Sunday, December 23, 2007

Thumbless Toddler Mittens: In Which I Attempt to "Design"



I’ve been on a mission, in between the frenzy of Christmas knitting, to find the Perfect Toddler Mitten pattern. My requirements:

  • Must be easy to put on a moving toddler
  • Must stay on said moving toddler
  • Must not be easy to lose

It turns out that finding this pattern was harder than I thought, in part because I don’t know about the rest of you, but I cannot get my squirmy toddler’s thumb to fit into a thumb gusset. I just needed something to stick over his hands so they’d stay warm while we’re out walking with the stroller.

I ended up adapting Louisa Harding’s pattern from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms. The original is knit with a light DK weight yarn and worked flat and then seamed. My version is knit with a light worsted and converted to be worked in the round. I don’t know if my changes are substantial enough to be considered a new pattern (please weigh in on this in the comments section if you can), so with apologies to Louisa Harding, here is my adaptation. This is my first substantial attempt at changing a pattern/design, so please be gentle.

Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash (I used two colors, you can use whatever strikes your fancy)
Needles: Size 4 US DPNs, Size 7 US DPNs
Gauge: Not sure it matters for toddler mittens!

Cuff
With Size 4 needles, CO 32 stitches in Color 1, place marker, and join for working in the round.

Work in K2, P2 ribbing for three inches (this creates a cuff that can extend down the wrist or can be folded as desired).

Increase round: Work 4 stitches in rib, M1 around.

Hand
Change to Size 7 needles (and Color 2 if desired). Knit around until hand is just short of desired length. (To determine this, hold your squirmy toddler down and measure from wrist to fingertip. Then let said Toddler wander off with your new Lantern Moon sheep tape measure, which he will then promptly put in the cat’s water dish.)

Decrease for top of Hand
Change back to Color 1 if desired.

Place a second marker in the middle of the round.

Round 1: K3tog tbl, knit to 3 stitches before marker 2, K3tog, K3tog tbl, K to last three stitches of the round, K3tog.

Round 2: Knit

Rounds 3 and 4: Repeat Rounds 1 and 2.

Round 5: K2tog tbl, knit to 2 stitches before marker 2, K2tog, K2tog tbl, K to last two stitches of the round, K2tog.

Round 6: Knit

Rounds 7 and 8: Repeat Rounds 5 and 6

Cut yarn, thread tail through remaining stitches and secure.

This is a rough prototype, so please let me know if you see any mistakes. My plan is to knit the second the same as the first and join them with a three stitch I-cord.

Of course, when I showed the mitten to The Toddler, he shook his head and walked off. Your Toddler May Vary.

12 comments:

Cara said...

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baby-mittens
i'm almost half way through number two. and instead of using the size needles she calls for i used size 5 dpns and the size is perfect for max. i'll be adding a thin i-cord between the two of them so that they don't get lost. they will match the hat that i have in my ravelry in case you're interested.

LisaBe said...

i love them! squee cute! i'm so proud of you! (and i'd add a no-lose-it cord, too, because i love them :) )

Unknown said...

must.try.almost immediately (LOL). Stupid Christmas getting in the way! These look great. I seriously need to start chaining my child's socks together as well as it's just one other appendage she doesn't think should ever be covered;)

great job, anna!

cosymakes said...

yay! way to go for it and put up your mods. after all, how many ways can you really make a toodler mitten? great job.

Heather said...

I giggled out loud at the directions on how to measure length of hand. I had this series of events happen nearly exactly after measuring my son's head for a hat. Thanks for the pattern. I look forward to casting on in a few minutes. Gotta love naptime. :)

Rachel A said...

thanks for an adorable, straight forward design. it was just what i was looking for. i kitchener-ed up the top instead of cinching and liked the results. :D

Anonymous said...

I'm about an inch into the cuff, and it looks like this will be much too big for my 16-month-old. I may adapt, or find another pattern, and save this for next year.

Thanks!

Betsy said...

Your toddler sounds like mine. :) Thanks for the pattern! I think I'll try it out.

Anonymous said...

I have just finished the cuff and am wondering what kind of M1 you used for the increase. Looks like a great mitten pattern!

zb-sheepy said...

Ugh, way too big for my two year old. :( Must search for different pattern.

Grammie in Frisco, TX said...

How old was your toddler at the time you knit this? What was their hand measurement? Trying to make these for a granddaughter that lives out of state, so I have no idea her hand measurement. She is 17 months old.

Neil Luckhurst said...

I'm casting 20 stitches of Cascade 220 Heather onto 3.25 mm needles and I am sure the cuffs will be plenty big enough. I have a tracing of the 1 year old's hands to work with.

For a 2 year old I used the same wool and needles but doubled the wool and 16 stitches worked very well. I increased to 24 stitches for the hand and added 12 stitches for the gusset and thumb. They fit like a....glove.