When I was planning these fingerless mittens, I remembered the astrakhan mittens that my mum wore when I was a small girl in the late 60s. I remember loving the soft textural top of the mittens contrasted with the plainer suede of the palm. This was the effect I wanted to capture for these fingerless gloves with the textural moss stitch on the cuffs and the top.
Moss Stitch is one of the simplest and most attractive textural stitches that I know. I love the way the stitches look as though they slightly skew as the pattern develops.
These are the notes and instructions I wrote in my knitting notebook when I was knitting the Moss Stitch Fingerless Mittens. As they have since become one of my favourite pairs of fingerless mittens I thought I’d share them with you. Do let me know if you need to make any changes when knitting them for yourself.
Moss Stitch Pattern
Worked over an uneven number of stitches. The instructions are for knitting in the round over 3 double-pointed needles.
- Round 1: (Right Side) knit 1, purl1, to the last stitch, knit 1
- Round 2: purl 1, knit 1, to last stitch, purl 1
- Repeat these two rounds to form the pattern.
I used a set of 2.75mm double-pointed needles (dpns) and a set of 3mm dpns and stitch markers. Along with the remains of the skein of 4ply Halycon 50% silk, 50% merino wool hand dyed by Flamboyance Yarns that I used to knit the Moss Stitch Cowl.
KS Merino Silk 4ply and KS Merino 4ply would be perfect choices for knitting the Moss Stitch Fingerless Mittens. Visit the Yarn Shop to choose a lovely yarn for knitting your Moss Stitch Fingerless Mitts.
The Moss Stitch Fingerless Mittens were a little annoying to knit as the stocking stitch areas have to be knit using the 2.75mm needles and the moss stitch using the 3mm needles because the stocking stitch knits to a looser tension than the moss stitch. All moss stitch sections for cuffs and the top of the hand are knit using 3mm dpns.
Abbreviations
k1 – knit 1 stitch; p1 – purl 1 stitch; m1 – make 1 stitch; pm – place marker; sm – slip marker; st(s) – stitch(es); dpn(s) – double pointed needle(s), mm – millimetres; k2tog – knit 2 stitches together; ssk – slip 1 stitch, slip 1 stitch, knit both slipped stitches together.
For the Right Hand
Cuff
Using a 3 mm needle cast on 49 stitches and divide onto three 3 mm dpns.
- Needle 1 (the top of the hand): has 25 stitches
- Needles 2 and 3: have 12 stitches each (and will later be worked using 2.75mm dpns for the palm and thumb).
Join into the round being careful not to twist any of the stitches.
Work 15 rounds in moss stitch, starting with a knit stitch.
Wrist
- Round 16: Continue working the moss stitch pattern on needle 1 (3mm dpn), starting with k1, p1. Change to the 2.75mm dpns for needles 2 and 3: knit these stitches.
- Round 17: Needle 1, p1, k1, to last stitch, p1; Needle 2 & 3, k
- Repeat rounds 16 and 17 twelve more times.
Thumb Gusset Shaping
- Round 1: Continuing the moss stitch pattern on needle 1, starting k1, p1, to last stitch, k1; Needle 2, m1, pm, k to end of needle; Needle 3, k
- Round 2: Needle 1, moss stitch, starting p1, k1, to last stitch, p1; Needle 2, k; Needle 3, k
- Round 3: Needle 1, moss stitch, starting k1, p1, to last stitch, k1; Needle 2, m1, k to marker, m1, sm, k to end of needle; Needle 3, k
- Round 4: Needle 1, moss stitch, starting p1, k1, to last stitch, p1; Needle 2, k to marker, sm, knit to end of needle; Needle 3, k
- Repeat rounds 3 and 4 until there are 21 stitches for the thumb between the start of needle 2 and the marker.
- Keeping the moss stitch pattern correct on needle 1, work another 5 rounds without any increase, slipping the marker on each round.
