Rainbow Rib Mitts

Rainbow Rib Mitts
as seen near an *extremely* green pond thing

I keep looking at the hands in these photos and thinking, "dang how did my nails get so long?!?!" (since I'm always the hands in my photos). Then I keep remembering that today, for the first time ever (that's not exactly true - my husband has posed a few times), I AM NOT THE HANDS IN MY PHOTOS. Not that my lovely hand model will probably ever agree to lend her digits to my knitting again, since I spent the whole shoot giving her instructions like, "Now happy fingers! No, happier!" and, "Angle your hands like you're standing up, but instead squat so your head doesn't cast a shadow on the mitts." Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, I got this yarn ON SALE BABY, and it's a beautiful choice for this basic-but-not-boring pattern. Oh, and word to the wise - if you use the same fiber, be forewarned that the pattern doesn't repeat in a linear fashion, but like a palindrome (so the colors don't go A B C D A B C D but more like A B C D D D C B A). So, although I made my mitts match fairly well, I had to be fussy to get there, and it's possible that if you're equally fussy about matching you may need more than one skein to complete the pattern.

Sizes: small (medium; large) (the small will fit a hand roughly 7 1/2" - 8" in circumference at the base of the thumb, the medium up to 8 3/4", and the large goes up to about 9.5")

Yarn: Lang Yarns Novena Color (50% Wool, 30% Alpaca, 20% Nylon; 240 yards [220 meters]/50 grams); #0009 Rosa/Violet/Blue - one skein (all sizes)

A closer view of the gusset
Or the "thumb crotch," as I yelled several
times at my hardworking hand model.

Needles: One set of double pointed needles (dpns) in size US 6; one set of dpns in size US 7

Notions: Tapestry needle, scrap yarn

Gauge: 22 stitches = 4 inches in stockinette on size US 7 needles

And that brings us to the pattern! Using your size US 6 needles, then, cast on 40 (44; 48) stitches loosely and distribute evenly between three dpns. Join in round, being careful not to twist your cast on when you complete the join. Then we'll work ribbing as follows:

Ribbing Row: * k1, p1; rep from *

Knit this ribbing row six times and transfer work to your size US 7 needles. Then we'll begin working the pattern, a simple ribbing blend, as follows:

Rows 1 & 2: k1, then * p1, k1; rep from * until you have 1 stitch left in round; end k1

Rows 3 & 4: k2, then * k1, p1; rep from * until you have 2 stitches left in round; end k2

Rows 5 & 6: k3, then * p1, k1; rep from * until you have 3 stitches left in round; end k3

Rows 7 & 8: k4, then * k1, p1; rep from * until you have 4 stitches left in round; end k4

Rows 9 & 10: k5, then * p1, k1; rep from * until you have 5 stitches left in round; end k5

Rows 11 & 12: k6, then * k1, p1; rep from * until you have 6 stitches left in round; end k6

Rows 13 & 14: k7, then * p1, k1; rep from * until you have 7 stitches left in round; end k7

Rows 15 & 16: k8, then * k1, p1; rep from * until you have 8 stitches left in round; end k8

Rows 17 & 18: k9, then * p1, k1; rep from * until you have 9 stitches left in round; end k9

Rows 19 & 20: k10, then * k1, p1; rep from * until you have 10 stitches left in round; end k10 

Rows 21 & 22: k11, then * p1, k1; rep from * until you have 11 stitches left in round; end k11

Rows 23 & 24: k12, then * k1, p1; rep from * until you have 12 stitches left in round; end k12 

Rows 25 & 26: k13, then * p1, k1; rep from * until you have 13 stitches left in round; end k13

Rows 27 & 28 (sizes medium and large only): k14, then * k1, p1; rep from * until you have 14 stitches left in round; end k14

Rows 29 & 30 (size large only): k15, then * p1, k1; rep from * until you have 15 stitches left in round; end k15

Knit rows 1 - 26 (1 - 28; 1 - 30). Then we'll begin gusseting in the thumb, as follows. Due to the pain-in-the-rearness of writing all of the gussets together, I am writing each one out separately, so please find your size below.

