This is a simple variant of fingerless gloves knitted like a stockinette tube with ribbing at the top and bottom and a hole for the thumb. Yes, it’s only a thumb hole so you don’t have to knit a thumb.
Honestly, I didn’t think this super basic variant would even work out, but it did and it fits like a glove 🙂 I’m so pleased that I decided to make it into a basic pattern and share it with you!
Perfect project for a confident beginner!
These easy fingerless mitts are easy to knit, but I would say it’s more suitable for the confident beginner than a complete beginner.
These are the techniques used in the pattern
- cast on stitches and joining them for knitting in the round
- knit and purl stitches
- knit in the round with magic loop
- knit back and forth (flat) on a circular needle
- bind off and weave in the ends
What you will need to knit the easy fingerless mittens
Needles: Circular needles US4 / 3,5mm and US 6 / 4mm long enough for knitting magic loop.
Yarn: 50 grams (one ball)of Drops Karisma. I used some leftovers from other projects sitting in my stash, I had a dark gray and three blue colors. I weighed the yarn first and divided it into two piles to make sure I had equal amounts of each color for both mitts.
If you don’t have any Drops Karisma you could use any wool or woolen blend with the right weight for this pattern. Drops Karisma is a DK weight yarn with 200 meters/ 100 grams. I guess acrylic yarn would work too, as long as it’s elastic enough.
Notions: A stitch marker, measuring tape, scissors, and a needle to weave in your ends.
Some tips for those who need them
- The cast on edge may turn out too tight and unable to stretch with the ribbing. In that case, the mittens won’t be as comfortable. To avoid that you can hold your needle tips together as one and cast on over both.
- Be careful not to twist your cast on before joining in the round. If the cast on is twisted your knitting will also be twisted.
- To avoid your stitch marker to slip off when you have knitted to your magic loop, place the marker after the first stitch of the round. Or, slide the stitches around on the needle so that the start of the round ends up in the middle of your stitches.
- When knitting flat your purl rows can turn out loser than your knit rows. If your flat stockinette gets stripes of bigger stitches this is what have happened. In that case you can knit the purl rows with the smaller needle and the knit rows with the bigger one to even it out.
- Use a bigger needle for the bind off to ensure the edge is elastic enough.
The pattern: Easy fingerless gloves in DK yarn
Cast on: Use needle US4 /3,5mm and cast on 36 stitches. Join the stitches in the round for knitting magic loop. Place your marker at the beginning of the round.
Round 1-20: Knit ribbing for 20 rounds. *k2, p2*, repeat *-* the whole round.
Round 21-45: Change to the bigger needles, US6 / 4mm. Knit stockinette in the round (only knit stitches) for 25 rounds.
Round 46-55: Knit stockinette stitch flat (back and forth) for 10 rows to make the hole for the thumb. Stockinette stitch knitted flat is knit stitches on the right side and purls on the wrong side. When you have reached the marker at row 45: Turn your work and purl all the way back to the marker, turn your work and knit the whole row, and so on.
Round 56: Work in the round again. Knit one round to seal up the thumb hole.
Round 57-66: Change to the smaller needles and knit ribbing for 10 rounds. *k2, p2*, repeat *-* the whole round.
Bind off and weave in your ends.
More fall knitting patterns to try!
