Maple Fall Fingerless Gloves

Maple Fall Fingerless Gloves by Alexis Hoy

Project Overview

The Maple Fall Fingerless Gloves are an elegant, evening-length knit accessory designed to capture the vibrant drama of autumn maple foliage. These fingerless gloves combine functionality with sophisticated style, allowing full dexterity for typing, texting, and knitting while maintaining warmth and elegance. The design showcases intricate colorwork inspired by fall's brilliant palette.

What Is Being Made

This pattern creates a pair of fingerless gloves featuring evening-length construction that extends approximately 14 inches (35.5 cm) from wrist to fingertip. The gloves are available in two sizes: S/M to fit hand circumference 6.5–7.5 inches and wrist circumference 6–7 inches, and L/XL to fit hand circumference 7.5–8.5 inches and wrist circumference 7–8 inches. The forearm circumference ranges from 9–11 inches for S/M and 11–13 inches for L/XL, providing a tailored fit for various hand sizes.

Knitting Techniques

The Maple Fall Fingerless Gloves employ several intermediate-level knitting techniques to achieve their sophisticated appearance. The pattern utilizes colorwork construction, with an Arm Chart guiding the placement of multiple colors throughout the piece. The gloves are worked in the round using circular needles, a technique that creates seamless, tubular fabric ideal for fitted accessories. The pattern incorporates increases worked evenly around the hand to shape the glove properly, transitioning from a smaller wrist circumference to a larger hand circumference. A stretchy bind-off is used to finish the gloves, ensuring the cuff remains elastic and comfortable against the skin.

Stitches Used

The construction relies on fundamental knitting stitches executed with precision. Knit stitches form the primary fabric throughout the gloves. Purl stitches are incorporated in ribbed sections, specifically in a K1, P1 rib pattern that creates the elastic cuff at the wrist. This alternating knit-purl ribbing provides stretch and recovery, keeping the gloves securely in place. The colorwork sections are achieved through stranded knitting techniques, where the Arm Chart directs which yarn color to work in each round, creating the maple-inspired pattern.

Materials and Yarn

The Maple Fall Fingerless Gloves are knitted using Wellington Fibres 3 ply yarn, a lightweight fingering-weight yarn composed of 30% mohair and 70% wool. This blend provides both elasticity and warmth—the mohair contributes a sleek, springy quality and subtle sheen, while the wool adds durability and insulation. Each skein contains 115 grams and approximately 400 yards (366 meters), providing ample yardage for the project. The yarn is available in multiple vibrant colorways, with the pictured sample shown in Wellington Nutmeg and Wellington Dark Rust, capturing the rich tones of autumn foliage. The 3 ply construction offers excellent stitch definition, making the colorwork pattern clearly visible and visually striking.

Difficulty Level

This pattern is rated as intermediate difficulty, making it suitable for knitters with some experience beyond basic stockinette stitch. The intermediate classification reflects the inclusion of colorwork techniques, shaping through increases, and the precision required to work in the round on circular needles. Knitters comfortable with ribbing, stranded colorwork, and fitted garment construction will find this project manageable and rewarding.

Designer and Source

The Maple Fall Fingerless Gloves are designed by Alexis Hoy and are available as a downloadable PDF pattern. This independent designer pattern was created in 2016 and represents a thoughtfully crafted accessory project for the knitting community.