Handtak — Colourwork Mittens Knitting Pattern

Handtak — handshake. Védís Jónsdóttir’s women’s mittens from Ístex’s Lopi 29, knitted in the round in Léttlopi from a black ribbed cuff: narrow stranded bands of crosses, zigzags and dots in nine colours, rising to a solid top and thumb tip, with a thumb gusset and a thumb knitted from its own small chart. Both mittens are the same. The pattern has two colour versions in one size: black-red — mustard, lagoon, heaven blue, violet, pink, orange and spring green with a crimson top — and black-moss — ash, murky, mustard, frostbite, rust, stone blue and light beige with a moor top. It prints no amounts; it says “use leftovers”. Mustard (9264), in both versions, and orange (1410), in the black-red, are no longer made; every other colour in the pattern still is.

What you get

• The knitting pattern in English (PDF), emailed right after purchase — nothing is posted
• Two colour versions — black-red and black-moss
• One women’s size
• Charts for the hand and the thumb, with a colour key for both versions
• Yarn and needles are not included. The kits have this pattern and all the yarn: the black-red kit or the black-moss kit

Yarn used in the pattern (not included)

Black-red: Léttlopi — 50 g balls · one size, women’s — the pattern prints no amounts; it says “use leftovers”
A 0059 black — no amount printed
B 9264 mustard — no amount printed · no longer made — the black-red kit uses 1703 mimosa, the same golden hue as the mustard in the photo but brighter and cleaner
C 9423 lagoon — no amount printed
D 1402 heaven blue — no amount printed
E 1414 violet — no amount printed
F 9434 crimson — no amount printed
G 1412 pink — no amount printed
H 1410 orange — no amount printed · no longer made — the black-red kit uses 1704 apricot, the same warm hue as the orange in the photo but a little deeper and more ginger
I 1406 spring green — no amount printed

Black-moss: Léttlopi — 50 g balls · one size, women’s — the pattern prints no amounts; it says “use leftovers”
A 0059 black — no amount printed
B 0054 ash — no amount printed
C 1420 murky — no amount printed
D 9264 mustard — no amount printed · no longer made — the black-moss kit uses 1703 mimosa, close to the golden mustard in the photo, a little brighter and more yellow
E 1417 frostbite — no amount printed
F 1416 moor — no amount printed
G 9427 rust — no amount printed
H 9418 stone blue — no amount printed
I 0086 light beige — no amount printed

Size
One size — women’s. The pattern gives no measurements. By our calculation the hand is about 22 cm (8¾″) round and the mitten about 24 cm (9½″) long, including 5 cm of rib at the wrist.

Gauge
18 sts × 24 rows = 10 cm (4″) in stocking stitch on 4.5 mm needles.

Needles
3.5 mm (US 4) double-pointed needles for the rib
4.5 mm (US 7) double-pointed needles for the hand and the thumb

You will also need
A little scrap yarn to hold the thumb stitches, and a tapestry needle for drawing the tops together and weaving in the ends — neither is in the pattern’s list, which names only the needles.

How it is knitted
Each mitten is knitted in the round on double-pointed needles. 36 stitches are cast on in black (A) and knitted in K1, P1 rib on 3.5 mm for 5 cm; on 4.5 mm the hand is increased to 40 stitches and knitted from a 46-round chart of narrow stranded bands — crosses, zigzags and dots. At the side of the hand a thumb gusset is increased 2 stitches every other round, 8 times, to 56 stitches; the 16 thumb stitches go onto scrap yarn and the hand goes on to a solid top in colour F — crimson for black-red, moor for black-moss — decreased 4 stitches a round down to 8 (see the FAQ) and drawn together. The thumb is picked up last — the 16 stitches plus 2 from the hand, 18 in all — knitted from its own 17-round chart and decreased to 6. The two mittens are the same.

Design: Védís Jónsdóttir — pattern from Lopi No. 29 (no. 20), Ístex.

How you get it — the pattern is a PDF in English. It is emailed to you right after purchase; nothing is posted.

Yarn — not included. We sell Ístex lopi by the ball in our yarn shop, or choose the kit, which has this pattern and all the yarn in one parcel.

No email? Check your spam folder, then write to support@icelandicstore.is with your order number. A person answers, Monday to Friday.