I love hiking and I’ve been hiking for over 40 years. I belong to a hiking group, and we have gone to beautiful places. These mittens are in honor of all my hiking friends that I’ve hiked with for so many years.

If you wonder why both hikers are facing in the same direction, it is because they are hiking together. It is never a good idea to hike alone so this pair of mittens show two hikers hiking together. I love hiking with my friends because we catch up with what is happening in each other’s life, and it keeps my mind off the tough sections of the trail.

• This is a colorwork mitten that also includes a braid for a nice detail around the cuff.

• Test Knitters used 162 yds MC and 69 yds CC; 152 yds MC and 64 yds CC; 178 yds MC and 117 yds CC.

Difficulty: medium

• The Cuff is the same for both right and left mitten.
• There are separate charts for the right and left mitten.
• Increasing and decreasing are involved.
• A braid around the cuff is used.
• An afterthought thumb is used.
• The mittens are not lined, so I recommend that your floats are no more than 5 stitches long, to avoid catching fingers in the loops. There are videos on YouTube that show you how to catch your floats, but I found this one to be a new way to do it: https://youtu.be/DKDj8u0mzNQ