Coming in just under the wire with my mittens for June!

This month’s mittens were inspired by the trip I took to the Netherlands in May. The colors and design on the hand are reminiscent of the Delft titles and pottery we saw everywhere. The design on the cuffs is a take on the classic Dutch canal houses.

I really love this month’s pattern, if I do say so myself, but I did not love the yarn I used. This was Ullcentrum that I picked up at a cute little yarn shop in Amsterdam. I thought the color and weight would be perfect for designing these mittens. The problem was the consistency of the spinning of this yarn. It is a two-ply fingering weight, but there were so many unspun spots (or perhaps they areas were different lengths of yarn were joined together?) that it made it really hard to get a nice neat gauge for colorwork. You can really see some of the spots where the blue yarn was much thicker throughout the work, especially in the straight lines. It was very frustrating. I would love to see these done up again in a more consistent gauge.

Delft-Inspired Mittens

Download a pdf of the Delft-Inspired Mittens Pattern or just download a pdf of the Delft-Inspired Mittens Chart.

Size: Women’s Medium (about 7.75 stitches wide)

Supplies:

• fingering weight yarn in blue and white, about 100 – 150 yards each (I used Ullcentrum)
• four size 1 double-pointed needles (or size needed to get gauge)
• four size 0 double-pointed needles (or one size smaller than the needles used to get gauge)
• stitch marker
• contrasting scrap yarn
• tapestry needle

Gauge: 9 stitches and 11 rows over 1 inch on larger needles

Abbreviations:

• k – knit
• p – purl
• ssk – slip two stitches and knit together
• k2tog – knit two stitches together

With smaller needles cast on 66 stitches in blue, divide between three needles. Join to knit in the round being careful not to twist your stitches. Place a stitch marker between the first and last stitch to mark rows.

Follow chart for color pattern.

Row 1: p
Rows 2 – 3: k
Row 4: Pull both yarns forward with blue on top. Purl into each stitch with its matching color floating the other color over the working yarn.
Row 5: Purl into each stitch with its matching color floating the other color under the working yarn
(I switched the order of rows 4 and 5 for the left mitten.)
Row 6: k
Row 7: p
Rows 8 – 23: k
Row 24: p
Row 25: k
Row 26: Pull both yarns forward with blue on top. Purl into each stitch with its matching color floating the other color over the working yarn.
Row 27: Purl into each stitch with its matching color floating the other color under the working yarn
(I switched the order of rows 26 and 27 for the left mitten.)
Row 28: k
Row 29: p
Row 30: switch to larger needles, k16, m1, k17, m1, k16, m1, k17, m1 (70 stitches)
Rows 31 – 60: k
Row 61: (right mitten) k4, k15 with a piece of scrap yarn, put those 15 stitches back on the left needle, k across the rest of the row with your working yarn.
Row 61: (left mitten): k16, k15 with a piece of scrap yarn, put those 15 stitches back on the left needle, k across the rest of the row with your working yarn
Rows 62 – 95: k
Row 96: ssk, k31, k2tog, ssk, k31, k2tog (66 stitches)
Row 97: k
Row 98: ssk, k29, k2tog, ssk, k29, k2tog (62 stitches)
Row 99: k
Row 100: ssk, k27, k2tog, ssk, k27, k2tog (58 stitches)
Row 101: k
Row 102: ssk, k25, k2tog, ssk, k25, k2tog (54 stitches)
Row 103: k
Row 104: ssk, k23, k2tog, ssk, k23, k2tog (50 stitches)
Row 105: ssk, k21, k2tog, ssk, k21, k2tog (46 stitches)
Row 106: ssk, k19, k2tog, ssk, k19, k2tog (42 stitches)
Row 107: ssk, k17, k2tog, ssk, k17, k2tog (38 stitches)
Row 108: ssk, k15, k2tog, ssk, k15, k2tog (34 stitches)
Row 109: ssk, k13, k2tog, ssk, k13, k2tog (30 stitches)
Row 110: ssk, k11, k2tog, ssk, k11, k2tog (26 stitches)
Row 111: ssk, k9, k2tog, ssk, k9, k2tog (22 stitches)
Row 112: ssk, k7, k2tog, ssk, k7, k2tog (18 stitches)

Seam the top of the mitten using the kitchener stitch.

Thumb:

Place the fifteen stitches on either side of the scrap yarn carefully on two needles. Remove the scrap yarn. Divide between 3 needles placing a stitch marker on the right side between the upper and lower fifteen stitches.

Row 1: Starting at the right side of the bottom of the thumb, k 15, pick up and k1 stitch from the hand of the mitten, k15, pick up and k1 stitch from the hand of the mitten (32 stitches)
Row 2: k14, k2tog, k14, k2tog (30 stitches)
Rows 3 – 27: k
Row 28: ssk, k11, k2tog, ssk, k11, k2tog (26 stitches)
Row 29: ssk, k9, k2tog, ssk, k9, k2tog (22 stitches)
Row 30: ssk, k7, k2tog, ssk, k7, k2tog (18 stitches)
Row 31 ssk, k5, k2tog, ssk, k5, k2tog (14 stitches)
Row 32: ssk, k3, k2tog, ssk, k3, k2tog (10 stitches)

Seam the top of the thumb using the kitchener stitch.

Weave in ends.

Copyright 2014 Kathy Lewinski JustCraftyEnough.com
Do not duplicate for distribution, repost, sell or teach this pattern or chart without permission