Split Mittens pattern update :::::: Blogtober 2022 : Day 28

One of my projects for Blogtober this year was to knit myself a new pair of Split Mittens.  If you’ve been following along, you’ll have seen my progress on a short circular needle, a long circular needle and now, almost under the wire, they’re finished.  Hooray!

A pair of chunky mittens on a wooden table next to a set of pink circular needles

They look too long to be the right fit, don’t they?  I can assure you that they are, though!

Now, I know that I’ve been going on about these mittens a bit this month but apart from the fact that I’m very proud of the pattern for these fun mitts, I think they are the Most Useful accessories I’ve got (not including my socks – nothing knocks those off the top spot!), and I wish it wasn’t the case but there are going to be people this Winter who will be seriously thinking about wearing hats, gloves, mitts and scarves in their houses because they are cold but still need to be able to function in their daily lives.  Add in all the dog walkers, parents with small children, people at bus stops who want to root in their pockets or bags or use their phones, or anybody else who wants warm hands but doesn’t like the frustration of taking gloves or mitts off to get at things as well as those who might want extra layers and this pattern is just the thing – and is even great for using up stash as you can use a few strands of yarn held together to get the chunky weight this pattern requires.

Look!  You just push your hand out through the split and there’s no risk of losing your mitten and it’s still warm when you put it back on.

Christine's hand pushed through the split of a Split Mitten to show how it works

I’ve designed a good long cuff into this pattern too as there’s nothing worse than getting a draught up your sleeves!

Christine is holding a Split Mitten in the hand that is wearing the other mitten of the pair

“Oh, this is old news!” you might be thinking.  “You brought that pattern out years ago and it was only in one size and it’s no good for people whose hands are a different size to yours. I thought you had something exciting to tell us today!”

Well, it was indeed the case that up until earlier this week there was only one size for this pattern which meant that unless you were comfortable with changing the measurements yourself, you could only have a pair of these mitts if your hands were a similar size to mine.  Here’s my exciting announcement … my amazing tech editor, Helen, has graded the pattern for me which means that she has done all of the working out of the numbers (and she’s really good at that!) and now there are FOUR sizes of Split Mitten: toddler, child, small adult and large adult.  Woohoo!

I am delighted as it means that nobody has to do mitten maths for themselves and I am most pleased about the two smaller sizes as they mean that no small person has to suffer with a string through the back of their coat so that they don’t lose one of their mitts.  Does anybody put their gloves and mitts on strings any more?  I hated it when I was little.  I hated the feel of the string across my back and I never got used to it.  I used to cut it off and risk the fallout if I lost a glove – although I never did because I was always very careful with them – perhaps more so because the fear of having a string put back on them made me extra careful!  Anyway, all of these sizes now means that small people can wear mittens, push their hands through to pick up toys or conkers or eat a biscuit or whatever they need to do and there will be No Lost Mittens.  Hooray again!

This is the split that goes across the palm.  I did some experimenting when I first designed this pattern and a deep rib like this means that it doesn’t ride up and let any cold air in.

A close up of the ribbed split in a Split Mitten

The yarn I used for these was Rico Essentials Mega Chunky Tweed in shade 001.  It was a 100g ball and I had 21g left.  My size is now the small adult size so you would probably get the larger size out of 100g too.  Chunky yarn makes them a nice quick knit and I’ve dragged them out a bit over the month but you could certainly have a pair reasonably quickly if you got stuck in – especially with the smaller sizes.

A pair of mittens lying on rockery stones

I’ve updated the pattern link on the Split Mittens tutorial page and even though the sizing has changed, you can still use the photo tutorial to help.  I’ll need to make one or two tweaks to the instructions there so that they match up with the new pattern but I’ll try to get that done over the weekend if I can.  The new version of the Split Mittens pattern is also here to save you going back to the tutorial if you’re in a hurry.

I’d like nothing better than to know that these are someone else’s Most Useful mitts too so do let me know how you get on if you decide to make a pair!

 

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30 Responses

  1. Melissa says:

    Thank you so much for this pattern! I’ve made 4 pairs so far. Cute design and fast to knit up. Many thanks!

  2. Jacqui says:

    Thanks very much for producing the pattern in different sizes. I think my little granddaughters will love them. I have knitted them mittens in the past and put them on a string so they don’t get lost! Ooops. Have to rectify that then!

