I have been trying to get back into knitting, after a long time of not knitting. I have some new bifocal glasses, and I can now see so much better. I decided to make some fingerless mitts instead of socks. I was able to use my sock knitting skills to make these mitts. The pattern is available from here: http://lifeincleveland.blogspot.com/2008/03/mmmalabrigo-glovies.html
I used a worsted weight wool called Malabrigo, in the Ravelry Red color. These mitts were knit on #8 bamboo dpns, up to the last few rows, which were knit on #7 bamboo needles. I actually bought these Japanese bamboo dpns especially for this project. They are very smooth. The Malabrigo wool is very soft, and I enjoyed knitting with it.
Basically, I used the long-tail cast-on to make 32 stitches (8 stitches per dpn) and joined, being careful not to twist. Then I knit 15 rounds in K2 P2 ribbing. I had the wool, so I could make the cuffs longer. Then a couple of rows were knit in stockinette stitch. The next round was the setup round for the gusset. The setup round is to K16, pm, inc 1, K1, inc 1, pm, K to the end of the round. Then a couple of rounds are knit in stockinette stitch, slipping the markers. After that, those three rounds are repeated until there are 13 stitches between the markers. On the increase rounds after the gusset setup round, the markers are slipped, inc 1, K to next marker, inc 1, slip marker, K to end of round.
The thing is, after you do the gusset setup, the marker is between two needles, and it slips off too easy. So what I did was slip some stitches around so there was at least one or two stitches on that needle to hold the marker in place while I was doing the gusset increases.
Finally, after there are 13 stitches between the markers, and two rounds have been knit, it is time to bind off the hole for the thumb. So I knit around to the first marker, took it off, then did a bind-off for 12 stitches. I slipped off the other marker and knit to the end of the round.
The next round is kind of tricky if you don't know this little trick. When you get to the thumb hole, cross the stitches, the same as if joining a cast-on for knitting in the round. This is not mentioned in the pattern. Evidently, it is considered a very common trick of knitting. I did not do this for the first mitt, and the thumb-hole was very stretchy where it was connected.I ended up reinforcing the thumb-hole join with some yarn.
The rest of the mitt is very straightforward. Knit a few rounds in stockinette stitch, then start K2 P2 ribbing. The last few rows of ribbing are done on #7 dpns. Bind-off in-pattern, weave the ends in, and voila, fingerless mitts.
This was a fun, quick project, given as a Valentine's Day gift to my BFF.