Hand
- Round 1: Needle 1 moss stitch, p1, k1, to last stitch, p1; Needle 2, remove the stitch marker and place the 21 thumb stitches onto a piece of waste yarn, cast on 2 sts, k to the end of needle; Needle 3, k
- Round 2: Needle 1 moss stitch, k1, p1, to last stitch, k1; Needle 2 and 3, k
- Round 3: Needle 1 moss stitch, p1, k1, to last stitch, p1; Needle 2 and 3, k
- Repeat rounds 2 and 3 four more times.
- Next round: Needle 1, moss stitch, k1, p1, to last stitch, k1; Needle 2 and 3, k2 tog, k5, k2tog, k8, ssk, k5, ssk (47 sts)
Cuff
Continue using the 3mm needle for needle 1, and change to 3mm needles for needles 2 and 3.
- Starting with p1, k1, continue in moss stitch for the next 14 rounds.
- Cast off.
Thumb
- Slip the 21 sts that are on the waste yarn onto a 2.75mm dpn.
- Starting in the centre of the 2 cast-on sts, pick up and k3 sts then k5 sts from the needle, you now have 8 sts on needle 1; using needle 2, knit 11 sts; using needle 3, k5 sts then pick up and k3 sts, you now have 8 sts on needle 3 (27 sts)
- Round 1: k2tog, k to last 2 sts, ssk
- Round 2: k2tog, p1, k1, to last 3 sts, p1, ssk
- Round 3: Continuing in moss stitch, p1, k1, to last stitch, p1
- Round 4: Continuing in moss stitch, k1, p1, to last stitch, k1
- Repeat rounds 3 and 4, three more times.
- Cast off.
Sew in any loose ends.
For the Left Hand
Cuff
Work the same as the Right-Hand instructions.
Wrist
Work the same as the Right-Hand instructions.
Thumb Gusset Shaping
- Round 1: Continuing the moss stitch on needle 1, starting, k1, p1, to last stitch, k1; Needle 2, k; Needle 3, k to end of the needle, pm, m1
- Round 2: Moss stitch, starting p1, k1, to last stitch, p1; Needles 2 and 3, k
- Round 3: Moss stitch, starting k1, p1, to last stitch, k1; Needle 2, k; Needle 3, k to marker, sm, m1, k to end of the needle, m1
- Round 4: Moss stitch, starting p1, k1, to last stitch, p1; Needles 2 and 3, k to marker, sm, k to end
- Repeat rounds 3 and 4 until there are 21 sts for thumb between the marker and the end of needle 3.
- Keeping the moss stitch pattern correct, work another 5 rounds, slipping the marker on each round.
Hand
- Round 1: Continuing the moss stitch, p1, k1, to end of needle 1; Needle 2, k; Needle 3, k to marker, remove marker, place the 21 sts on a piece of waste yarn, cast on 2 sts
- Round 2: Moss stitch, starting k1, p1, to last stitch, k1; Needles 2 and 3, k
- Round 3: Moss stitch, p1, k1, to last stitch, p1; Needles 2 and 3, k
- Repeat rounds 2 and 3 four more times
- Next round: Continue moss stitch on needle 1, k1, p1, to last stitch, k1; needles 2 and 3, k2tog, k5, k2tog, k8, ssk, k5, ssk (47 sts)
Cuff
Work the same as the Right-Hand instructions.
Thumb
Work the same as the Right-Hand instructions.
Hi Nicolette, I love my new fingerless mittens which I knitted in your Hand Dyed Merino Silk . They are really warm and perfect for cold days. I wonder if you could suggest how I could use the remaining wool. Would I have enough wool for your moss stitch cowl
Beautiful Nikki — Love the cool color yarns you chose. xo
Thank you Nancy. The lady at Flamboyance is wonderful at combining colours when she is hand dyeing yarn.
These are really beautiful! It’s funny because I was looking for a simple fingerless glove pattern with moss stitch. Pinned for later, but I can’t wait!
Hi Ann, I love these fingerless mittens. They are very comfortable to wear. If you have any queries when you are knitting yours, feel free to email me. Happy Knitting.