Multi-Size Mittens Knitting Pattern

Our basic mitten design is made of bulky yarns, or several strands that are equivalent. It has a side thumb, and a generous body to keep wrists warm. And if they are not made up from odds and ends of the “stash,” I make three.

Experiment with other yarns, with combined yarns, with decorative cuffs, and— especially on the Lamb Mitten—with bulky boucles. You can makes the cuffs as long or as short as you please, but we recommend at least four inches after the roll, even for small children.

The Materials you'll need for this Knitting Project:

Three Little Mittens

A friend of mine—male, middle aged, and a little solemn—once said to me, when I offered to make him some mittens to suit the harsh climate of his home in Canada, “I don’t wear mittens. Mittens are for children.” To which I replied, “Mittens are for people with cold hands.” And so they are.

But what is the perfect mitten, from both the knitter’s and the wearer’s point of view?

For the knitter, it should be easy to make over a couple of evenings, so she can turn out a pair in two or three days. For the wearer, I think mittens should not only do the obvious, which is to keep wrists and hands warm in any wind and weather. They should be handsome, should fit either hand, and should come, if possible, as a trio, not as a pair. No one loses a pair of mittens; we lose one, and then have a useless one left that is too good to discard. But if you make three that fit either hand, and then one goes missing, the third makes a pair with the remaining one.