Warm Mittens in Schachenmayr Highland Alpaca - S9363

Warm Mittens in Schachenmayr Highland Alpaca – Pattern S9363

This free downloadable knitting pattern (S9363) from Schachenmayr guides knitters through creating a pair of cozy, warm mittens worked in the round using super chunky yarn. Rated as beginner difficulty, this is an ideal project for those new to knitting in the round or working with double-pointed needles, while still producing a beautifully textured, practical accessory. The finished mittens are sized for a hand circumference of 18–20 cm (size S-M).

What Is Being Made

The pattern produces a pair of classic pull-on mittens (Fäustlinge) with a ribbed cuff, a smooth stocking stitch hand section, a thumb gusset opening, and a neatly decreased rounded tip. The thumb is knitted separately after the main mitten body is complete, picked up from held stitches and the thumb gusset bar. The design is worked as a right mitten and, by implication, a matching left mitten, making a complete pair.

Design Details and Construction

Each mitten begins with 18 stitches cast on and distributed evenly across a set of double-pointed needles. The round begins at the inner hand edge, just below the thumb position. Construction follows this sequence:

• Cuff: 16 rounds (approximately 16 cm) of ribbing worked in the two-colour colourway Grau/Jade (shade 02966), creating a snug, stretchy band.
• Hand: Continuing in Jade (shade 02968), the hand section is worked in stocking stitch in the round for 7 rounds before the thumb opening is created.
• Thumb Slot: After 7 rounds of the hand, the first 3 stitches are placed on a stitch holder or safety pin to create the thumb opening. One new stitch is cast on over the gap in the following round, maintaining the stitch count at 16 stitches. The hand continues for a further 8 rounds.
• Tip Decreases: After 16 rounds total from the cuff, decreases are worked across all four needles — slip-slip-knit decreases on needles 1 and 3, and knit-two-together decreases on needles 2 and 4 — reducing to 12 stitches, then repeating for two more rounds down to just 4 stitches. The yarn is threaded twice through the remaining stitches, drawn tight, and secured on the inside.
• Thumb: The 3 held stitches are picked up and knitted, and 3 additional stitches are picked up from the thumb gusset bar (one twisted stitch from each side plus the bar), giving 6 stitches total. The thumb is worked for 6 rounds (6 cm) in stocking stitch, then finished identically to the mitten tip.

Techniques Used

• Knitting in the round on a double-pointed needle set
• Ribbing (1×1 rib: knit 1, purl 1) for the cuff
• Stocking stitch in the round (all stitches knitted every round) for the hand and thumb
• Thumb gusset opening with held stitches and a cast-on bridge stitch
• Picking up stitches from the thumb bar, including twisted increases from the horizontal thread on each side
• Tip shaping using paired decreases (slip-over decrease and knit-two-together)
• Finishing by threading yarn through remaining live stitches and securing on the wrong side

Stitches Used

• Knit stitch (right-side stitch / glatt rechts)
• Purl stitch (used within the 1×1 rib cuff)
• Slip-over decrease (überzogen zusammenstricken) for the left-leaning tip shaping
• Knit two together