Carol Corps Mittens Free Pattern
As many of you probably know, I’m a little obsessed with certain Marvel comics characters. One of them is the recent incarnation of Captain Marvel (aka Carol Danvers), as written by Kelly Sue Deconnick.
My friend Lindsey (who may be reading this, I don’t know, if so, Lindsey, sorry for slightly spoiling part of the package that’s en route to you) introduced me to Captain Marvel. She read the comics and discovered Nikol Lohr’s incredible Captain Marvel Hat (there’s a crocheted version here) and I volunteered to knit the hat for her. And then I decided that she needed matching fingerless mitts, but being the insane person that I am, I did not wait around for anyone to design a pattern, oh no! I made one myself.
These mitts are incredibly easy, and the chart size is such that you could totally take the numbers for these particular mitts and create your own intarsia chart—maybe make a Green Lantern pair, or the Flash, or a Mockingjay, or whatever. (I am stewing on an idea to make a Sif pair, but we’ll see when that might happen.)
The pictures are terrible because almost as soon as I finished knitting them, I dropped them in the mail, completely forgetting to take real photos, but now that I’m done making them as gifts, I could make a pair for myself and actually photograph them (and weigh the yarn—I don’t know exactly how much each pair takes but I’m estimating I can get at least 4 pairs using only one skein of each color).
These do use intarsia, which is a way of knitting large motifs—you could strand the colors but it would be a pain in the ass. If you’ve never done intarsia, these mitts start out slowly enough you could become an expert by the time you get to the trickier part (where the red comes in). Here’s a video explaining intarsia if you aren’t familiar with it!
This pattern has not been tech edited but I’ve knit it five times, so I’m fairly certain it should work for you! Definitely let me know if you have any questions. You can add this pattern to your queue on Ravelry if you don’t want to bookmark this page right now.
Edit: Frea pointed out that I forgot to list the yarn and needles! Oops. I used Stonehedge Fibers Shepherd’s Wool Worsted in red, yellow, and royal blue, and size 6 (4 mm) needles.
Make your own Carol Corps Mitts with this chart!
The mitts are worked flat, not in the round, because intarsia can be really tricky in the round, especially with the long gold sections of the star, and then seamed at the end.
Cast on 42 stitches. I used a tubular cast-on because I like it for ribbing, but any stretchy cast-on will do.
Work 5 rows in k1, p1 rib.
Next row (WS) Purl 20, p2tog, purl to end.
Work two rows in Stockinette stitch.
Next row (RS) Begin working chart.
Continue to work until chart is finished, changing colors as directed.
Knit two rows in Stockinette stitch in red.
Next row (WS) Purl 20, make 1 purlwise, purl to end.
Work 5 rows in k1, p1 rib.
Bind off loosely (again, I used a tubular bind-off, just make sure yours is stretchy!).
edit 2/3/2014
Sew the edges using mattress stitch, leaving a hole to fit your thumb. The top of my thumb holes lined up with the bottom of the red-section and were open about an inch into the blue section.