Lacuna Mitts
Overview
In the first-of-its-kind knitting pattern, renowned author Barbara Kingsolver has partnered with knitwear designer Andrea Cull to bring you a mystery knit-along (MKAL)* centered around Barbara's novel The Lacuna. These fingerless mitts are a work of art in stranded colorwork. Featuring 6 vibrant colors specially created for this project by Birch Hollow Fibers, you'll love watching the mystery unfold.
The trickiest part of these mitts is carrying the resting yarn for long stretches in some sections. If the resting yarn is pulled tight, your mitts will be too small. See the Stranded Knitting Tips below, and always make sure that your floats give your mitt room to stretch.
*What's a mystery knit along, or an MKAL? It's a project where you don't know what you're knitting until the end! When you buy the pattern, you won't be able to start knitting until the MKAL begins. The pattern will be launched one "clue" or section at a time, beginning March 10.
Construction Notes
These mitts are knit from the bottom up and can be worn scrunched up around the wrist or long. The mitts feature an "afterthought" thumbhole, where stitches are placed on hold using waste yarn and worked after the mitt is complete. Some sections have long stretches where the second color is unused, and the floats should be locked or trapped to ensure proper tension. See the Stranded Knitting Tips section below for more tips.
Sizes & fit
Like a painting, these mitts are a work of art with no repeated motifs throughout. Because of this, additional sizes can only be accomplished by changing gauge. The Smaller Size is knit on US 1.5/2.5 mm needles and yields a mitt that is about 8"/20 cm in circumference. The Larger Size is knit on US 2.5/3 mm, and yields a mitt of about 9.5"/24 cm in circumference. The mitts can be worn with as much as 1” of positive ease (for example, a 7” hand or wrist wearing a Smaller Size) or as little as 1.25” negative ease (a 9.25” hand or wrist wearing the Smaller Size.)
To choose your size, measure your hand circumference at the widest point and your "low wrist" circumference 3" below the wrist bone. If either is larger than 9.25"/23 cm, you may wish to choose the larger size. For those needing even more positive ease, these mitts can also be knit on US 3/3.25 mm needles for a 10"/25 cm circumference.
Gauge
You’ll notice we don’t have a gauge swatch for this pattern. That’s because the mitts are small enough that they’re barely larger than a swatch would be. Additionally swatching in a method different than what you’re using for the mitts (i.e. using the Long Float method to knit a swatch vs knitting in the round with DPNs or circulars) often is a poor prediction of what your gauge will actually be. So here’s what we suggest! Cast on your mitt, knit a few inches of colorwork, then steam block and check your gauge. If your gauge is far off, start over and adjust needle size as necessary. It’s barely more work than swatching, and if you’re happy with your gauge, you’re already on your way.
Customization
Because of the large motif featured on these mitts, customization is tricky. If you need a slightly narrower or wider mitt, try going down or up 1 needle size. Thumb circumference is also easily adjusted by increasing or decreasing the number of stitches picked up.
Yarn Substitutions and Color Choice
Color A can be easily substituted as long as you have enough contrast you color A and the other colors. For the remaining colors B-F, we recommend staying as close to the original colors as possible. There are some sections where color has been very carefully chosen, like colors B and E. (Colors in Knitrino are shown in the order used. Without enough contrast, you’ll lose the remarkable artwork in these mitts. )
These mittens work well in fingering weight yarns with good stitch definition/contrast.
How to Work Small Circumferences in the Round - 4 ways
For those newer to small circumference knitting, there are many options for knitting in the round, and just about every knitter has their preference! We recommend experimenting to see what you like best. Alison has knit using every one of the techniques below, and she finds she gets the best knitted fabric with shorties, though it is not her preference for comfort! Andrea, on the other hand, prefers Addi Flex-Flips. The only way to know what you prefer is to try them all!
How to Join New Yarn
This video shows different ways to join a new working yarn.
Colorwork Tips
We've heard from a lot of new colorwork knitters that they're intimidated by stranded knitting - they worry that it won't be perfect. We'd like to give you all a little gift right now and say "It won't be perfect, yay!" If you're new to colorwork, recognize that you're learning a new skill and it will improve a LOT with practice. Think about your project as the **first** colorwork project you'll make - it's a journal that will document your growth!
Knitrino recommends knitting stranded colorwork with two hands. For most knitters, the strand of yarn that is carried lower than the other on the wrong side will create larger stitches and can appear more dominant on the right side of the fabric, so carry the float of the background color in the highest position on the wrong side, and the color you most want to pop in the lowest position. For most right handed knitters knitting with 2 hands, you'll carry the background color in your right hand and the contrasting or motif color in your left hand.
Everyone knits differently. Many knitters knit tighter when stranding and so often, patterns suggest going up a needle size. Some knitters, though, kit more loosely with colorwork. The goal is to have floats that lie flat without being taut when the stitches are well stretched out across the needle. Here are some tips you can try to improve your colorwork:
As you're knitting, spread the stitches out every 5-6 stitches to keep the floats from being too tight. You can also adjust the tension of the carried yarn, if necessary. When carrying LONG FLOATS, we definitely recommend checking tension often, and adding in extra length as necessary. Floats that are too tight will result in a mitt that is too small for your hands, with very little stretch.
Occasionally stretch the knitted fabric along the diagonals to even out stitch sizes.
Keep the working yarns in the correct positions, and arrange the yarn balls next to the hand you're tensioning with. When you lock floats, always return the yarn to the correct position to avoid tangles.
You can try turning the work inside out so the floats are facing you. This can help you see your tension issues and adjust as needed.
If a stitch is pulled too tight and appears too small on the right side, you can fix it at the end by making a duplicate stitch over top in the correct color.
And don't forget that blocking forgives a multitude of sins. :) If you're worried about your tension, try steam blocking or wet blocking before you're finished to see how your cowl will look.
Afterthought Thumb
We just love the afterthought thumbhole used in this mitts! There are a few differences between our afterthought thumb and others. First, we placed it in the middle of the round. This allows both mitts to be worked in the same manner, and avoids confusion for left-handed knitters who mirror knit (trust us on that.) But best of all, we love that you just insert some waste yarn, and then later come back and pick up stitches! Want to know more about why you’d choose an afterthought thumb? Check our blog post!
Not sure what we’re talking about? It’s the Lacuna Mitts Pattern & Mystery Knit Along, available exclusively in Knitrino. To get the pattern, open Knitrino or click the image below from your phone. 📱