Size Small

Gusset Row 1: k7, m1l, k7, (k1, p1) six times, k7, m1r, k7 (42 stitches)

Gusset Row 2: k15, (k1, p1) six times, k15

Gusset Row 3: k7, m1l, k9, (p1, k1) five times, k9, m1r, k7 (44 stitches)

Gusset Row 4: k17, (p1, k1) five times, k17

Gusset Row 5: k7, m1l, k11, (k1, p1) four times, k11, m1r, k7 (46 stitches)

Gusset Row 6: k19, (k1, p1) four times, k19

Gusset Row 7: k7, m1l, k13, (p1, k1) three times, k13, m1r, k7 (48 stitches)

Gusset Row 8: k21, (p1, k1) three times, k21

Gusset Row 9: k7, m1l, k15, (k1, p1) two times, k15, m1r, k7 (50 stitches)

Gusset Row 10: k23, (k1, p1) two times, k23

Gusset Row 11: k7, m1l, k17, p1, k1, k17, m1r, k7 (52 stitches)

Gusset Row 12: k25, p1, k1, k25

Gusset Row 13: k7, m1l, k38, m1r, k7 (54 stitches)

Size Medium

Gusset Row 1: k8, m1l, k7, (k1, p1) seven times, k7, m1r, k8 (46 stitches)

Gusset Row 2: k16, (k1, p1) seven times, k16

Gusset Row 3: k8, m1l, k9, (p1, k1) six times, k9, m1r, k8 (48 stitches)

Gusset Row 4: k18, (p1, k1) six times, k18

Gusset Row 5: k8, m1l, k11, (k1, p1) five times, k11, m1r, k8 (50 stitches)

Gusset Row 6: k20, (k1, p1) five times, k20

Gusset Row 7: k8, m1l, k13, (p1, k1) four times, k13, m1r, k8 (52 stitches)

Gusset Row 8: k22, (p1, k1) four times, k22

Gusset Row 9: k8, m1l, k15, (k1, p1) three times, k15, m1r, k8 (54 stitches)

Gusset Row 10: k24, (k1, p1) three times, k24

Gusset Row 11: k8, m1l, k17, (p1, k1) two times, k17, m1r, k8 (56 stitches)

Gusset Row 12: k26, (p1, k1) two times, k26

Gusset Row 13: k8, m1l, k19, k1, p1, k19, m1r, k8 (58 stitches)

Gusset Row 14: k28, k1, p1, k28

Gusset Row 15: k8, m1l, 42, m1r, k8 (60 stitches)

Size Large

Gusset Row 1: k9, m1l, k7, (k1, p1) eight times, k7, m1r, k9 (50 stitches)

Gusset Row 2: k17, (k1, p1) eight times, k17

Gusset Row 3: k9, m1l, k9, (p1, k1) seven times, k9, m1r, k9 (52 stitches)

Gusset Row 4: k19, (p1, k1) seven times, k19

Gusset Row 5: k9, m1l, k11, (k1, p1) six times, k11, m1r, k9 (54 stitches)

Gusset Row 6: k21, (k1, p1) six times, k21

Gusset Row 7: k9, m1l, k13, (p1, k1) five times, k13, m1r, k9 (56 stitches)

Gusset Row 8: k23, (p1, k1) five times, k23

Gusset Row 9: k9, m1l, k15, (k1, p1) four times, k15, m1r, k9 (58 stitches)

Gusset Row 10: k25, (k1, p1) four times, k25

Gusset Row 11: k9, m1l, k17, (p1, k1) three times, k17, m1r, k9 (60 stitches)

Gusset Row 12: k27, (p1, k1) three times, k27

Gusset Row 13: k9, m1l, k19, (k1, p1) two times, k19, m1r, k9 (62 stitches)

Gusset Row 14: k29, (k1, p1) two times, k29

Gusset Row 15: k9, m1l, k21, p1, k1, k21, m1r, k9 (64 stitches)

Gusset Row 16: k31, p1, k1, k31

Gusset Row 17: k9, m1l, 46, m1r, k9 (66 stitches)

All sizes: complete the gusset rows for your given size. Knit across first 7 (8; 9) stitches from first needle, and then transfer these 7 (8; 9) stitches and the final 7 (8; 9) stitches from your third needle to a scrap of yarn to save later, for thumb. Then we'll work in stockinette, rejoining work in the round when you reach the thumb break. Work in stockinette until mitt measures roughly 2" (2.25"; 2.5") from thumb break. Transfer work back to your size US 6 needles and knit four rows around (all sizes). Bind off loosely.

Now that we've completed the mitt, let's do the thumb! To that end, transfer the 14 (16; 18) held thumb stitches back onto three of your size US 7 dpns, making sure not to place the needle break between dpns at the thumb break. Knit around, picking up one extra stitch at the thumb break. Knit 4 (5; 6) rows around, and then transfer thumb stitches to your size US 6 needles. Knit three rows and bind off loosely. Tuck in ends and make another, if you'd like two of them. Block, if desired.