Warm Hands for the Win!
Mittens can do so much more than warm hands—such as delight the eye and warm the heart. Pictured: Pale yellow The Honey Tree mittens on a petite woman’s hands. The woman is holding an egg basket full of white eggs against her abdomen and wearing a quilted vest. The mittens have all-over honeycomb cables on the back and cuff.
Winter hit northern Alberta yesterday morning. I woke up to find my lawn covered in inches of snow, with more huge, fluffy flakes coming down fast. Within minutes, my thoughts had turned toward hot cocoa, Christmas decorating (yes, I know, it’s only late October—don’t throw things), and handwarmers.
Well, for a crafter, knitting handwarmers is kind of a logical next thought after Christmas decorations, isn’t it?
If you have some hands to warm up this winter, here are some great ideas for making knitted mittens, gloves, fingerless mittens, convertible glittens, fingerless gloves… you get the idea. All of these knitting patterns come in sizes from wee to adult large, so you can outfit hands of every age.
Title card that reads: 5 Knitting Patterns for Fast and Easy Hand Warmers. Warm Hands for the Win! Patterns shown, going clockwise from top left: The Honey Tree, Just Plain Gloves, Revolution Mittens, and Twisted Rope Fingerless Mittens.
Just Plain Gloves
As a boy mom, I’ve knit a lot of gloves. I mean, half of those are because they lost them, not outgrew them, but the things we do for our kids, right?
One of my favourite things about the Just Plain Gloves pattern is that you can layer them up. (Here in the north, surviving winter is about layers.) You can use just the shell on its own, or you can make a fingering-weight liner for extra warmth. And if you want to be super-versatile, just make a shell in both fingering weight and either the worsted or bulky weights—then you’ll be able to pick exactly how many layers you need for the weather, and how thick those layers should be.
The bonus? This pattern is low vision accessible, so even more knitters can help keep hands warm this winter. (See the accessibility statement in the pattern listing for details.)
Mermaids & Dragons and The Honey Tree
Once upon a time, I had the brilliant idea to create a pattern set where you could choose your own finishing options. Each hand covering would be the same up to the thumb gusset, but from there, you could choose any type of finger finishing option you wanted to suit your personal style and needs.
(I was a big fan of choose-your-own-adventure books as a kid, can you tell?)
I used a simple two-stitch cable for the cuff (and included instructions for cuffs of different lengths), then a variation of the same cable over four stitches for the hand back. The finger finishing options would let you mix and match between fingerless mittens or gloves, regular mittens or gloves, or flip-top mittens or gloves (glittens). PLUS! I included a plain fingering-weight liner glove pattern so you could line these babies for extra warmth.
The first set I made with this idea was the Mermaids & Dragons set. I loved these so much, that then I created the Honey Tree set. For extra versatility, these two sets use the same yarn and measurements, so you can even mix-and-match the cable options between them if you want!
Your biggest dilemma with these two pattern bundles will be choosing which configuration to make first. 😄
Revolution Mittens
Can I say how much I adore the look of brioche knitting? I mean, just look at those squishy vertical stripes! All that squishiness makes for extra-thick, extra-warm fabric, too. Which is why I designed these mittens for all sizes, with both long- and short-cuff versions (depending how much snow you need to keep out of your sleeves).
This pattern breaks down the stitches so you can finish these mittens like a pro, which means it’s a great project to start with, even if you’ve never knit brioche before!
Fingerless Mittens
If you live in a climate that hasn’t hit full-on snow-pocalypse like mine has (okay, that was yesterday, but I’m not going to see grass until April sometime, so allow me my moment of drama), you might be leaning more toward fingerless typing or texting gloves to keep your digits warm.
Honestly, I use these all winter long for typing, as my office is in the draftiest, coldest corner of my living room, and my fingers can turn to solid blocks of ice after only a few hours—not so conducive for typing. In fact, I’m wearing the Secret Garden Fingerless Mittens right now!
Besides the fingerless mitten and glove options in the two mix-and-match sets I mentioned above, here are two other patterns that might tickle your fancy—and keep fingers free for tickling other things.
Whether you’re a beginner looking for a simple yet stylish design or an experienced knitter seeking a challenge, one of these patterns should delight your sensibilities. So go ahead, grab some luxurious yarn, choose a design that speaks to your soul, and cast on to start warming up hands and hearts today.
I hope you enjoyed this round-up of mitten and glove handknitting patterns from my shop. I’ll have even more designs coming (or coming back) soon, so be sure to subscribe to my blog through the link below, or join my newsletter list here to be notified about future releases.
Happy knitting!
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