CROCHETED FINGERLESS MITTENS.

I'm excited to share my next crochet project with you, crocheted fingerless mittens. The perfect project to keep you warm and toasty this Winter.

I was inspired by these fantastic stripey wrist warmers over on Attic 24. The beauty of these mittens is in how easy they are to put together. There's no pattern as such as Lucy made them by folding simple rectangles of crochet in half and stitching them together.

Now, I'm not the most experienced of crocheters so the idea of changing to a different colour yarn every 2 rows to create the stripes scared me so I decided to buy a ball of self striping sock wool instead. I'm thrilled with how they turned out and if you want to have a go at making your own here's how I did it.

To make my fingerless mittens I used a 3.5 mm crochet hook and Sidar Heart & Sole 4 ply sock yarn in Twist and Shout.

To begin make a slip knot and chain 37 stitches.

Row 1. Half double crochet in the 2nd chain from the hook. Now half double crochet in each stitch until the end of the row and turn.

If you're not sure how to do the half double crochet stitch I recommend watching  this video.

Row 2 - 27. Chain 2 and half double crochet in every stitch. Turn.

If you want your fingerless mitten to be longer add more rows and turn them into arm warmers as well.

At this point you should have a rectangle of half double crochet. Weave in any loose ends and fold in half.

If you've used a solid colour yarn make sure the right side is facing in and slip stitch the sides together before turning right side back out. If you've used a stripey wool like I did you can make a contrasting edge by seaming the sides together using single crochet. Here's a video from  Tamara Kelly that shows you how to do both if you're not sure.

Remember to leave a 3-4 cm gap for the thumb hole. I carried on single crocheting but only on one side to create my thumb hole before continuing to seam together both sides.

To finish it off I went back and single crocheted on the remaining side of the thumb hole but if anyone knows a better way to do this please share in the comments below. I'm still learning so any tips are appreciated.

I added a row of double crochet to the top and bottom of my mittens to give them a neat finished edge in the same pink yarn.

If you're making these for a larger or smaller hand increase or decrease the initial chain. It needs to be long enough to fit around the widest part of the hand. Please be careful not to make the chain too big as Lucy on Attic 24 pointed out it will loosen up as you work it and nobody likes a baggy mitten now, do they?