Pittsburgh Penguins Mittens

I was inspired by some Canadiens mittens I saw on Ravelry, so here's my own version of them, with a Penguins twist. I'm sure you can use your own mitten pattern if you want... this is just a really basic one I have adapted and tend to use all the time.

Yarn: Any worsted weight. I used cheap acrylic from a craft store. Wool would be a LOT nicer though.
Needles: Four No. 4 DPN's
Gauge: approx. 5 stitches per inch (but I didn't really do a swatch to be sure...)


Cast on 36 stitches in black, 12 on each of three DPN's.
Choose the ribbing of your choice (K1,P1; K2,P2; or my favorite, K2,P1) and knit 6 rows

Switch to white. Continue ribbing for two rows
Switch to black. Continue ribbing for one row
Switch to gold. Continue ribbing for three rows
Switch to black. Continue ribbing for one row
Switch to white. Continue ribbing for two rows
Switch to black. Continue ribbing for four rows
Knit 7 rounds Begin thumb gusset increase:

Left Mitten:
Round one:
needle 1 - k to 2 sts from end, m1, k2
needle 2 - k1, m1, k to end
needle 3 - k across
Round two and all even rounds:
knit all stitches

Round three: needle 1 - k to 2 sts from end, m1, k2
needle 2 - k2, m1, k to end
needle 3 - k across
Round five:
needle 1 - k to 2 sts from end, m1, k2
needle 2 - k3, m1, k to end
needle 3 - k across

Round seven:
needle 1 - k to 2 sts from end, m1, k2
needle 2 - k4, m1, k to end
needle 3 - k across

Round nine:
needle 1 - k to 2 sts from end, m1, k2
needle 2 - k5, m1, k to end
needle 3 - k across

Round eleven:
needle 1 - k to 2 sts from end, m1, k2
needle 2 - k6, m1, k to end
needle 3 - k across

Round thirteen:
needle 1 - k to last five stitches, place on holder
needle 2 - place first five stitches on holder, k across remaining
needle 3 - k all stitches

At this point, I rearranged my stitches on the needles so the top of the hand was all on one needle. You will need to take 2-3 stitches from EACH of the other two needles to make it even. You will have 19 stitches on this needle, and 9 and 10 on each of the other needles.

BEGIN CHART with white rows.





























Stripe pattern:
K 2 rows white
K 1 row black
K 10 rows gold
K 1 row black
K 2 rows white

END CHART

Knit 4 rows black, begin decrease rounds

Decrease rounds:
Odd rows:
Needle 1 (Or needle with 19 stitches) - K1, SSK, K to 3 stitches from end, K2tog, K1
Needle 2 - K1, SSK, K remaining stitches
Needle 3 - K to 3 stitches from end, K2tog, K1

Even rows:
K across all stitches

Continue until you have 7 stitches on front and back of mitten. Use the kitchener stitch to graft stitches together.

Thumb:
Divide 10 stitches onto two needles, and pick up four stitches along empty edge. K in round approx. 10-12 rows. K2tog, repeat until end of round Break yarn, thread through stitches and tie off.


Right Mitten Increases:
Row one:
needle 1 - k across
needle 2 - k to 1 st from end, m1, k1
needle 3 - k2, m1, k to end

Row two and even rows:
K across all stitches

Row three:
needle 1 - k across
needle 2 - k to 2 stitches from end, m1, k1
needle 3 - k2, m1, k to end

Row five:
needle 1 - k across
needle 2 - k to 3 stitches from end, m1, k1
needle 3 - k2, m1, k to end

Row seven:
needle 1 - k across
needle 2 - k to 4 stitches from end, m1, k1
needle 3 - k2, m1, k to end

Row nine:
needle 1 - k across
needle 2 - k to 5 stitches from end, m1, k1
needle 3 - k2, m1, k to end

Row eleven:
needle 1 - k across
needle 2 - k to 6 stitches from end, m1, k1
needle 3 - k2, m1, k to end

Follow pattern for left mitten above

Helpful hints:
-For the first mitten, I broke the yarn between the cuff and palm stripes. After weaving in TOO MANY ENDS, I carried the yarn for the second mitten. It seemed to work great. Just make sure you catch each color every row or two!

-It is your choice if you want to knit the penguin or duplicate stitch it. I did the latter, but kind of wish I knit it with my ever-growing colorwork skills. Just remember you have to carry two colors behind the gold stripe all the way around the mitten.