Tunisian Crochet Mittens

[halesje]

I got this beautiful handspun yarn in a swap a few years ago, and could never figure out what to do with it. It has a lot of variation in thickness, so it was really difficult to make a consistent-looking fabric, but the colors were so beautiful I couldn't bear to see it languishing in my stash any longer. So I pulled out my afghan hook, which I inherited from my great grandmother and could never figure out how to use, and tried my hand at tunisian crochet. Suddenly it became clear that my beautiful yarn was destined to become mittens. The skein made exactly one pair of mittens for my rather large hands. They could use some cuffs, but I have no idea what color yarn to use. So, for now, they'll stay cuff-less. I love them just the way they are.

 

(sorry about the blurry picture)

 

[JennyBunny]

Oh, those are so nice and look warm.

 

If you are looking for color suggestions, I always love purple with green though a plain black cuff would go well too.

[yarncat]

I like them!

[cher49]

very nice

[misssmaggie]

They are pretty...looks like they will be warm !!! Thanks for sharing !!!

[gumby28]

They are really pretty.

[rascalsmom]

Oh, those are very pretty! Do you have a pattern you could share?

[hhensler]

Gorgeous!

[rashidah]

Very nice

[MaryPat]

They're so pretty! A cuff would really set them off. There's so many colors that would work well in a cuff.

[halesje]

Thanks for the kind words everyone. I do not have a pattern (I really don't have the patience for patterns), but I can describe what I did, for anyone who's interested:

 

1. I measured my hand. My hand, from fingertip to wrist is about 7 3/4 inches (yep, those are some big mitts...) and about 7 inches around my palm just below the knuckles.

 

2. I loosely chained enough stitches to fit comfortably around my hand when stretched out - about 7 1/4 inches.

 

3. I stitched straight afghan stitch for about 5 inches, then decreased 2 stitches every other row until I got to 8 inches. I did this twice, leaving me with two trapezoids that were 7 1/4 inches wide at the bottom, 8 inches tall, and about 6 1/2 inches wide at the top.

 

4. I folded them in half and sewed up the short end (fingertip of the mitten), and about 2/3 of the way down the side, leaving an opening for my thumb. I also put in a few stitches at the base of the thumb. So now I had two thumbless mittens. (I tried them on at this point to make sure I could fit my hands in and wiggle my fingers.)

 

5. All that's left at this point is the thumbs. I used a method similar to the "afterthought heel" method for socks. I joined my yarn, and worked single crochet in a spiral, decreasing 2 stitches each round - one stitch at the top of the thumb opening and one at the base of the thumb. I did this for 5 rounds, until the girth of the mitten thumb was a good fit for my thumb, then I worked even until the thumbs were almost the right length, then decreased with every stitch until the hole was closed.

 

(Side note: I realized when I was adding the thumbs that I was precariously short on yarn. Had I had a bit more yarn to play with, I probably would have done some short row shaping at the base of the thumb to avoid the "permanent hitchhiker" look when they're not being worn. )

 

I've decided I'm definitely going to add the cuffs. I have one skein of knit picks shine in violet, and that should work fine. I'll post revised pics when they're done.

[embee]

Those are cool! I've never made mittens, but I might try now that you've given some idea of how to accomplish that.

[Monique39]

Those are great.. pretty color.!!