Pendle Mittens – knitting pattern using stranded knitting
I was born in Lancashire and I have lived here all my life. For a ‘Lancashire Lass’ like me, Pendle Hill looms large both on the landscape and in local legend. Whether you believe the tales about Lancashire witches or not, a walk up Pendle Hill is to be enjoyed at any time. Thing is, no matter when you go, when you get to the top it is always cold. So I named these super‐warm mittens and matching hat (pattern available separately) after the hill because a way to keep your hands warm on a walk up Pendle is very useful indeed!
And these mittens are warm. DK yarn is used on slightly undersized needles to give a firm, dense knit. Plus, the stranded knitting technique, a feature of which is ‘floats’ on the inside, produces a thicker, and therefore warmer, fabric.
There are so many colour combinations you could use in this pattern! A simple two colour mitten will look very different in a high contrast or low contrast colour combination. You can use more than one colour or shade for either the main colour or the contrast colour (as in the six‐colour version pictured), or you could introduce stripes or gradients. This is a great pattern for using up part balls from your stash. The colours used and their sequence for all the samples pictured are detailed in the pattern.
The pattern is written in three sizes:
Small ‐ to fit hand 14‐16cm (5‐6”)
Medium – to fit hand 16‐18 cm (6‐7”)
Large – to fit hand 18‐20 cm (7‐8”)
Hand is measured around, just above the thumb
Yarn requirements
For mitten:
MC Approx 130 (150, 170) m / 145 (165, 185) yds of double
knitting yarn
CC Approx 60 (67, 76) m / 65 (73, 83) yds of double knitting
yarn
(Metres/yards for the six colour version pictured are given in the pattern)
For fingerless mitten:
MC Approx 120 (135, 155) m / 130 (145, 170) yds of double
knitting yarn
CC Approx 42 (48, 55) m / 46 (52, 60) yds of double knitting
yarn
Other supplies
3.25mm (UK10, US3) dpns, set of four
3.75 mm (UK9, US5) dpns, set of four
Note: you can work the mitten using a circular needle and the magic loop method if you prefer, but you will need dpns for the thumb due to the small number of stitches.
Stitch markers: 1 x col A, 2 x col B
Waste yarn
Tapestry needle
Buy the pattern from these websites
