Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

How to Knit the Warmest Mittens Ever

by

tips for knitting warm mittensI’m really a knit glove kind of person. Once I discovered that fingers are not as hard as I’d imagined, I kind of stopped knitting mittens.

But I definitely see their appeal for times like walking outside when you don’t need free use of your fingers, or for kids whose hands grow way too fast to fuss with tiny fingers. And they do keep your hands warmer because all the fingers are next to each other, but when your hands get as cold as mine do, it’s hard to tell the difference.

While you’re going to the trouble to knit you own mittens, you’re going to want to make them as warm as you can, right?

Interweave has some great tips for knitting warmer mittens, including using wool and a tighter-than-normal gauge. Using felting or stranded knitting to make the mitts warmer are also great ideas.

Another tip: knit the cuffs longer than seams reasonable. This allows you to tuck them into your coat so your wrists or lower arms don’t get exposed to the cold.

Do you have any mitten knitting tips or a favorite pattern? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Guillemet Mittens from Knit Mitts, via Interweave.]

Looking for more knitting patterns for Mittens? Check these out on Etsy. 

Comments

  3. I took a mitten class at the local yarn store. Have one complete. Really not sure about starting another one! Need to find a book for beginners – when I look on line the covers all look great …. uncertain of the insides. I always am appreciative of the book reviews. Craft Gossip rules.

Have you read?

Classic Dishcloth Knitting Patterns

Fall will be here before we know it, and that means there are holidays coming right behind where we might be entertaining at home. It’s always fun to have a hand knit touch in your home for other people to see, and if you’re going to be in the kitchen all day you might as well have some nice knit dish cloths to use. 

I love this little plaid hand towel from Darling Jadore. Use a little bit of leftover cotton yarn from another project for the plaid portion. It looks like the horizontal stripes are worked as you knit and the vertical stripes are done with duplicate stitch, making this a quick and easy project even newer knitters can make. 

Combine garter stitch and an easy eyelet pattern worked sideways to make the Annette Dish Towel from Cluck Cluck Boots, which is meant to be reminiscent of flour sack towels. It calls for DK weight yarn and you can work it in one color or two (or even three!). 

Add a little more texture with this set of kitchen towels from Whileberry Creative. They’re mostly worked in garter stitch with borders in easy knit/purl patterns, and you can work them in sport or worsted weight yarn. 

Two of Wands Shop has another cute allover knit and purl pattern they call the Seersucker Textured Tea Towel. It’s an easy repeating pattern worked in worsted weight yarn, and there’s a chart in the pattern you can use, but don’t have to, if you want to practice knitting from a chart. 

The Classic Cloth dish towel from Handmade Home by Connie is another one that can use a little leftover yarn in a contrasting color, or you could color block it our use stripes throughout the pattern. This one uses worsted weight yarn and another easy repeating knit purl stitch pattern. 

If you like to hang your towel on the oven handle or elsewhere but it’s always falling off, try the Stay Put kitchen towel from Fancy Step Knits. This project is worked in garter stitch and includes a hole partway through so you can pull the towel through itself over a rod or handle. Stripes are optional but a nice addition.