Ribbed Wristers, Driving Mitts, & Neck Gaiter
PATTERN DETAILS
RELEASE DATE:
March 2001, Expanded Versions 2005.
DESCRIPTION:
What I call wristers are also sometimes called mitts or
fingerless mittens. These are knitted in a simple ribbed pattern. They
cover the entire palm of the hand and wrist and have a thumbhole. One year
I made 28 pairs for Christmas for friends and family.
This wrister pattern is a variation of a pair I saw Arctic/Antarctic
explorer Will Steger wear (I believe that the wife of fellow explorer,
Paul Schurke, designed those particular wristers for a trip to the North
Pole, but Will also wore them in pictures I’ve seen from his Antarctic
expedition). When I finally made a pair of wristers for me, I wore them
outside in 10-20 degree temperatures for about 3 hours while watching
Duluth, Minnesota’s John Beargrease dog sled race winners cross the
finish line. My fingers would cool to the point where I’d think that I
should put mittens on so they wouldn’t get colder – then I’d look
down at my hands and realize that I still had the wristers on. So I just
waited to see if my fingers would get any colder. But they didn’t until
the temperatures dropped lower as the sun set. I found that I just loved
the wristers for that type of spectator sport — I never had to take off
my mittens to unlock the car door, get change out of my pocket for a cup
of hot chocolate, or to eat a hot dog. My sisters liked them too: for
camping in New Zealand, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, and for
bow-hunting in Idaho. My mom tried them under a light pair of mittens for
a Minnesota backwoods hike in rather cold weather and said they worked
wonderfully. I’ve also found them to work well INdoors on cold winter
mornings here in the Colorado mountains before my stove warms the house up
from the overnight chill – I can still type at the computer or knit or
turn book pages with them on.
The driving mitts were designed for holding a car’s steering wheel. The
longer finger section and the partial thumbs are long enough to wrap around
a cold steering wheel while still leaving the finger tips free for things
like pushing instrument buttons, digging for change, etc. They are a simple
modification of the basic wristers pattern.
The matching neck gaiter is knitted in the same simple rib. It can be
worn around the neck and pulled up over the mouth and nose if it’s very
cold out. It also works great as a simple hat if it’s not too cold (the
open top lets some of the heat out). I sometimes wear two — one around
my neck and one as a hat. The neck gaiter and wristers are always part of
my cool-weather camping gear and I also keep a pair of wristers and one or
two neck gaiters in the car with my winter survival wear.
SIZE: Both
wristers and neck gaiter are about 8 inches high. The driving mitts are
about 10 inches (25 cm) high. Because the rib pattern is so elastic, the
pattern as written will fit a lady’s medium/large or man’s small/medium
hands and head. The size can be adjusted to larger or smaller sizes easily
(see the design variations section at the end of the pattern).
SKILL LEVEL: Beginner
who can knit circularly on double point needles.
MATERIALS:
- YARN: Worsted
weight or two strands of sport weight yarn. A soft warm yarn such as
merino wool or alpaca would be perfect choices. For the gaiter, AVOID
hairy fiber yarns such as angora or mohair if you plan on wearing it
up over your mouth and nose on very cold days, or you’ll find
yourself spitting out the fibers that get in your mouth.
- Wristers: about 120 yards for a pair of
8-inch wristers (6 inches of cuff and 2 inches above thumbhole)
- Driving Mitts: about 185 yards (170 m) for a
pair of 10-inch (25-cm) wristers
- Neck Gaiter: about 150 yards for an 8-inch
neck gaiter.
- NEEDLES
- Size 7 double point needles (or size to achieve
gauge) for both projects
- (optional) Short circular needle in same size -
no more than 24 inches long. Although double point needles will
also work for the neck gaiter if you knit tightly enough so the
stitches don’t slip off the needle ends, you might wish to use a
short circular needle instead.
- MISCELLANEOUS
- End of round marker
- Darning needle to weave in ends
- Small safety pins to mark row counts
(optional)
GAUGE:
About 15 rib pairs (30 stitches) per 4 inches (unstretched).
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