Granny mittens

Granny Mittens by Anna Radchenko

Project Overview

Granny Mittens is an intermediate-level knitting pattern designed by Anna Radchenko and published by WoollyWood. This downloadable PDF pattern creates a pair of classic mittens featuring colorwork design elements, suitable for knitters with some experience in stranded knitting techniques and garment construction.

What Is Being Made

The pattern produces a complete pair of mittens with finished hand circumference measurements of 7.8 inches (20 cm) for Size 1 or 9 inches (23 cm) for Size 2. The mittens feature a total length of 10.25 inches (26 cm) for Size 1 or 11 inches (28 cm) for Size 2, with a wrist cuff measuring 2 inches (6 cm) or 2.75 inches (7 cm) respectively. The design includes a thumb gusset construction for proper fit and functionality.

Knitting Techniques

This pattern employs several fundamental and intermediate knitting techniques:

• Long-tail cast-on: Used to create the initial stitches for the wrist opening, providing an elastic and neat foundation edge
• Colorwork knitting: The mittens feature stranded colorwork design, requiring the knitter to work with two colors simultaneously while maintaining consistent tension across color changes
• In-the-round construction: The mittens are knit circularly using double-pointed needles or a circular needle, eliminating the need for seaming
• Thumb gusset shaping: Increases are strategically placed to create a gusseted thumb opening that provides proper fit and mobility
• Blocking: The finished mittens require blocking to set the colorwork pattern and achieve accurate finished measurements

Stitches Used

The pattern utilizes basic knitting stitches combined into a structured design:

• Knit stitch (K): The primary stitch forming the fabric
• Purl stitch (P): Used in the wrist ribbing to create texture and elasticity
• Make One Left (M1L): An increase technique used in the set-up round to shape the thumb gusset
• Ribbing pattern: A *K2, P2* repeat worked for the first 30 rounds creates the elastic wrist cuff
• Colorwork stitch: Stranded knitting technique worked over 56 rounds following provided charts

Materials Required

The pattern specifies the following materials for construction:

• Yarn: Rauma Finull, a 100% Norwegian wool in sport weight (50 grams / 175 meters per ball). Main color 4078 (beige) and contrasting color 4123 (navy) are used to create the colorwork design
• Needles: US 1.5 (2.50 mm) needles for the ribbed wrist cuff and initial rounds, switched to US 2.50 (3.00 mm) needles for the colorwork hand section to accommodate the two-color stranded knitting
• Gauge: 29 stitches and 31 rows equal 4 inches (10 cm) in colorwork stitch after blocking, which is essential for achieving proper finished measurements
• Additional supplies: Stitch marker for indicating the beginning of the round (BOR marker)

Pattern Structure

The pattern includes both written instructions and charted colorwork sections. All charts are read from right to left, following standard knitting chart conventions. The construction begins with casting on 52 or 60 stitches depending on size, joining to work in the round. The wrist ribbing is completed in the first 30 rounds using the smaller needles. A set-up round with increases creates the thumb gusset shaping, after which the knitter switches to the larger needles and works the colorwork design over 56 rounds following the provided charts. Measurements are taken after the finished mittens have been blocked to set the pattern and achieve the specified dimensions.