toddler mittens

Baby Joshua has a new carseat - one without a snuggly "bundleme" cover - and winter is coming! He already has a cute winter coat and a hat, but he needed mittens. Solution? Knit some!

Most baby mitten patterns are for thumbless mittens, because little ones aren't yet ready to use their thumbs most of the time. However, my toddler has begun to pick things up with his thumb and first finger, and I'm sure he'd be frustrated if his mittens didn't have a thumb. So, as usual, I've modified a pattern to make it work for us. I started with this pattern, making some changes.

First, I've added some length the the cuff, as an attempt to keep these mittens on Joshua's busy hands. I knitted 20 rows instead of the 8 recommended. This will allow me to fold the cuff over so that it's a bit more snug on his tiny wrist.

Second, I've added a thumb! I knit 8 rows in stockinette stitch after the ribbing. Then, at the beginning of row 9, I took a piece of scrap yarn in the same weight, and knit four stitches with the scrap yarn. I then placed the four new stitches back on the left needle and switched back to the main yarn.

please excuse the poor quality picture from my phone!

This created a thumb hole with 8 live stitches for me to knit later. When I had finished the mitten, I picked up four stitches above and below the scrap yarn, and then knit eight rows in the round. Then I knit two together all the way around, cut the yarn, and drew it through the stitches to finish it off.

Third, I finished off the main part of the mitten with kitchener stitch, rather than by drawing the yarn through the stitches. This way, I created a flatter mitten top.

Finally, I made I-cord to attach the two mittens. I'll thread the mittens through the sleeves of his jacket to keep them from getting separated. I hope this will also keep them on his hands a little longer!

Again, another phone picture.

 What do you think?

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