    • winwickmum says:

      Ha ha, it might just have been me with the string through the coat – I’m like the Princess and the Pea which is how my life was transformed by Kitchener Stitch in my socks! 🙂 xx

      • Jacqui says:

        My daughter has the Princess and the Pea problem and she even said she could feel the Kitchener stitch on the socks which I really can’t get my head around. Anyway, more socks for me 😉 x

  3. Barbara Adamson says:

    I made a pair from your original pattern but used some anonymous charity shop thickish wool and a smaller long circular than it said…and they fit my 8 year old grandson who is tickled pink with them, just what he wanted, he said! Looking forward to trying the new improved multized pattern now, especially as I learned how to use the long circular needle thing!

  4. Isabel Ruiz says:

    Muchas gracias desde España. Mi hija se ha trasladado a Copenhaghe para trabajar y creo que estos guantes podrían ser ideales para ella. En España también hace frío en invierno, pero los guantes que usamos suelen ser más finos. Gracias por compartir el patrón. Veré si soy capaz de tejerlos para ella.

  5. Charlotte says:

    Will definitely be making these for my granddaughter who is moving from Florida to Utah. It is snowing in Utah and 80 degrees in Florida. The good news is I found my copy of the sock book in my closet between some very old magazines. It is found !!!!Thank you for the split mitten pattern.

    • kathleenalice says:

      Thank you for the pattern Christine, I think these will make lovely Christmas presents 😃

    • winwickmum says:

      I hope they’ll keep your granddaughter’s hands warm – and I hope you’ll get to see her in them too as I’ve just had a look at a US map and it looks like Utah is a long way from Florida! Hooray for finding your sock book! 🙂 xx

  6. Christine says:

    Christine, you brought back memories when you mentioned your childhood mitts being connected with string – my mum attached ours with elastic and threaded them through the sleeves of our coat but nothing stopped the snow from coming in our wellies, but that’s another story! We are now in Australia so won’t be needing mitts for a while (30 degrees plus today) but I can see a new pair coming up ready for cold weather bush walks next year along with another pair of socks. I really enjoy reading your blogs, it is like getting a letter from a friend so many thanks.

    • winwickmum says:

      That’s a bit warm for mitts at the moment but I hope you’ll get some use out of the pattern later. I’m really glad you’ve been enjoying the posts, thank you! I see that parents all over the world thought that string on mitts was a good idea – this is my fight back on behalf of the string haters! 🙂 xx

  7. Helen says:

    I hated the string! As a teacher I always wanted my classes to have them mind. The amount of lost gloves.

    • winwickmum says:

      Oh, I can imagine! More recently, I’ve seen clips to hold them on to coat cuffs and I’d have much preferred that but I think you’d probably still have had a box full of lost gloves with clips attached 🙂 xx

  8. Barbara says:

    I think you’ve persuaded me. I know your pattern will be easy to follow. Have a lovely weekend. B x

  9. Helen says:

    These are great, i made some about 5 years ago when my baby was due, and I got so much use out of them that winter! And thankyou for publishing in different sizes now, I might just make myself a new pair and maybe some for gifts!

  10. Ruth says:

    Brilliant- thank you very much – I can see those being very useful in the Howard household as the whole family are always doing things outside all year around *****
    Love Ruth x

  11. Joyce says:

    Much more useful than fingerless mitts. The tips of my fingers always feel cold when I wear those. I’ll be making a pair of these for next winter.

  12. Laura says:

    That’s great news! Good work to you and your tech editor, Helen. Thanks so much for the extended sizes!

  13. Karen says:

    These look fantastic. Keen to give them a try. Just starting my 4th pair of socks but its spring here in Australia so I’ve got time. I bought some open fingertip handknit gloves at a market in Tasmania that had a little slip over mitten fingertip cover attached, but yours look more achievable for me to try.

  14. Margie Ploch says:

    I’m excited that you added a large adult size so that I can make a pair for my husband! The yarn I’ll be using should arrive in about a week or so. It’s a worsted weight, not a bulky weight, but I think I can figure out how to adjust. Thank you for this pattern!

  15. Caitlin says:

    I’m excited about the new pattern, as I think my hands are larger than yours, but my kids’ hands are smaller. However, when I click the link, it takes me to google docs and a message of “No preview available. File is in owner’s trash.” Maybe the file transfer to your new laptop is interfering? Please let me know if the link starts working. It just turned cold here and I think of your splittens every time I pick up after my dog in the early morning (that’s supposed to be a nice comment, even though it doesn’t sound like it!). 🙂

    • winwickmum says:

      You’re right – the file WAS in the trash! I have no idea how that had happened and I’ve restored it so you should be able to download it now. Thanks for letting me know! 🙂 xx

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