball of Hobbycraft ‘Make the Change’ DK wool (85% Recycled Polyester, 15% Recycled Acrylic, 260 m/28 yrds)
(for mittens) A pair of 3.25 mm (UK 10, US 3) knitting needles
(for mittens and cosy) A pair of 4 mm (UK 8, US 6) knitting needles
(for cosy) A set of four 4 mm double-pointed needles (dpns)
A tapestry needle
(for cosy) A stitch marker

Techniques
Making a thumb, knit and purl stitches, casting on, casting off, increasing and decreasing, K1 P1 rib, moss stitch, double-moss stitch

The patterns include:

• Easy to follow written instructions about how to make the mittens and iPhone cosy and a list of materials required

• a photo tutorial on how to complete a stretchy rib cast on (an alternative to casting on using the thumb method)

• a guide to avoiding ladders when working with double-pointed needles.