Polka Dot Mittens

These are the days to get going on a mitten expedition. I dug out the Peer Gynt pattern from last year and my basket of DK wool colours. To start, it seemed right to knit one pair in each size.

My granddaughter is a big fan of Frozen. She requested a pair of polka dot mittens. Blue with white polka dots to be precise. Good to be clear about what you want in life, that is what I say.

I had previously made a pair for her little brother in rust Cleckheaten 8 ply superwash from this old chestnut of a book. I think it dates from 1951 for some reason. This is my favourite weight in the store, it is a European standard, 5.5 stitches to the inch on a 4mm needle. My favorite Aunt would say, Britain is certainly not part of Europe. Note, the mittens are actually made on a 3.25.

The book has a super chart for mitten making, all the sizes laid out for your knitting pleasure. 

There are variations on the theme, though I made the straight forward ones. Drop me a line and I am happy to send you a scanned PDF of the chart.

Next I dug out my other 4 needle mitten pattern book, these being made in a slightly heavier weight, I used Cascade 220 superwash. I picked a summer colour, to remind me of sunny days and blue oceans. It was lovely to work with, and also using a 3.25 needle.

I needed a model to measure the Frozen mittens by, since my orginal pattern was for adults. The Beehive Starlight is vintage too. Likely 40 years old and made in Great Britain. It is a wool wrapped with an iridescent thread, so I am imagining it as the snow.

The pattern uses an afterthought thumb, which you can see here with the pink cotton yarn. You purl the thumb stitches with a scrap, back up to the main yarn and repurl the stitches. After all is done, you pick up the stitches, pull out the scrap yarn and knit the thumb. This practice is well explained in the pattern.