Berroco Linton Mittens Knitting Pattern

Berroco Linton Mittens

What is Being Made

The Berroco Linton mittens are a pair of warm, fitted hand coverings designed by Brenda York. These mittens feature a classic construction with a finished measurement of approximately 8 inches around the hand and 10½ inches in total length, though the length is adjustable to suit individual preferences. The mittens are worked as individual pieces, with a right mitten and left mitten, each incorporating a thumb gusset for comfortable thumb placement.

Techniques Used

These mittens are constructed using several intermediate-level knitting techniques that create both structure and visual interest:

• Worked in the Round: The mittens are knitted circularly using double-pointed needles, which eliminates the need for seaming and creates a seamless, professional finish.
• Bottom-Up Construction: The mittens are worked from the cuff upward, beginning with a ribbed cuff at the wrist and progressing toward the fingertips.
• Stranded Colorwork: The pattern incorporates stranded knitting (also called Fair Isle), which involves carrying two colors of yarn across the inside of the work to create patterned designs. The pattern notes that yarn should not be carried over more than 3 stitches without twisting the colors on the wrong side to prevent long floats that could snag.
• Thumb Gusset: A gusset is established and increased strategically to create shaping for the thumb, allowing the mittens to fit comfortably around the hand and thumb area.

Stitches Used

The Berroco Linton mittens employ fundamental knitting stitches combined with shaping techniques:

• Knit Stitch (K): The primary stitch used throughout the mittens, forming the base fabric.
• Purl Stitch (P): Used in combination with the knit stitch to create the ribbed cuff.
• Ribbing (K1, P1): The cuff is worked in alternating knit and purl stitches for 2½ inches, creating an elastic, stretchy fabric that helps the mittens stay in place on the wrist.
• Stockinette Stitch (St st): The main body of the mittens is worked in stockinette stitch over the charted patterns, which provides a smooth, flat surface ideal for displaying colorwork.
• Make One (M1): An increase stitch used to add stitches for the thumb gusset shaping and overall hand circumference adjustments.
• Charted Patterns (Chart A and Chart B): The mittens feature two separate charted patterns that are worked simultaneously during the colorwork sections, creating the distinctive Linton design.

Materials

Yarn: The mittens are knitted using Berroco Mercado, a yarn that comes in 100-gram hanks. The pattern calls for 1 hank each of two colors: #4132 Canela (the main color, or MC) and #4101 Crema (the contrasting color, or CC). The gauge is established at 16 stitches and 20 rounds per 4 inches when worked in stockinette stitch over the charted patterns using the larger needles.

Needles and Notions: The project requires one set of four double-pointed needles in size 8 (5.00 mm) for the ribbed cuff and size 10 (6.00 mm) for the main body of the mittens, or whatever size is necessary to achieve the correct gauge. Additional supplies include 3 stitch markers (with one in a different color to mark the beginning of each round), a tapestry needle for weaving in ends, and waste yarn to temporarily hold the thumb stitches while the hand portion is completed.

Skill Level

The Berroco Linton mittens are rated as an intermediate project, suitable for knitters who have mastered basic techniques and are ready to tackle stranded colorwork and shaping elements such as thumb gussets.