Taighean - Children's Mittens

Taighean - Child Mittens 
‘Taighean’, which means ‘houses’ in Scots Gaelic, is based on a repetitive little house motif and uses numerous shade combinations. Each house row is in a different shade, in a sort of gradient and it is offset by half a motif from the previous row. With this design, I tried to give justice to my memories of colours seen during my past travels to Scotland. 
I first published Taighean as adult fingerless mitts in Colour Moves. As it is a playful design, I decided to use the same motif for children’s mittens in two sizes. The small size (2-4-year-old) uses 7 shades, while the large size (5-7-year-old) uses 8 shades of Kate Davies Designs Milarrochy Tweed.

Yarn notes:

Fingering woollen yarn, 100m / 109yds per 25g, WPI = 14, in seven (size S) and eight (size L) shades.

Yarn used for the sample: Kate Davies Designs Milarrochy Tweed (70% Wool; 30% Mohair; 100m / 109yds per 25g ball). Size S (2-4 years): Gloamin’ (5gr), Birkin (7gr), Tarbet (1gr), Ardlui (2gr), Garth (2gr), Stockiemuir (2gr), Cowslip. Size L (5-7 years): Gloamin’ (5gr), Birkin (13gr), Smirr (2gr), Tarbet (2gr), Ardlui (2gr), Garth (1gr), Stockiemuir (3gr), Cowslip (1gr).

Needles and Notions 
Gauge-size needle(s) of your preferred type for working small circumferences 
Below gauge-size needle(s) of your preferred type for working small circumferences 
Waste yarn (for holding thumb sts) 
Stitch markers 
Tapestry needle

Gauge 
32 stitches and 36 rounds to 10cm / 4in over stranded stockinette in the round on 
gauge-size needle(s) 
Use 3mm needle(s) as a starting point for swatching.

Sizes 
Size S to fit 2-4-year-old child’s hand, with 13cm / 5in circumference, and 13.5cm / 5 1/4in for the total length of the mittens. 
Size L to fit 5-7-year-old child’s hand, with 16cm / 6 1/4in circumference, and 17cm / 
6 3/4in for the total length of the mittens.

Patterns Notes 
These mittens are worked from bottom to top. After the cuff, the hand is worked in stranded colourwork, integrating a gusset for the thumb. After the hand is completed, the thumb top is worked separately. Note that shade H is only used for size L (5-7y).

Mitten Blocker Templates 
This pattern includes templates to make your own mitten blockers for both mitten sizes by cutting out the shapes from knitting foam mat blockers. I used the interlocking EVA foam tiles, with a thickness of 0.7cm / 1/4in. 

Technical Editing: Frauke Urban / www.urbanyarning.com 
Design, Photography and Graphics: Claudia Fiocchetti