Whit's Knits: Swan's Island Organic Merino Long Striped Hand Warmers
Hand warmers are one of my favorite things to knit. They don't involve the fuss of fingers; they're one size fits all; they don't take eons to make; and they're a great opportunity to express your style. In the past we've featured several hand warmer patterns on the Purlbee, each with its own character. The Daisy Stitch Hand Warmers were homespun and funky; the Pretty Lace Hand Warmers were feminine and sassy; and the Cashmere Hand Warmers were simple and luxurious.
This season we bring you the Long Striped Hand Warmers, complete with a personality of their own. Relaxed, yet refined, they strike a delicate balance that fits every mood, from no-I-haven't-had-a-cup-of-coffee-yet to yes-I-am-fabulous.
The beautiful tonal shifts in the green are the result of Swan's Island's extraordinary natural dyes. This particular green is a mystical concoction made from the shavings of the Osage Orange tree and the fermented leaves of the Indigo herb. When applied to 100% organic merino wool chosen by Swan's Island, not only the yarn, but the story behind the yarn, starts to take on a very special feeling. --Whitney
The Materials
- 2 skeins of Swan's Island Fingering, 100% organic merino. These colors are "Grey" and "Spring Green". One skein of each is enough to make four or five pairs of hand warmers!
- A set of US #2 double pointed needles
- A set of US #3 double pointed needles
The Pattern
Gauge
8 1/2 stitches = 1 inch in stockinette stitch with the larger needles
Finished Size
To fit average woman - 7 inches in circumference and 12 1/2 inches long
The Cuff
With the Main Color (MC) and a set of US #2 double pointed needles, cast on 60 stitches.
Join to work in the round, being careful to not twist the stitches.
*K1, p1, repeat from * to end of round.
Repeat this round 7 more times.
Changing to US #3 double pointed needles,
**Knit 1 round with MC.
Knit 1 round with the Contrast Color (CC).
Repeat from ** until the piece measures 8 inches from the cast on edge. (If you need some tips on how to knit stripes, check out the "Knitting Stripes in the Round" section of the Rochefort Chapeau pattern.)
Knit 1 more round, ending with an increase (m1). (61 stitches)
The Gusset
Continuing the established stripe pattern,
Round 1: K30, place a marker, m1L, k1, m1R, place a marker, k30. (63 stitches)
Round 2: Knit.
Round 3: Knit to first marker, slip marker, m1L, knit to second marker, m1R, slip marker, knit to end of round. (2 stitches increased)
Repeat Rounds 2 and 3 until there are 19 stitches between the markers.
Next round: Knit to the second marker, place the previous 19 stitches (ie the thumb stitches) on a stitch holder or scrap yarn, knit to the end of the round. (60 stitches on needles)
The Palm
Next Round: Continuing the stripe pattern, knit to the thumb gap, close the gap by knitting the next stitch and pulling a little extra tight, knit to the end of the round.
Continue to knit in the established stripe pattern until the palm measures 1 3/4 inches from the thumb gap (or until the palm reaches your pinky knuckle). End the palm with a round of the MC.
Changing to US #2 double pointed needles and using just the MC,
*K1, p1, repeat from * to end of round.
Repeat this round 5 more times.
Bind off in the rib pattern.
The Thumb
With the next color in the stripe pattern and a US# 3 double pointed needle, pick up 3 stitches from the base joint of the thumb.
Continue with the same color to finish knitting the round, distributing the stitches onto three needles. (22 stitches)
Continuing the stripe pattern, knit until the thumb measures 3/8 of an inch from the base of the thumb.
End the thumb with a round of the MC.
Changing to US #2 double pointed needles and using just the MC,
*K1, p1, repeat from * to end of round.
Repeat this round 3 more times.
Bind off in the rib pattern.
Weave in all the ends. I also blocked my hand warmers to even out the stitches a little bit which worked great!
purl bee
We loved last winter's Long Striped Hand Warmers so much that we're still thinking about them this fall! The opportunity that a one row stripe offers to play with color is just irresistible to us. When two colors are in such intense juxtaposition they can start to effect each other in really unexpected and exciting ways, bouncing, shifting and glowing.
We still absolutely LOVE the original pair for which we used the unbelievably beautiful Swan's Island Fingering, and it's still a great choice for this project, beautifully hand dyed, sophisticated and as soft and light as a feather. But, we thought that it would be an interesting (and fun!) exercise to see how the Long Striped Hand Warmer's stitch pattern would look if we used Alchemy's Juniper. Also a fingering weight merino, Alchemy's vivid palette is very different in tone from Swan's Island's more subdued colors. We knit up swatches of these six color combinations, each one surprising us in the end!
The above colors are Kai's Goldfish (bottom) and Husk (top), a mixture of spicy tomato red with a soft and mellow camel.
These are Fuchsia and Fool's Gold, a shocking cool pink with a rich curry color.
These are Hush and Fieldstone, two quiet colors, one a dusty lavender and the other a warm mushroom.
These are Turquoise Pool and Cornflower Blue, one a pumped of version of the other.
These are Tea Leaf and Dragon, a pure grass green with a deeply saturated olive.
These are Canary and Fieldstone, a sunny perfect yellow with a hushed warm gray.
It's fun to pick your favorite. We can't agree! Page's favorite is the Kai's Goldfish, Joelle's is fuchsia, Molly's is Canary and Whitney's is the Tea Leaf. What's yours?
PATTERN NOTES: If you decide to try the Long Striped Hand Warmers with the Juniper you will still only need one skein of each color, but you will probably need to go down a needle size. I used a set of US #1 and a set of US #2 double pointed needles. --Whitney
Reader Comments (29)
thanks guys for always inspiring..
These days I'm knitting something like this!
I love your colors.
Thank you so much for reviving such lovely memories.
Thanks Whitney!
Gotta say these hand warmers are so cute I'm going to knit up a pair for myself, pronto (yellow and grey).
The Swan's Island Fingering is equivalent to a 4ply yarn in UK sizes. For needles you would want to make sure the UK size is 10 and 12
I think a 6 inch circumference would work for an eight year old, although if you have access to her it wouldn't hurt measuring the width of her hand. If 6 looks good, then cast on 50 stitches. Or if you decide on another circumference, just multiply it by 8.5 and cast on that number.
Let us know if you have any other questions and thanks for asking!
Whitney
You could use the magic loop method using a long circular needle. Here's a link to a video:
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-do-magic-loop-knitting-with-large-cable-needle-4601/
Thanks for your question!
M
Amy
Thanks,
Amy
Thank you for pointing this out. The links have been fixed.
Thanks!
Molly
Do you have 8 inch circular needles? Anything longer will be too long, unless you plan to use the magic loop method. And for the thumbs, even an 8 inch needle will be too long, unless again, you're using a magic loop. There is also the possibility of knitting the thumbs with two circular needles.
I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions!
Whitney
We don't know of any circular needles short enough for the small circumference of this pattern.
Thank you for your question!
Molly
You could try felting them lightly in a top loading washer with a lot of water and soap. Check them very frequently because the only thing worse than hand warmers that are too big are hand warmers that are too small!
Also, I wonder if you got the proper gauge of 8 1/2 stitches to the inch, because although the yarn is very thin, the finished fabric shouldn't be "loose" the way you're describing. If you knit at 8 1/2 stitches to the inch, the finished size would be 7 inches in circumference which should be good for most women. So, that's a good thing to double check if you plan to knit another pair! (Remember that this may mean having to go down a needle size or two.)
Thanks for your question!
Whitney
Really like the website. I had a go at these and was very happy with my first attempt at knitting with double ended needles. I used Sirdar Cuddly wool as I couldn't get the colours I wanted in merino. My question is this - any tips for minimising the little ridge you get on the finished knitting (right side), running down the glove at the point where you have changed needles. I can see there is even one just faintly visible on your photo with the green fern. Hope you know what I mean by this! My sister-in-law now wants me to knit her a pair which I am very happy to do, but it would be good to improve that part of my technique. Thanks.