About The Stopgap! Mitten

This pattern is designed to eliminate those annoying little gaps around the base of the thumb that need to be sewn closed when knitting the traditional style mitten.

The Stopgap! Mitten Pattern features a vertical thumbhole, constructed by knitting flat, that is, after knitting the cuff in the round, purling back to the beginning of the round, then alternating knit and purl rows for the required number of rows. The work is then rejoined in the round to complete the hand.

The thumb stitches are then picked up around the vertical thumbhole in a way similar to picking up stitches around the armhole of a sweater. The thumb is knit, and YES! we have NO gaps, only a neat seam.

Consider this pattern to be freeware; use it as you please.

Enjoy knitting these mittens and say goodbye to those pesky thumbhole gaps!

Note on Materials:

• While you can use any circular needles, I personally used Kollage Square Circulars size 5 U.S. (3.75mm) 16-inch knitting needles for this pattern.
• Yarn used is Loops & Threads Impeccable worsted weight.

Note on Cast On:

• For this pattern, I used a Long Tail Thumb Cast On which I demonstrate in a YouTube tutorial: Emilio Shows Long Tail Thumb Cast On. Https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=emilio+shows...

Note on Thumb Decreases:

• For the thumb decrease rounds, it may be helpful to write them out line-by-line as follows:

Round 1: Knit
Round 2: Knit
Round 3: Decrease, etc.

In the pattern, they are in a more condensed format:

Rounds 1-2: Knit
Rounds 3-7: Decrease on odd rounds, knit even rounds.
etc.

Note on Knitting Method:

This pattern is written using the Two Circulars method of knitting in the round; suggestions are offered in the pattern for adapting it to the use of DPNs and Magic Loop methods.

Note On Fit:

The length on these mittens runs a little long; for a snugger fit, you may want to reduce the number of hand rounds and/or thumb rounds.