My first pattern! I am so happy to share this pattern with you and hope your wrists will be happy with them, mine surely are!
Some comments first:
- This pattern uses techniques for fair isle crochet. You can check the following videos by Crochet Ever After for the basics:
Fair Isle Crochet Tutorial #1: How to Change Color
Fair Isle Crochet Tutorial #2: How to Catch Your Float
- I carried the yarn in strands at the back instead of inside the stitches as when doing tapestry crochet because the colours are very contrasting. I made sure to catch the unused yarn every 3 stitches regardless of the chart, e.g. if the chart says 7 stitches in the dark colour before changing to the lighter one I would do: two stitches in the dark colour, catch the strand in the third, two more dark, catch the strand on the 6th and then change to the light colour before ending stitch number 7. Shorter strands reduce the chance of catching them when you put them on.
- To get a straight seam when joining each round I used this technique by Crochet Ever After which also makes the joining less visible. Basically, when you are working in rounds you usually do the last stitch, join with a slip stitch to the first stitch, chain one and then continue the pattern in the NEXT stitch to the one you slipped the hook through when joining. This makes the joining move one stitch with every round and then you get a diagonal seam. By doing your first stitch in the SAME stitch as where you did your slip stitch you always join in the same place. So if Round 1 and 2 of the pattern sound confusing check the video for further guidance.
- You don’t really need a gauge for this pattern, you just have to check the size first. I added 4 stitches to the original pattern shown in the picture since my wrists are very small. Before starting the pattern, chain the number of stitches required, join to first chain and check if the circumference is large enough that it fits the part of your hand where your thumb starts, otherwise you won’t be able to put them on. If it is too small for you I have added some empty columns to the chart in this file: print it and fill in the squares randomly and adapt the rest of the pattern to your new number of stitches. Just remember the chart is for half the number of stitches since you repeat it once. You can also do more rounds of the solid colours depending on how long you want them.
- This pattern is available for free to my dear readers, and you are welcome to sell finished products (but of course not the pattern), I only ask that you credit the pattern to me.
- Finally, this is the first pattern I have ever written so I apologise for any mistakes and please ask any questions you may have, I will be happy to answer them.
Night to Day Wrist Warmers
This pattern is crocheted in the round, without turning your work and on the back loop only. The middle section of the pattern uses a fair isle technique to change colours and carry the unused colour as strands in the back, as explained in the comments above. The pattern is written for one standard size, but click here to download a printable chart that allows you to add stitches if the pattern is too small.
US terms
sc blo – single crochet in back loop only
ch – chain
st – stitches
Materials
Hook: 3.5mm
Yarn: 1 x 50g ball Excelana 4 ply in Cornflower Blue, 1 x 50g ball Excelana 4 ply in Nile Green (I only used approx. 15g of each colour)
Needle to weave in ends
Instructions
With darker colour chain 40, join to first chain (make sure not to twist them) with slip stitch and pull hard so that the chain just made is less visible.
Round 1: Ch 1, sc blo in first ch (where you just did the slip stitch) and in every ch across. Join with slip stitch to first sc. Don’t turn (40 st).
Round 2: Ch 1, sc blo in st where you joined with slip stitch in previous round, sc blo in next st until the end. Don’t turn (40 st).
Round 3 -10: Repeat Round 2.
Round 11-24 : Follow chart below from right to left and repeat once for each row (chart is for 20 stitches, in each round once you get to stitch number 20 go back to the first stitch of the row and repeat for the next 20).
Cut darker yarn and continue with lighter yarn only, leave a tail long enough to make it easy to weave in.
Round 25-31 : Ch 1, sc blo in st where you joined with slip stitch in previous round, sc blo in next st until the end. Don’t turn (40 st).
Fasten off, weave in ends.
I have added this pattern to Ravelry as well if you want to add it to your queue 😉
Please post a comment if you have any questions and enjoy!
x
Sol
a crochet journey 
I love these mitts (saw them in FGFs on Rav) and I love your comments before the pattern – very clear and thoughtful.
Thank you very much Ruth, hope you give them a try soon!
x
Sol
The FGF group on Rav is doing a 15-point club this year (2015) and your mitts qualify for 3 points without using a wildcard! The only thing I’m wondering is how I might add a thumb-hole? I have only crocheted one pair of mitts – I generally knit them.
Hi there!
I think you lost me somewhere with the points but I can help with the thumb problem 🙂
As you can see in the pictures the pattern changes colour in the middle but the top and bottom part of the cylinder that makes de wrist warmer is made in solid colour. If you wanted to add a thumb all you have to do is add it once you stop changing colour, in the lighter blue section.
The pattern is worked in the round, joining each one to the first st made, never turning and working on the back loop only. This gives a very specific look to the pattern that it would be best to maintain while you work the thumb so…
Work the pattern as normal, you can add a few more rounds of the solid darker colour since you might end up having more rounds of the lighter colour because of the thumb. Do the colour work part, which is stranded, once you finish it and start working with the lighter colour only stop working in rounds and start working in rows until you have a hole large enough to put your thumb, then you can start joining to the first stitch again and work a few more rounds to finish it off.
Now when working in rows instead of rounds, don’t turn your work or it will look quite different. You will have to work looking at the front of your work all the time, which means you will have to cut the yarn for each row and join it again at the first stitch for the next one. Since it won’t be for that many rows it shouldn’t leave that many ends to weave in.
I haven’t tried this so it is only theory, but it should work!
If I have made no sense whatsoever please reply and will do my best to help you.
Good luck!
Sol
So if I’m understanding you correctly, I would stop at the point where I want the thumbhole to start and work back around to the “other side” of the thumb hole, then work back and forth between these two points (leaving the thumb sts unworked) until I had a few rows open to put my thumb thru, then resume working in the round till the top of the fingers part. (this would make a horizontal thumb hole rather than a vertical slit)
Is there any reason why I couldn’t just use FLO instead of BLO when working the wrong side of the mitt? That should look just like the BLO from the front side.
The 15 pt club is just a KAL/CAL sort of thing on Fingerless Gloves Fanatics where certain techniques have been assigned pts and we work from a list of these techniques to “earn” those points. 15 points is the goal. Your mitts count for stranded colorwork, 75% SC, and FLO or BLO – 3 pts, the maximum allowed for any one project! They are truly winners! 😀
Hi,
I think we are saying the same thing, though that would leave you a vertical slit… or at least in my head that is what it looks like! Basically you would get the equivalent of working a mitt flat then folding it in half and doing the seam up until a certain point, leaving a few stitches without seam and continuing on for the rest of the seam after that.
You could work in the FLO, it is really up to you, the front and back of stitches does look different in my opinion but of course if you don’t mind go for it 😉
Well, glad to be of service and give you many points! Let me know how it goes and if you have any more questions 🙂
x
Sol