It may seem strange that I’d call these dark moody mittens “Joy” but I love deep dark colors. I’m quite happy with a lap full yarn and 5 little sticks (and a cup of strong coffee). Making these brought me joy.

Like the last few mittens that I’ve designed, I used the most simple seeding pattern for the palms and thumbs–alternating one light stitch and one dark stitch throughout.

Although the pattern has only 2 colors per row, it does change colors enough that it might be wise to weave in the ends as you go. This is how I knit and I know that it makes the yardage count on the low end. If you knit with the technique of weaving in all the tails of the color changes at the end of the project you will need the amount that is in the upper end of the range. For example, if the pattern says “Seude (CC2) 33-37 yards”, you’d want to err on the side of the greater amount if you leave tails as you knit. That being said, I think it’s worth learning how to weave in ends as you go. Using that technique will allow you to use less yarn, not have to manage all the strings as you go, and in the end not have so much work to do to finish the project.

Here’s the Free Pattern for Joy Mittens. Enjoy!

Third time’s a charm. After two other attempts of making mittens with this motif I finally got the colors how I wanted. This fair isle style pattern works with 2 colors at a time. The palms and thumbs are a simple seeding pattern of alternating light and dark. The cuffs are quite long and tight. They are so warm!

These were made with Knit Picks Palette line of yarns. Everything I’ve been making lately is with this yarn because I love it so much. The colors are amazing and the quality and price are great. You could substitute other fingering weight wool. If you are using bits of what you have around, you will need 3 dark shades and 2 light shades to get the contrast right.

Below is the pattern that you can download for free. Let me know if you make them–post on Ravelry or send me a message. Happy knitting!

I’m putting out back to back patterns this weekend. Yesterday I posted Star Power Mitts and today I’m posting Star Lit Mitts. They are both fingerless mitts with a star pattern. The thumbs are similar and they both have a corrugated ribbing. The colors make them different. The Star Lit Mitts were going to be Star “Light” –but that name was already taken. Plus, I like the rhyming nature of a Star Lit Mitt.

If you knit these mitts or any other of my patterns, please post on Ravelry or if that’s not your thing, send me a message with a photo. I’d love to see your work! I’m giving away the pattern for free. Enjoy!

You don’t need much yarn to make fingerless mitts. These took 70 yards for the main color (Coriander Heather) and 74 for the contrasting color (Black). That’s it. I used a fingering weight yarn. Everything was knitted with size 2 needles except the corrugated ribbing which I thought it best to go down to size 1 to give it a snug fit.

I love to add design elements to the thumbs—no plain thumbs here. I’m posting the mitten pattern for free. Why do I keep writing patterns and giving them out for free? I suppose I’m building some kind of portfolio. If I were to do something more complex, like a sweater in multiple sizes, I would charge for it. However, I like designing little things like hats and mittens for now. When I come up with a design that I think others might like to knit I make a pattern document and put it up on this website. I’m pretty happy with these small projects for now. Here’s the Star Power Mitts pattern for anyone to download: