I’ve got this mitten pattern I got for free years ago when I subscribed to Knit Simple magazine. It’s done in the round. I use magic loop instead of five needles, but that’s just my preference. Although the pattern itself is meant for striping, I’ve only used it to make solid mittens.

What I love about it is, unlike many in the round knitting patterns I’ve seen, this one is fairly simple. It can be made in three sizes (child’s, women’s and men’s.) There’s not a whole lot of measuring needed and because of the simple design, I can let my mind drift while knitting it. Best of all, the entire pair can be made from one skein of yarn!

Knit mittens | Fancy Cuff Version

The first time I made this pattern, I wanted to make a mitten that would look nice with my professional, gray pea coat without being too boring. I chose a dark gray for the hand and coordinated it with a fun purple (my favorite color) for the cuffs. As an added bonus, I used that same purple to make a scarf and the gray and purple to knit a matching hat to complete the set of three.

Knit mittens | More Purple

Several years after that, friends gave me a brown jacket with a lavender lining. Again, going with purple is my favorite color, I found a matching lavender yarn and whipped up a pair of mittens to go with that winter jacket. Warm hands and warm body are quite necessary in the northeastern U.S.

Knit mittens | Black Works Too

Following the warmth theme, and knowing I’m “always cold,” my boyfriend bought me a gorgeous, super warm winter jacket for Christmas this year. While it does a stellar job of keeping my arms and torso warm and the hood keeps me snuggled and dry, my hands were freezing. Once again, that same pattern to the rescue! The jacket is dark green with patterning in areas that is black and dark maroon. I considered many options, including another fancy cuff. In the end, though, I went with classic black. It looks great with the jacket and is the same woolen look as the black in the pattern areas.

I think the next time I make these mittens they would look great in a hand dyed maroon. Whether you use my favorite knitting pattern or another, try some hand dyed yarn to give them extra character and share a picture!