How to Loom Knit Baby Mittens

by Crystal Kennedy

Baby mittens are good for preemies and newborns who like to put their hands in their mouths. But not just any mittens will do. They have to be warm, close- but not tight-fitting, and have a tie to keep them on little restless baby hands. Below is a loom knitting pattern I created for personal and charity use. Please do not sell mittens

made from this pattern.

Materials

You need a small amount of baby or worsted weight yarn in the color of your choice. You could also use two colors, one for the cuffs and tie, and the other for the rest of the mittens. Of course, you need a knitting loom. I use a 15-peg 1/2-inch gauge preemie bootie loom from CinDWood Crafts. You can find this loom at www.cindwoodcrafts.com for $5 as of this writing. Since the gauge is smaller than the popular Knifty Knitter looms, you only need to use one strand of worsted weight yarn when you work. However, you can also use a 12-peg loom like the Knifty Knitter flower loom. If you use this loom, hold two strands of yarn together as one throughout the pattern. Finally, you need a large-eye blunt yarn needle, one stitch marker, and a pair of scissors.

You should know how to e-wrap, double-stitch, flat-stitch, purl, and do the gather bind off on a knitting loom. If you need help with these, see my articles called "Loom Knitting a Baby Hat: Stitches" and "Loom Knitting a Baby Hat: Binding Off."

Cozy Baby Mitts Pattern

Cast On

Place a stitch marker on the first peg. Then, using the yarn you want for the cuff, place a slip knot on that peg. *Move to the next peg and e-wrap it twice. Knit off one loop over one loop.* Repeat between stars up to and including the last peg. To complete the cast on, e-wrap the first peg again, and knit off one loop over one loop.

Cuff

Rounds 1, 3, and 5: Flat-stitch all around the loom.

Rounds 2 and 4: Purl all around the loom.

For a girl: Round 6: Purl all around the loom.

For a boy: There is no round 6. That is, after round 5, begin the directions for the hand.

Change colors if you wish. To attach the new color, cut the old one, leaving a 4-inch tail to weave in later. Take this tail up through the stitch on the last peg as if you were going to purl the stitch, and pull it all the way through. Tighten that stitch so it doesn't unravel. Place a slip knot in the new color on the first peg, and knit off one loop over one loop. This finishes off the cuff color and securely attaches the hand color.

Hand

Round 1: Double-stitch all around the loom.

Repeat this round until the mitten is slightly less than 2 inches long for a preemie, or 3 inches long for a newborn.

Last 4 rounds: Flat-stitch all arond the loom. This makes the mitten less bulky and easier to gather.

Bind Off

Cut the working yarn, leaving about a 4-inch tail.

Cut a separate strand of yarn long enough to wrap around the loom at least 3 times.

Fold this strand in half, creating a doubled strand.

Using the gathering method, Bind off with this doubled strand of yarn. Make sure you turn the mitten inside out before gathering.

Tie all tails in a square knot very close to the inside of the mitten.

Cut the excess gathering yarn, leaving tails of about 4 inches.

Weave in all tails.

Mitten Tie

Using 1 strand of yarn, place a slip knot on one peg. E-wrap the peg and knit off one loop over one loop.

Flat-stitch this peg until the tie is 8 inches long.

Cut the working yarn, leaving about a 4-inch tail.

Pull the tail through the loop as if to purl, and pull on it to knot it securely.

Weave in the tails at the ends of the tie.

Weave the tie in and out of round 5 of the mitten. This is the last round of the cuff.

If you wish, you can attach pompoms to the ends of the tie. In this case, do not weave in the ends, because you'll use them to attach the pompoms. Instead, follow the instructions until weaving in the ends. Then, make two small pompoms, and set them aside. Weave the tie through the mitten, and attach the pompoms. Don't forget to make another mitten!