Beginners Knitting: Fitted Fingerless Gloves

*Note: I don't have very many pictures included in this Instructable because I have a video attached.*

Burr! It sure does get cold in the winter time; which makes it a great time to make some nice warm clothes. Not a knitter? No problem! Being a beginner knitter doesn’t mean you can’t make cool stuff! In this Instructable I will be showing you how to knit some very warm fingerless gloves.

• Measuring tape (flexible)
• 3 balls of yarn
• Knitting needles (I used 11” ones)
• Scissors
• Needle and thread
• Notebook and pencil

The very first thing you need to do is to understand your thread. You will need to knit a gauge to see how your yarn works. My gauge was 16 stitches by 16 rows. Normally your yarn package will provide measurements (i.e. 4” x 4” for 16 stitches x 16 rows). DO NOT TRUST THIS. Your tension in the yarn will likely be different from theirs (mine was).

Once you have your gauge, you’ll want to take measurements to see how long and wide your stitches and rows are so your final piece will fit you. You will also need your flexible measuring tape to measure the width around various parts of your hand, wrist, and arm. Make sure you have someone else take these measurements. If you do it yourself then it won’t be exact.

My Example

16 stitches x 16 rows = 16 cm x 9 cm
So going across (stitches) was 1 cm per 1 stitch. Going down (rows) was 1.7 cm per 1 stitch.

Knowing that the top of my glove will need to be 18.5 cm to wrap around my hand, I used my scale to find out how many stitches I needed: going across is 1 cm x 1 stitch, so I would have to make 18.5 stitches to perfectly meet the measurements. You have make half a stitch, so I rounded it up to 19 stitches. I continued that process for the rest of my ACROSS measurements.

Now I needed to figure out how many rows down I needed to go. I broke up my piece into three sections:

1. From the top down to the widest part of my hand.
2. From the widest part of my hand to the smallest part of my arm (wrist).
3. The smallest part of my arm (wrist) to the end of the piece.

The first two sections were 4.5 cm long. I multiplied my length (4.5) by the length of one stitch (1.7) to get 7.65 which I rounded up to 8 rows. The last section was 8 cm, so I multiplied that by 1.7 as well to get 13.7 which rounds up to 14 rows. I always rounded up because it’s better to have a glove with wiggle room instead of one that’s too tight.

I then organized my information so I knew how many stitches I needed, how many rows I needed, and when I needed to add on or take off stitches:

From the top down to the widest part of my hand

• 19 stitches, 8 rows down
  • Row 1: 19 stitches
  • Row 2: 19 stitches
  • Row 3: 20 stitches
  • Row 4: 21 stitches
  • Row 5: 22 stitches
  • Row 6: 23 stitches
  • Row 7: 24 stitches
  • Row 8: 25 stitches

From the widest part of my hand to the smallest part of my arm (wrist)

• 25 stitches, 8 rows down
  • Row 1: 23 stitches
  • Row 2: 22 stitches
  • Row 3: 21 stitches
  • Row 4: 20 stitches
  • Row 5: 19 stitches
  • Row 6: 18 stitches
  • Row 7: 17 stitches
  • Row 8: 16 stitches

The smallest part of my arm (wrist) to the end of the piece

• 16 stitches, 14 rows down
  • Row 1: 16 stitches
  • Row 2: 16 stitches
  • Row 3: 17 stitches
  • Row 4: 17 stitches
  • Row 5: 17 stitches
  • Row 6: 18 stitches
  • Row 7: 19 stitches
  • Row 8: 19 stitches
  • Row 9: 19 stitches
  • Row 10: 20 stitches
  • Row 11: 22 stitches
  • Row 12: 23 stitches
  • Row 13: 23 stitches
  • Row 14: 24 stitches
    • End piece at row 14

Now it’s time to start knitting! You may need to practice the different types of stitches before you work on your final. Making a prototype will always help you make and learn from your mistakes before making the final piece.

I have attached a video showing all of these steps in action, but if you are more of a verbal learner, then I have the script written out here: The first thing you need to do is make a slip knot with your yarn (leave a small tail so it doesn’t come out). Put the slip knot on your knitting needle with the tail facing the back end of the needle in your left hand. Take your second needle in your right hand and put it through the the hoop and behind the knitting needle. Wrap your yarn around this second needle, pull it through the hoop, and put this new hoop on the first knitting needle. Repeat this step until you have the desired number of stitches in your row.

Starting a new row starts the same as casting on. You want to hold your working needle into your right hand (it should currently be the empty one) and the needle with all your rows in your left hand. Slip the empty needle through the first hoop on the left needle, wrap your yarn around it, and pull it through. Now instead of putting this new hoop on the left needle, you will slip the hoop you just went through off the left needle. Repeat for the rest of the row. When you are done with the row, move the now empty needle to your right hand, and the full one to your left. You are now set to start your next row.

Now you’ve stitched a few rows and you’re ready to start increasing your stitch count. It’s the same as casting on. Before you start your new row, you’ll take your right needle and put it through the first hoop on the left needle. Wrap your yarn around the needle, pull it through, and put the new hoop back on the left needle. Now when you start your new row, you’ll start it with this new hoop and continue as normal.

Decreasing your stitch count is a little trickier. Before you start your new row, take the first hoop of your left needle, and slide it on your right needle. Do one normal stitch; now you have two hoops on your right needle. Put your left needle through the bottom hoop and pull it over the top hoop. Continue your row normally.

Now that you’re done with knitting your piece it’s time to cast off. This is very similar to decreasing your stitches. Start a new row normally, but stop once you’ve completed two stitches. Take the bottom hoop on your right needle and pull it over the top hoop. Add another normal stitch, and then pull the bottom hoop on the right needle over the new top hoop. Repeat until you are at the very end. You’re left with one hoop left. Cut your yarn a finger’s length from the last hoop. Slide the hoop off the needle but keep hold of it. Pull the yarn through the hoop and tie a knot. Now put both edges of your piece together and sew them up almost all the way. You will want to try it onto see where you want your thumb hole to be. Once you know where you want the thumb hole, finish sewing (don’t sew the thumb hole, go around it). I recommend also sewing through the first and last knot of the yarn so that when you cut off the tails they won't unravel.

You're done!