Mitten Flap Tutorial!

How to knit a mitten flap!

Ok, so I've tried to make this a simple and easy to follow as possible. I have taken A LOT of pictures to help you see what I am talking about, but if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to leave a comment or contact me! Hope you enjoy!

So you have a finished fingerless mitten, like this one:

And you want to add a flap just in case you (or the person who will be wearing it) has cold fingers. Ok! Easy! 

You will need: 

         ~ Size needles you used to knit the fingerless mitten. 

         ~ Small crochet hook.

         ~ Yarn you used to knit the fingerless mitten. 

Step 1: 

         Pick up stitches across top of hand. 

         To figure out how many to pick up, I have a general rule of thumb; divide how many stitches you ended the hand with on the fingerless mitten, divide by 2, and subtract 2. This is how many stitches to pick up on the top of the hand. For instance, I ended with 40 stitches around the hand of my mitten, so..

                      40/2 = 20  ---->    20 - 2 = 18

I picked up 18 stitches across the top of the hand! 

          We need to make sure we pick these stitches up evenly, so to do that I start from the middle of the hand and work outward. 

Here is the end of the hand of my mitten. I have finished with a k2, p2 rib, which is customary for a fingerless mitten. The middle of the hand is in between the middle two knit columns. I am pointing at it with my needle below. 

In the middle, where the k2, p2 rib begins, I will begin to pick up stitches. Here is a close up of the middle of the hand.  I will start by picking up a purl stitch on the right (top in this photo) side of the middle purl column. 

Starting in the middle of the hand, about an inch or so from the top of the mitten, pick up the stitch just to the right of the center line. Put this stitch on your needle making sure to put the left hand side of the stitch on the bottom of the needle. For me, this is a purl stitch, so I just pick up the stitch closest to the right (top) column of knitting. 

You have just picked up your first stitch! 

To pick up the next stitch, which is a knit stitch, you will pick up the yarn that is in the middle of the knit stitch. I am pointing to it with my crochet hook below. 

Slide your crochet hook through the knit stitch and pick up the yarn in the middle of the stitch and put it onto your needle, making sure to keep the left hand side of the stitch on the bottom of the needle. 

Continue to work your way across the hand until you have picked up half of the total stitches you calculated to pick up. For me, that is 9 stitches. 

When you have picked up half of the total stitches, slide your needles all the way through to the other side to start picking up the stitches on the other half of the hand. Proceed as the before.

Step 2: 

      Now that you have picked up the total amount of stitches you calculated earlier, knit across one row. 

Step 3: 

         Cast on, using backward loop method, the remaining amount of stitches needed to complete one round the same size as the hand of your mitten. For me that is 40 - 18 = 22 stitches. 

Once you have cast on the appropriate number of stitches, pull your needles through to connect to knit in the round. 

Step 4:

         Knit the mitten flap! 

         Knit in the appropriate rib pattern for your mitten for about 1 inch. Then work in stockinette stitch for about 1 inch.  

To shape the top:

      Divide your total stitches in half onto your two needles: (For me, that is 20 on one needle and 20 on               another.) 

Divide your stitches so that the half of the stitches that form the top of the mitten flap are on one needle and the half that from the back of the mitten flap are on the other. The pattern I use for the top is a two row pattern. You could use any top shaping for a mitten you like, this is just my favorite! 

    Row 1 (and all odd rows): At the beginning of each needle, ssk. At the end of each needle k2tog. You                     will be decreasing a total of 4 stitches on every odd row, two on each side of the mitten. The                         pattern should read as follows: 

                      ssk, knit to two stitches before the end of the needle, k2tog. 

                      Pull needle through to knit yarn on the bottom of the flap. 

                      ssk, knit to two stitches before the end of the needle, k2tog. 

    Row 2: knit across both needles

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until you have between 6 -10 stitches left on your needles. Graft the two sides together using the Kitchener stitch. VOILA! You have a mitten flap!! 

I repeated the process for the thumb as well.  

To make a loop, use your crochet hook you used to pick up stitches, and chain enough stitches to fit around the button you have chosen. I chained 14 for the large buttons and 10 for the smaller ones. Sew the buttons onto the mitten, attach the loops and you're done! 

I hope this is informative and easy to follow! If you have any questions, please let me know! 

Happy Knitting!!