Rowan Kongle Mittens Knitting Pattern

Rowan Kongle Mittens by Arne & Carlos

What Is Being Made

The Rowan Kongle Mittens are a pair of knitted mittens designed to fit an average woman's or man's hand. This downloadable PDF pattern provides instructions for creating two sizes of mittens using stranded colorwork techniques, featuring a charted design that creates a distinctive patterned appearance across the hand.

Craft and Project Type

This is a knitting project suitable for crafters with intermediate skill level. The mittens are worked as a complete pair using the techniques outlined below, with detailed shaping for both the hand and thumb sections.

Techniques Used

• Worked in the round: The mittens are constructed using circular knitting methods, which creates seamless fabric and allows for continuous rounds of patterning.
• Bottom-up construction: The mittens are built from the cuff upward to the fingertips, allowing you to try on and adjust fit as you progress.
• Stranded colorwork: The pattern employs two colors of yarn worked simultaneously in a stranded technique, where unused yarn is carried along the inside of the fabric. This creates the charted design visible on the finished mittens.
• Thumb gusset shaping: Increases are worked using M1L (make one left) and M1R (make one right) techniques to create an expandable gusset section for the thumb, with stitches later held on a holder and picked up for the thumb opening.
• Decrease shaping: The top of the mitten is shaped using slip stitch decreases (sl 1, K1, psso) and knit two together (K2tog) reductions to taper the hand section to closure.

Stitches Used

• Stockinette stitch: The primary fabric base, worked in patterned form through the charted design.
• Make one increases (M1L and M1R): Used to create the thumb gusset shaping by picking up horizontal loops and knitting into them from different directions.
• Slip stitch decrease (sl 1, K1, psso): A left-leaning decrease used in the crown shaping.
• Knit two together (K2tog): A right-leaning decrease used in the crown shaping to create balanced tapering.

Materials: Yarn and Needles

Yarn: The pattern calls for Rowan Alpaca Soft DK, a DK weight yarn. The colorway includes Marine Blue (color 212) and Deep Rose (color 206). For the small size, you will need 1 x 50gm of Marine Blue and 1 x 50gm of Deep Rose. For the large size, you will need 1 x 50gm of Marine Blue and 2 x 50gm of Deep Rose.

Needles: The pattern requires two sets of double-pointed needles. A set of 5 needles in 3¼mm (US size 3) is used for the ribbed cuff section, and a set of 5 needles in 4mm (US size 6) is used for the main body and patterned sections. The larger needles accommodate the stranded colorwork without excessive bulk.

Tension and Sizing

The pattern specifies a tension of 24 stitches and 26 rounds to 10 centimeters when measured over patterned stockinette stitch using the 4mm (US 6) needles. Two sizes are provided: Small (to fit an average woman's hand) and Large (to fit an average man's hand), with stitch counts and round counts adjusted accordingly throughout the pattern.