Perambulator Mitts

Perambulator Mitts, image copyright Practical Publishing

I’m a wee bit late with this one, my only excuse being that, with two children’s birthdays, it’s been a busy month!  Issue 9 of Knit Now magazine has been in the shops for a few weeks now and, self promotion aside, it’s well worth a look. The theme is ‘Best of British’ , given that this year is a celebration year, with the Jubilee and the London Olympics. What this means for the issue is that all the designers are British (Hoorah! Not that we don’t love the international world of knitting designers under normal circumstances) and all the yarns featured in the designs are produced right here in the UK.

My contribution to the collection are these Perambulator Mitts. The yarn I used was Erika Knight’s Vintage Wool, which comes in some lovely muted tones that work beautifully together. It’s a springy, aran weight, plied pure wool which creates a soft, well defined fabric. I used one skein each of Leighton- the green- and Flax- the natural colour to make these, using a smaller than usual needle to make them denser and more robust- I’ll explain why next…

So, the thinking behind these was that I ask quite a lot of a pair of gloves. With two active young children, I need them to keep my hands warm when I’m out pushing the buggy, especially on walks in the Lakes. But at the same time, I need my fingers free to do up coat buttons, peel bananas for members of the party too small to manage that themselves and extract wipes to clean up afterwards. Other times I’m carrying bags full of books or food shopping and what I really want is a bit of extra protection on my palms to stop them getting chafed by the handles.

My solution is a pair of gloves made using needles that are small for the yarn and with colourwork to produce a thick, cosy, hardwearing fabric to cushion and protect your hands, but leave the fingertips and thumbs free for when dexterity is needed. For extra warmth when the backs of your hands need it, there is an extra flap of basket stitch, secured in place with a loop around the thumb and a button.

This idea was taken from cycling gloves, which often have extra padding for warmth on the backs.  If, on the other hand (no pun intended!) it’s your palms that need protection, you simply undo the button, unhook the loop and flip the flap onto the palm of the hand, securing it in the same way.

The images shown on the left are of the prototype I made, which is why they are a wee bit scruffy, but I hope they give an idea of how the mitts work. Hardworking mittens for hardworking hands- if you use your hands to create lovely things, don’t you think you deserve some?!

The next issue of Knit Now will be in the shops on 28th June, but if you hurry you might just find a copy of this issue on the shelves still. If not, back issues are often available via their website . The design will also be available as an individual pattern in my Ravelry Shop later this year.