Want a simple knitting project that you can knock out in a weekend? This unique knitting pattern fits the bill and would make great handmade gifts! A perfect project for a cold winter day.
This fun knitting pattern was created by a designer named Maggie Menzel. She was looking for some folks to review her pattern for cabled mittens. I’m a self-taught knitter and I tend to learn as I go. I have done quite a few pairs of socks in the last year- enough to be comfortable with knitting with double point needles, but I have never tried to make mittens. I was frightened by the thumb. Ha!
So, never one to let a challenge pass me by, I emailed her and volunteered to take on the project. I then dug through my stash and found some royal blue worsted acrylic yarn made by Loops & Threads.
As a sock aficionado, I am used to knitting with tiny double points in US size 1 or 2. This pattern calls for bigger yarn and US size 7 needles. As a beginner to knitting mittens, this mix is ideal. You work bigger, the project goes much faster and your results are instantaneous.
Maggie’s pattern was very easy to read and I had no problem with the cable pattern. It was easy enough to memorize so that I didn’t have to keep referring to the directions. I love that. I can watch The Big Bang Theory, knit a mitten and never miss a thing. The best of all worlds.
And the thumb. Well, it was very anticlimactic. So easy to do that I felt ridiculous for waiting this long to try it. Knitting a mitten is just like knitting a sock- only with a thumb. Who knew?
Anyway, I highly recommend Maggie’s pattern, Cable on the Side Mittens. You can purchase it yourself from Knit Picks for $1.99. Just follow the link, purchase the pattern and they will email it to you almost immediately. No shipping charges!
And think of all the mittens that you can whip up for gifts this year!