Badger Gloves Knitting Pattern

Badger Gloves in Rowan Moordale

What is Being Made

The Badger Gloves are a pair of knitted mittens designed by Chloe Thurlow. These are intermediate-level knitting projects that feature colorwork patterning and measure 19 cm (7½ inches) in circumference around the palm with a total length of 26.5 cm (10½ inches). The mittens are worked in the round using double-pointed needles and incorporate a thumb section shaped separately from the main mitten body.

Techniques Used

This pattern employs several key knitting techniques suitable for intermediate crafters. The primary construction method uses circular knitting in the round with double-pointed needles, which creates seamless mittens. The pattern incorporates fairisle colorwork, a traditional technique for creating patterned designs by carrying multiple yarn colors across rounds and working them into stitches as needed. The mittens also feature decreasing shaping to form the tapered top of the hand and thumb sections, using slip-stitch decreases (sl 1, K1, psso) and knit two together (K2tog) decreases worked in pairs to maintain symmetry.

Stitches Used

• Knit stitch (K): The foundation stitch worked throughout most of the pattern, creating stockinette stitch texture
• Slip stitch, knit one, pass slipped stitch over (sl 1, K1, psso): A left-leaning decrease used for shaping the top of the mittens and thumb
• Knit two together (K2tog): A right-leaning decrease paired with the slip-stitch decrease for balanced shaping
• Make one left (M1L) and make one right (M1R): Increase stitches created by picking up horizontal loops and knitting into them, used for expanding stitch counts where needed
• Stockinette stitch in the round (st st): Knitting every round to create smooth, V-textured fabric, used throughout the thumb section

Materials

The Badger Gloves are knitted using Rowan Moordale yarn, a worsted-weight yarn supplied in 100-gram skeins. The pattern calls for three colorway options: Feather (001), Beetroot (007), and Ash (010), with one skein of each color required. Knitting is worked on double-pointed needles in two sizes: a set of 5 needles in 3½mm (UK size 10/9, US size 4) for the ribbed cuff sections, and a set of 5 needles in 4mm (UK size 8, US size 6) for the main body and fairisle pattern work. The pattern specifies a tension of 25 stitches and 27 rounds measured over 10 centimeters using the 4mm needles, ensuring proper fit and drape of the finished mittens.