Choose Colors That Pop! Knit Ilisha’s Mittens

I designed a pair of colorwork mitts inspired by the Pointillists, painters who used dots of pure color to simulate realism when viewed at a distance, and played with stitch patterns that might produce a color-dot effect. Deciding between color-stranding (two or more yarn colors per round) and slipped-stitch patterns (one yarn color per row or round), I chose a slipped-stitch technique to make dots of color that alternate with stripes. Three rounds of slipped knit stitches compress the fabric around the purled areas and make them seem rounded, which is exactly what I was going for in Ilisha’s Mittens!

You might wonder how to get such a smooth transition between colors in the purl-dot areas. Here’s an easy trick: Even if the pattern would normally call for a round of purl stitches, knit the first round of the new color in those areas, making a smooth transition of color. Since knit stitches tend to recede, they are almost invisible in the mitten. [PAYWALL]

Color Choices That Pop

For ultimate charm in a mitten that alternates dots and stripes, especially if you are stash diving or using up your bits of leftover handspun yarns, you want a combination of harmony and pop in your color scheme. But what makes a color pop?

If you are familiar with the ubiquitous color wheel, colors next to each other (analogous) are generally harmonious, while colors opposite each other (complementary) are generally not. A little judiciously used disharmony creates a pop! Often, this is a color that falls on one side or another of a complementary one, also known as split complementary. If you’d like to experiment with the yarns you have on hand, here is a free interactive color wheel for you to try out your own color schemes. I like to include at least one pop color, but that may be too restrained for you.

In these mittens, the pink and rusty orange colors are analogous—next to each other on the color wheel—and the blue, green, and yellow-green are different split complements. This color wheel was published by M. E. Chevreul in 1864 (from Getty Research Institute/Internet Archive)

When you are including multiple colors in a piece, remember that the interplay of colors, or optical mixing, will affect how the colors look in the end. It’s hard to predict what will happen without some trial and error. A safe approach is to use mostly neutral colors plus one or two pops.

How Colors Play Together

For years, I’ve been conducting experiments with color, inspired by my experiences with knitting with beads. Long ago, I realized that beads introduce dots of light-filled color that react in different, sometimes surprising ways to yarn colors in the background. Josef Albers famously explored the painterly possibilities of color-on-color, and his book Interaction of Color is a fascinating demonstration of something that all of us have experienced but may not have thought about: our eyes’ perception of a color is relative to the color next to it.

If you are interested in knowing more, I encourage you to find a copy of Albers’ book, especially the chapter on optical mixing, the phenomenon of seeing a new color when two colors are placed next to each other.

Ilisha’s Mittens

I created these scrappy mittens for a dear friend with cold hands. Sometimes—especially during these difficult years—the best solace we can offer as knitters is cozy warmth. Our scrap yarns and precious leftovers are often quite personal, each offering memories of previous projects. Pulling scraps into one project creates a one-of-a-kind textile for those special people in our lives.

These mittens can be knitted with any configuration of colors. Work them up in only two solid colors or in a combo of solids and handspun gradients, or change the MC and CC with every pattern repeat. The DK or light worsted-weight yarn can be substituted with two strands of any fingering-weight yarn held together as needed. Here’s an opportunity to use up all the little bits of leftover yarn in your stash!

Materials

Yarn 60 yd MC and 50 yd total CC per mitten in your choice of colors (see Notes); DK or light worsted weight (or two fingering-weight yarns held together).
Needles Size 6 (4 mm) (see Notes). Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.
Notions Markers (m); tapestry needle; smooth waste yarn to hold thumb stitches.
Gauge 22 sts and 35 rnds = 4" in Colorwork Rib pattern.
Finished Size 7¼" circumference, 10½" height.

Visit farmfiberknits.com/abbreviations for terms you don’t know.

Notes and Pattern PDF

• These mittens are worked in the round from cuff to tip.
• Use the needles that you prefer for working a small circumference in the round: double-pointed, two circulars, or one long circular for Magic Loop.
• Join a new yarn in one of two ways as follows: When joining at the beginning of the round and immediately slipping the next stitch, attach new yarn to the previous yarn with an overhand knot, then continue. Otherwise, make a slipknot with the new yarn, tighten around needle, remove from needle, insert needle into first stitch of round, and pull slipknot through as a stitch.
• Slipped stitches create a float on the wrong side of the piece. Keep an easy tension to avoid puckering the fabric.
• I used the same MC throughout each mitten, but feel free to change MC as well as CC yarns as you like! Any number of yarn colors can be used for color pops and stripes. Don’t worry if you don’t have the same colors for the thumb as for the mitten hand. It will only add to the charm of the scrappy mitten!

**View and print this pattern as a PDF here: Ilisha’s Mittens

Sivia Harding has been producing beautiful knitting patterns since about 2002. She loves to play with shape, color, andtexture and is known for her work with beads. She has beenwidely published in books and collections, including Jared Flood’s Wool People series; Clara Parkes’s books The Knitter’s Book of Wool, The Knitter’s Book of Yarn, and The Knitter’s Book of Socks; and on Ravelry as Sivia Harding Knit Design.