City Mittens!

December 29, 2014

I love browsing all of the patterns from the Purl Bee, but this is my first time trying one of their patterns. These City Mittens turned out great! They have a cute rounded top, and they are extra warm because they have a double thick cuff and faux thrums (thank you, bunnyknitter, for the idea)! Faux thrums mean that I used a bulky weight yarn for the hearts - and the strands inside create extra warmth and thickness in the mitten.  Want to make your own? I posted my tips below!

Oops! Missed a heart on the thumb on the left.

Make Your Own City Mittens:

• Pattern. This pattern is called Classic Mittens by the Purl Bee. The pattern is really well written, and it includes instructions for multiple sizes, and some pictures!
• Materials:
• I used a grey DK weight yarn and a black bulky weight yarn. 
• I used size 2 needles for the cuff, size 3 needles for the body.
• Tapestry needle.
• Stitch counter.  You don't need to buy one - you could download a free stitch counting app instead. However, I've found that old school stitch counters are a lot easier (they don't turn off like a phone does).
• Techniques that may help: 
• Magic loop is a good technique for these mittens. It keeps you from getting ladders (wonky pieces that look uneven when you switch between DPNs). Very pink has a nice video tutorial on this technique.
• Stranded knitting. Very Pink also has a great video series on how to knit fair isle. 
• Provisional cast on. There are many ways to do a provisional cast on, but I think Purl Bee's technique here is the easiest.
• My tips: 
• To create the faux thrums, I followed bunnyknitter's thrums. 
• Row 1: knit 5 stitches of the main color, then knit 1 stitch in the heart color. Repeat all the way around. 
• Rows 2 and 3: knit in the main color all the way around. 
• Row 4: knit 2, knit 1 in the heart color. Then *knit 5 in the main color, knit 1 in the heart color.* Repeat all the way around. Last 3 stitches will be in the main color. 
• Repeat rows 1 - 4 all the way up the mitten.
• My cuffs were 50 rows long before I seamed them together.
• After the cuff, I knit 24 rows before making the thumb hole.
• After the thumb, I knit 27 rows before decreasing.
• When I picked up the thumb, I knit 15 rows before decreasing.

Happy knitting!

~SaltyCrafts

P.S. Looking for more mitten ideas? I have some more mittens here: Kitten mittens, Herringbone mittens, Druid mittens, and Frozen mittens! I also have a Ravelry page with other projects, and I would love to see what you create!