I finally finished my four mitten project! They all turned out so darn well, too! I absolutely love that I was able to write a new pattern for these and expand my techniques with making them double layered.
Between all four sets, I made several changes and adjustments to make them better. The thumbs were the biggest thing that changes from pair to pair, even though the technique for all of them was exactly the same. As it turns out, thumbs are the most difficult part of the hand to size!
One of the other things that makes these unique is how I did the connection line between pairs: since kids grow at different rates, I made them so the line can be easily removed for washing or for adding additional length if the gloves fit when the line does not.
But I was still able to get a great look out of all them, especially on the last pair: purple sparkly ones. They are double layered through the vast majority of the glove, as you can see in previous entries of how I did the layering. On the top, the gloved portion is one layer, and the mitten flap makes it double.
They turned out a lot cuter than I had expected, and one of the biggest adaptations from the first to the second is how I structured the fingers. They are very similar, but the spacing of the stitches is just a little bit different on each in order to make sure there are no gaps in between.
One of the other things that makes these unique is how I did the connection line between pairs: since kids grow at different rates, I made them so the line can be easily removed for washing or for adding additional length if the gloves fit when the line does not.
But I was still able to get a great look out of all them, especially on the last pair: purple sparkly ones. They are double layered through the vast majority of the glove, as you can see in previous entries of how I did the layering. On the top, the gloved portion is one layer, and the mitten flap makes it double.
They turned out a lot cuter than I had expected, and one of the biggest adaptations from the first to the second is how I structured the fingers. They are very similar, but the spacing of the stitches is just a little bit different on each in order to make sure there are no gaps in between.
As with all of the pairs, these are done in a moss stitch to give them a little bit of texture and to make sure they aren't at all boring. The texture also gives it a little bit more grip, and would make it very easy to hide rubberized grippers as well.
The cuffs and the base of the flap are done in a rib stitch to make them far more stretchy: this helps keep them snug on the bottom, but still expandable for getting the hand in and out - perfect for the winter, and for little kids.
But while they are most definitely a knit, there were a few ways I utilized a few of my minimal crocheting techniques: I used a crochet hook to close the tops of mittens, thumbs, and fingers so the tops would come together cohesively and securely. I also used my hook to be sure all of my ends were weaved in and secured on the inside of each mitten. In some cases, the ends are tucked between layers to minimize problems with snags or the ends being pulled out. I used it to add stitches where there were none, as the hook made it easy to cast stitches onto the needle through a section that I had already knit. I also made the connection line entirely with a crochet hook so the chain would be consistently spaced.
This improvisation took almost all of the materials I had available: holding needles for where I added the flap and secured the thumb, crochet hook for adding stitches and all the miscellaneous parts, stitch counters for containing areas where the layers would be connected and occasionally holding extra stitches. And these were - of coarse - done entirely in the round. The only thing I didn't use was my cabling needle, but I'm sure I'll get the chance to take that out at some point very soon!
The cuffs and the base of the flap are done in a rib stitch to make them far more stretchy: this helps keep them snug on the bottom, but still expandable for getting the hand in and out - perfect for the winter, and for little kids.
But while they are most definitely a knit, there were a few ways I utilized a few of my minimal crocheting techniques: I used a crochet hook to close the tops of mittens, thumbs, and fingers so the tops would come together cohesively and securely. I also used my hook to be sure all of my ends were weaved in and secured on the inside of each mitten. In some cases, the ends are tucked between layers to minimize problems with snags or the ends being pulled out. I used it to add stitches where there were none, as the hook made it easy to cast stitches onto the needle through a section that I had already knit. I also made the connection line entirely with a crochet hook so the chain would be consistently spaced.
This improvisation took almost all of the materials I had available: holding needles for where I added the flap and secured the thumb, crochet hook for adding stitches and all the miscellaneous parts, stitch counters for containing areas where the layers would be connected and occasionally holding extra stitches. And these were - of coarse - done entirely in the round. The only thing I didn't use was my cabling needle, but I'm sure I'll get the chance to take that out at some point very soon!
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