Bamboo Mitt made with Bamboo Yarn
I love this bamboo stitch pattern. I wanted to make something with it, and it has (sort of) been mitt weather here in Florida, so I thought a bamboo mitt would be fun. Usually when I think of something I try to find out if anyone else has made it, and when I first searched I didn’t find much (there are lots of mitts made of knit fabric containing bamboo out there, and it’s almost as
tough to search for the stitch pattern for similar reason). I did forget to look at Ravelry at first, which had a few things with the stitch pattern, including these bamboo field mitts. I had something just a bit different in mind, and I’d found the perfect yarn. I like knitting in the round, but I wanted to make something a bit simpler and faster, so these are knitted flat and seamed.
Here’s how to make your own:
I used Naturally Caron JOY! in kiwi (medium weight, 70% acrylic, 30% bamboo viscose*), two size 8 bamboo double-pointed needles (straight would probably be better but I only have access to aluminum at the moment, which I do not like to use), and a tapestry needle.
The mitt measures 3.5” across unstretched at a gauge of 6.75 st/in in pattern and 12.5 rows/in.
Cast on 45 stitches using the cable cast on. Starting with an odd number helps because then you can knit stitch at both ends (knitting the first and last stitch on both sides of the fabric helps make a neater edge). If you leave about an 8-inch tail from your cast on you can use this to seam above the thumb.
Work 5 rows of K1P1 rib (K the last stitch)
I switched to the bamboo pattern:
row 1: K1, P1, K5, P2, K3, P2, K5, P2, K3, P2, K5, P2, K3, P2, K5, P1, K1, turn
row 2: K2, P5, K2, P3, K2, P5, K2, P3, K2, P5, K2, P3, K2, P5, K2, turn
row 3: K1, P1, K5, P2, K3, P2, K5, P2, K3, P2, K5, P2, K3, P2, K5, P1, K1, turn
row 4: K2, P5, K2, P3, K2, P5, K2, P3, K2, P5, K2, P3, K2, P5, K2, turn
row 5: K1, P1, K5, P2, K3, P2, K5, P2, K3, P2, K5, P2, K3, P2, K5, P1, K1, turn
row 6: K2, P5, K7, P5, K7, P5, K7, P5, K2, turn
row 7: K1, P1, K5, P7, K5, P7, K5, P7, K5, P1, K1, turn
rows 8, 10, 12: repeat row 2
rows 9, 11: repeat row 1
row 13: K1, P8, K3, P9, K3, P9, K3, P8, K1, turn
row 14: K9, P3, K9, P3, K9, P3, K9, turn
Repeat the pattern from row 1 until the fabric is the length you want. Mine is 47 rows long. You can knit 5 more rows of
ribbing on this end if you like; I didn’t because the bamboo pattern is a loose rib itself and the part of my arm that falls on is a bit wider than my hand where my fingers held together are a bit narrower. Cast off and weave in ends if your tails are too short for seaming. (I cast off slightly loosely in the standard cast off.)
Use your tails to seam or cut a new length of yarn. Fold the fabric right sides together, matching the corners. You can test on your own hand to find out where to stop for the top of the thumb opening or stop at the 11th row like mine. Start whipstitching along the open edge from the corner until the beginning of the top of the thumb opening. Cut yarn and weave in ends. Match the bottom corners and whipstitch from the corner toward the bottom of the thumb opening. My seam was 21 stitches long, but you can try the mitt on to see if yours should be longer or shorter.
Make a second! Hopefully being such a quick mitt means there won’t be second mitt syndrome.
If you’d like a pair, but knitting’s not your thing, keep an eye out for some of these to be available in the shop soon.
