Linton Mittens in Berroco Mercado - 400-10 - Downloadable PDF

Linton Mittens in Berroco Mercado – Knitting Pattern by Brenda York

The Linton Mittens is an intermediate-level knitting pattern designed by Brenda York and published by Berroco. Available as a downloadable PDF, this pattern guides knitters through the construction of a pair of colorwork mittens featuring a classic stranded design worked entirely in the round. The finished mittens measure approximately 8 inches around by 10½ inches long, with the length noted as adjustable to suit individual hand measurements.

What Is Being Made

This pattern produces a pair of warm, fitted mittens — a right mitten and a left mitten — worked in two colors with a traditional stranded colorwork motif. The design is shown alongside the Earnshaw hat, suggesting it is part of a coordinating accessories collection from Berroco. The mittens feature a ribbed cuff, a charted colorwork body, and a thumb gusset for a comfortable, anatomically shaped fit.

Construction and Techniques

The mittens are constructed using a bottom-up, seamless method, meaning knitting begins at the cuff and progresses upward toward the fingertips without any seaming required. This approach is well-suited to mittens because it allows the knitter to try on the work as they go and adjust length as needed. Key techniques used in this pattern include:

• Worked in the round on double-pointed needles, keeping the fabric seamless and smooth on the right side
• Stranded colorwork, in which two colors — Canela (MC) and Crema (CC) — are carried across the round simultaneously, with the unused yarn floating on the wrong side of the fabric
• Thumb gusset construction, using paired increases (M1) on either side of a marked gusset section to gradually build the thumb opening in a shaped, tapered manner
• Ribbing at the cuff, worked in a k1, p1 pattern for approximately 2½ inches to create a snug, stretchy band
• Waste yarn thumb placement, where thumb stitches are held on waste yarn and returned to needles later for finishing

An important technique note in the pattern instructs knitters not to carry yarn over more than 3 stitches without twisting the colors on the wrong side. This prevents long, loose floats that could snag or distort the fabric — a standard best practice in stranded colorwork knitting.

Stitches Used

• Stockinette stitch (knit every round when working in the round), which forms the base of the colorwork body
• K1, p1 ribbing for the cuff section
• M1 (Make 1) increases used during the initial increase round and throughout the thumb gusset
• Charted colorwork patterns — the body of the mitten is worked from Chart A and Chart B, which define the two-color stranded motif across the palm and back of the hand

Yarn and Materials

The pattern calls for Berroco Mercado, a worsted weight yarn sold in 100-gram hanks. Two colors are required: #4132 Canela as the main color (MC) and #4101 Crema as the contrast color (CC), with one hank of each needed for the pair. The recommended gauge is 16 stitches and 20 rounds over 4 inches in stockinette stitch on the larger needles, worked over the charted colorwork patterns.

Needles required are a set of four double-pointed needles (dpns) in two sizes: size 8 (5.00 mm) for the ribbed cuff and size 10 (6.00 mm) for the main body of the mitten, or whichever size is needed to achieve the correct gauge. Additional notions include 3 stitch markers (one in a distinct color to mark the beginning of the round), a tapestry needle for finishing, and waste yarn to