Over the next few weeks, we’ll be celebrating the release of our new collection “Knits for Everybody” by seeing how members of the Knit Picks staff have used these basic patterns to create something truly unique. This week, we’re highlighting Knit Picks Graphic Designer Emily, who made adult mittens in a unique striped colorway! Here are the details, from Emily:

I’ll happily admit it: I’m a stripe addict. I own at least nine striped shirts, a pair of striped shoes, tank tops, shorts, dresses, you name it. I’m currently knitting a striped sweater AND cowl with stripes. I can’t get enough! To me, stripes are the perfect design, with their endless possibilities and classic good looks.

So with that in mind, I wanted to make a pair of striped mittens. When our new Knits for Everybody patterns showed up, with a pattern for a worsted weight mitten, I was sold. I knew I wanted narrow stripes, but I wasn’t quite sure what color combo. I was inspired by color scheme of the Scrunchy Ombre Arm Warmers from Under 100, knit in Palette. I knew I wanted to use Opal Heather and Sagebrush, as I really like how those looked together in the arm warmers, but what else? I looked in our bins of Palette and found Rose Hip for a pop of bright color and Cream for a neutral. Holding the yarn doubled for a light worsted weight, I decided to try them all in different stripe combos in my swatch to see which one I liked best.

Unsurprisingly, I loved them all, and couldn’t commit to just one, so I included all four! I used Cream for the cuffs, where it wouldn’t get dirty, and knitted them 5″ long instead of the pattern’s 4″ because I have long arms and coats sleeves are often a little short on me. No one likes a winter chill up their arm! I twisted the ribbing, as I like how it looks better. After the cuffs were finished, I knit 2 more rows in Cream and began the stripe pattern, which is basically 5 stripes of each color, then 5 solid rows of the newest color. Rose Hip is first; then I alternated Cream and Rose Hip until there were 5 single-row stripes. I broke Cream, and continued in just Rose Hip for 5 rows. I added in Opal Heather, alternating again for 5 rows each of Opal Heather and Rose Hip. I cut Rose Hip, and knit 5 rows of only Opal Heather, then added in Sagebrush. After knitting 5 rows of each stripe, alternating Sagebrush and Opal, I broke Opal Heather and knitted in Sagebrush until the end.

 I did add two extra rows after the decreases for my long fingers, but in hindsight I should have added them before the decreases, as it made them look just a little bit too squared off. I also just knitted the thumbs until they came to the top of my finger, then started the decreases. This stripe pattern would be perfect for using up small amounts of yarn. Although I used nearly the whole ball of Cream, I only used about three-quarters of a ball of each of the other three colors. I’d never used Palette before, and I was very pleased with how soft yet woolly the finished fabric was. These will be great for keeping out damp and cold come winter. Jenny Williams has designed a great, easy pattern that’s so good, I’m already planning on knitting another pair! If you’d like to check out my Ravelry project for these mittens, click here.