Retro Snow Day Mittens

In our group over on Facebook (click here and join the fun!) we were taking about making mittens, both crochet and knit…. oh my its that time of the year isnt it? Here in northern Minnesota we already have several inches on the ground and I felt kind of caught off guard….. honestly when I went through my hats and mittens box I was shocked to see I had a zillion of everything else BUT matching mittens. I live in the middle of nowhere …. and I am soooooo not kidding. Although nowhere has its advantages one thing it doesnt have is a plethora of stores to jump out and buy a zillion

kidlets winter gear.

So whats a crafty mama in the woods to do? Why make mittens of course BUT as I soon discovered I really didnt dig any of the mitt patterns I was finding for crochet….. I started knitting. Knitting takes a really long time. Did I mention I have SEVEN kids?  Knitting prolly wasnt going to get every ones hands warm any time soon. Still I forged on…. 4 needles, stitch markers, thumb gussets….. sigh…..

Until in the group during this same time we began taking about mittens and overwhelmingly people seemed to loath crocheting them. I have to agree. Im not hip on the look of a worsted weight mitt crochet in the round although I do dig a fingering weight mitt thats crochet with a design or pattern….. but whose got time for all that when you just want some toasty mittens for your wee one and you NEED em like, yesterday?

I had suggested a mitt pattern to a lady in the group that was easy (found here), crochet and worked up fast. ****there are many of this style pattern out there, worked all in one flat piece and seamed****  I was still plodding away on my knitted mitts until nostalgia took over. As we were taking I remembered hot coco breaks during a cold day of snow fort building or after some tiring walks dragging my sled up the huge hill in the hay field…. on my hands were mittens my mother had made me….. they were crocheted because although she knew how to knit she hated doing it…. loved the look, hated the time it took so she opted to crochet instead. The mitts I remembered were wonderful and similar to the pattern I had suggested for the woman in the group….. I had to make a pattern of my own. I remember my mothers looking somewhat the same but with a more gusseted thumb. Could I recreate my favorite pair? ****they were blue, like Minion blue, and wore them under her hand sewn ‘woolie bear’ mitts (this will be another thing I recreate from my mamas wonderful handmade goodness, oh I do have such wonderful memories of her handicrafts)*****

I think I did it……. Im calling them Retro Snow Day Mittens….. because they just bring me right on back. For now I only have the 2-5 year old size completed but am diligently working on the numbers for the rest as I go up the sizes of my kidlets…… I really hope my kids have fond memories of wonderful snow days in their future <3

*******Writing up the pattern and making a video for these …. total love <3 ******** STAY TUNED