When I started my knitwear business, I started with mittens. I tried a few different styles, but none really worked as well as I wanted. Most patterns were too thin, too baggy, too complicated, too fussy, too slow, or simply not durable.

I decided that if I was going to make mittens, they needed to be better. They needed to not only be warm and durable, but they also needed to be soft and beautiful, so they would be a joy to wear.

My Wild Island Classic Mittens are all of those – soft and strong, warm and beautiful. Over the past ten years, I’ve sold hundreds of pairs of these mittens, and I would have sold many more if I’d had the time to make them.

Like my Enchanted Hand Sweaters, and Epic Gauntlets, these mittens feature the same unique cuff and shape that make this design work, and the design encourages you to play with all manner of colours and textures.

And the best part is that they are fast to make, because they use chunky yarns and size 5mm (US 8) needles. I can make one pair per day easily, two if I’m snowed in.

The 9 page pattern includes instructions for adult sizes small, medium, and large, suggestions for materials, and lots of photos of mittens I’ve made to give you inspiration and ideas.