Feather Gloves

Feather Gloves by Dagmar Mora

What Is Being Made

The Feather Gloves are a pair of women's medium knitted gloves designed to mimic the natural pattern of a feather. The chevron stitch pattern runs continuously from the cuff through the entire length of the fingers, creating a cohesive feather-inspired aesthetic. With a circumference of 19cm (7½"), these gloves are sized for women's medium hands, though the design offers flexibility in sizing to accommodate various hand circumferences.

Knitting Techniques

These gloves are constructed using knitting in the round, a fundamental technique for creating seamless tubular garments. The pattern employs a chevron stitch pattern that creates diagonal lines mimicking feather barbs. The designer recommends using self-striping yarn with quick colour changes to ensure visual interest throughout the fingers, preventing any single finger from appearing monochromatic. This technique-driven choice transforms the yarn's natural color variations into an intentional design feature that enhances the feather motif.

Stitches Used

The primary stitch structure is based on a chevron pattern, which creates the distinctive V-shaped lines that resemble feather patterns. This intermediate-level stitch pattern requires attention to increases and decreases worked in a coordinated manner to form the characteristic zigzag appearance. The pattern maintains this chevron structure consistently from the cuff through the fingers, demonstrating technical precision in stitch placement and tension control.

Materials and Yarn

The Feather Gloves pattern calls for 100g of self-striping fingering weight wool, typically yielding 400-420 meters. The designer specifically recommends Regia 4-ply stretch color or Regia 4-ply color, with the pictured sample created in Regia 4-ply stretch color, Sylt #5030—a light, airy color scheme that complements the feather aesthetic. However, the pattern is versatile and works equally well with bright color variations.

Required needles include a 2.5mm set of five double-pointed needles (dpn's) for knitting in the round, or alternative needles that achieve the correct tension and are suitable for circular knitting. If using needles other than traditional five dpn's, four stitch markers become necessary to track pattern repeats and construction points.

Difficulty Level

Rated as intermediate difficulty, these gloves require solid foundational knitting skills, particularly comfort with knitting in the round and managing stitch patterns. The chevron pattern demands consistent attention to increases and decreases, making this project suitable for knitters who have progressed beyond basic stockinette projects but may still be developing advanced colorwork or complex stitch manipulation skills.