That’s right, bumblebees and chickadees, I’ve worked out my first pattern design! (I should say, the first design that’s complete and I’m willing to let see the light of day… there’s a few failed monstrosities of pattern drafts stuffed into trash bins around here, and I wouldn’t be me if there wasn’t a giant lace shawl pattern in the works in the background.) These gloves are inspired by construction details from several different fingerless mitts, but the lace charts for the back of the hands are originally the property of Ana at knit-nana, repurposed from her inimitable Mirno shawl design with her gracious permission. (Thanks Ana!)
My hand-copied draft chart, and an early prototype knit.
The lace comes out quite differently at the gauge used for mitts (I tried a few different worsted weight yarns at US size 7 needles). I’d originally thought it would be best shown in a lighter worsted yarn with a bit more shine to the fiber, but, surprisingly, Em’s test knit yarn choice (of which I was incredibly dubious) is my favorite finished test knit so far.
Em’s finished test knit, in 2-ply merino hand-dyed with rudbeckia.
Em chose to do a test knit using yarn gifted to us for Christmas (thanks Grandparents Boyle!). The yarn is more deeply tied to our family than simply by gifts, though; our cousins Paul and Sadie run the excellently adorable Foothills Flowers Farm in Washington, and above and beyond the beautiful blooms, they also sell yarn hand-dyed with their own flowers through their online shop. It’s definitely worth checking out, and I highly recommend their yarn for this design! (Disclaimer: Paul and Sadie didn’t pay me anything for this; I just really like their yarn.)
Detail of the geometric Mori Lace.
The Mori Lace Gloves use a simple lace at the wrist to create a gentle ruffle, then proceed up the hand with geometric lace at the back (bordered with a subtle 1×1 cable on each side) and a simple thumb gusset. There are special instructions for a bind-off that hits the sweet spot between stretchy enough for finger and thumb movement, and firm enough to not stretch out of shape. None of the lace stitches are exceedingly advanced; any intermediate lace knitter or adventurous beginner could have an easy time making a sweet, rustic set of fingerless mitts.
C’mon, you know that thumb gusset looks awesome!
That said: readers who are also knitters, if any of you are interested in test-knitting to help me iron out the last bugs in my instructions before I publish to Ravelry, I would love to hear from you! Shoot us an email at cozyhearthyarnworks@gmail.com, or get in touch with me through whatever social media you prefer.
Bonus feature: looking stylish and staying warm while enjoying your knitting-fuel of choice.
For now, back to proofreading, and figuring out Ravelry’s “add a pattern” process…
Happy knitting!
-Kit
[Editor's note: this pattern is now available for sale on Ravelry, as well as here on our website under our Original Designs collection]