Year of Mittens: July Mittens

It's here! The final mitten in the Year of Mittens. We can hardly believe a year has gone by! So much has changed here at Kelbourne Woolens over the last year and it has been both amazing and wonderful - and if we're being honest, a little stressful! - to mark the beginning of each month with a new pattern for you.

We have absolutely loved seeing all of your mittens pop up on Instagram and Ravelry, and are so impressed with the shops that have held knit alongs, classes, and marked each month with a new project!

The July Mitten is knit in two parts; First, the outer mitten is knit, and then the mitten is embroidered in order to easily weave in all ends. Next, the lining is knit to complete the mitten.Next, the lining is worked to complete the mitten. When working the lining, you may find it easiest to work the thumb prior to finishing all top of hand shaping in order to properly weave in all ends.

The mittens call for 1 skein each of two colors, and then small bits of 6 other colors for the decoration. (One of your main colors is used as well.) The colors used in the mitten are featured in prior Year of Mittens patterns, so you will most likely have plenty of leftover colors from previously knit mittens to work the decoration. This pair is a great last project for wrapping up all the remaining loose ends!

The pattern includes a full page illustrated guide for the embroidery as worked in the pattern, but this is also a great opportunity for you to go wild and do whatever design you choose!

SPECIFICATIONS
Yarn
• Mittens: The Fibre Co. Cumbria Fingering: scafell pike (outer), cowberry (lining), 1 skein each.
• Embroidery: The Fibre Co. Cumbria Fingering: cowberry, hadrian’s wall, castlerigg, buttermere, helvellyn, windermere, appx. 10 yds. each.
Gauge
32 sts + 42 rnds = 4” (10 cm) in St st, after blocking.
Needles
1 - set US 1 (2.25 mm) dpns.
Notions
Stitch markers, tapestry needle, smooth waste yarn of comparable gauge.
Size
10” (25.5 cm) length, 7.75” (20 cm) circumference.
Skills
Provisional cast-on, embroidery, decreasing, picking up stitches.

As part of the release of the pattern, I put together an in-depth photo tutorial in the Tips and Tricks section of the website on working both the chain stitch embroidery and "spider web" flower as featured in the pattern. I first heard about the flower from Cirilia Rose a few years ago and had so much fun making mine when designing this pair; it is such a fun technique and really has a lot of impact!

USEFUL TIPS:
• For a tutorial on working embroidery, visit our tips and tricks here.
• For a tutorial on the provisional cast-on, visit our tutorial here.

You can buy the individual pattern via our pattern page here, or on Ravelry here. If you are a subscriber to the full year of patterns, your update notification will be waiting for you in your inbox!