Early Spring Cabled Fingerless Mittens

How about a cute knitted project for early spring? What about a pair of cabled fingerless mittens? Aren't they pretty? I am super proud of myself. The cable part was really not as hard as I thought it'd be. Once you get the hang of this pattern, the mittens can sew up pretty fast. 

These mitts are perfect for early spring, providing just enough warmth for those chilly walks to and from school when temps linger around 45 or 50. 

It's a good pattern, but you do have to focus, at least until you get into the rhythm with counting. My husband started talking to me a few times and suddenly I couldn't quite remember which stitch number I was on. So I did have to re-start a couple times. However, once you finish one mitt and are satisfied with it, the second one goes much quicker. I actually did watch a little TV with the second one. That's the mark of success, no? Counting, cabling, and House of Cards.

The original pattern can be found on Lion Brand. In the comments section, a kind knitter named Charlotte Waters adjusted the pattern so that the cables are now centered on the back of the hand (the LB pattern had them off-center). I finished re-writing the pattern below. For my mittens, I did the exact same pattern twice, one for each hand, instead of doing the opposite as Charlotte suggests (I just flipped the second mitten upside down to sew up the thumb hole, while keeping the cables on the top of the hand).

This is the the revised pattern below:

STITCH EXPLANATION: 3/3 LC (3 over 3 left cross) Slip 3 std to cable needle and hold in front, K3, then K3 from cable needle 
Using US 8 needles and worsted weight yarn,

CO 38 stitches (I used Paton's Classic Wool Worsted in Aran Tweed.)

Rows 1, 3, 5: (K1, P1) 4 times, K2, P6, K2, (P1, K1) 10 times
Row 2: (P1, K1) 10 times, P2 K6, P2, (K1, P1) 4 times
Row 4: (P1, K1) 10 times, P2, 3/3 LC, P2, (K1, P2) 4 times
Row 6: (P1, K1) 10 times, P2, K6, P2, (K1, P1) 4 times



Good luck and enjoy your new, cute mittens!