Knit Bernie’s Mittens from the Inauguration

If you watched the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris (or have been on the Internet any time since) you’ve seen, and maybe fallen in love with, the mittens worn by Bernie Sanders at the event.

His brown Fair Isle mitts were made by Jenn Ellis, a Vermont schoolteacher, who made them out of upcycled sweaters (the backs are blue, and the back of the thumb looks like another piece of Fair Isle knitting in green and white).

Alyssa Coffey released a chart for the backs of Bernie’s mittens, which fits into her plain mitten pattern, and could be adjusted somewhat to different sizes or gauges. (Though changing needle size is probably the best option since the design is nicely centered as it is.)

I love the idea of stitching these up for a Progressive friend, or maybe getting a jump on your Halloween costume?

You can grab the free chart on Ravelry.

Looking for more items featuring these now famous, Bernies Mitts – Check these fun Bernie items out on Etsy.

Need a Bernie beanie to go with those mittens? Check out this matching mitten pattern.

Next Pattern:

Stitch dictionaries are a fun way to learn new-to-you knitting stitch patterns or to take a deep dive into a particular technique. Debbie Tomkies offers 100 cable stitch designs and thoughts on how to incorporate them into projects in her Cable Knitting Stitch Dictionary.

Each stitch pattern is shown in a large swatch photo and with written and charted instructions. Any special stitches are included on the page. The stitches are rated on a difficulty scale of 1 to 3, and the pattern notes also indicate how many extra stitches you should add to a project if you’re going to work this cable (since cables pull the fabric closer together you need to compensate for that) as well as how many stitches and rows are in the repeat if you want to design a project yourself.

The cables are arranged into sections: classic cables, combinations, all-over panels, creative cables, motifs and panels and cabled edges and borders.

It’s fun to flip through the designs to think about projects you can add a single cable or two to or make with an allover cabled design. Or you could make swatches of different cables and sew them together into a pillow cover or a throw.

At the back of the book there’s a section on general cable knitting techniques, reading charts, working swatches and avoiding errors (though it mentions working the wrong number of rows between cable turns, it doesn’t share how to count rows between cables to avoid this mistake).

It also talks about how to design your own cables, combine cables in a project, choose the right yarn and needles and determine how many more stitches you need to cast on when working cables instead of stockinette stitch. There’s also a glossary of symbols and abbreviations you may find in cable knitting and other patterns.

The book provides a good overview of things you can do with cables, as well as some fun things you might not have tried like infinity cables and horizontal cables. It’s a great book for a designer who likes to work with cables or a knitter who wants to play with different stitches in their projects.

About the book: 176 pages, paperback, 100 stitch patterns. Published 2024 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $26.99.

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