This pattern is retired and not usually available. However, I make many of my retired patterns available for a few days twice a year, and this is one of those times! It will be available from now through some time on Monday, December 2. Then it will go away again.

In the summer of 2022, I realized that I found maintaining a back catalog of hundreds of patterns overwhelming. I couldn’t do it and still release new things. So I took my old patterns down so I could keep doing new work.

A few favorites have come back, and lots of new things have come out! But the vast majority of the old patterns are retired and are no longer generally available.

However, enough folks have asked about old favorites that I make many of the retired patterns available for a few days twice a year (usually in early summer and around Thanksgiving).

• If you see the buy buttons on this page, you’ve caught it on one of the days it’s available!
• If you don’t see the buy buttons on this page, then it’s not currently available.
• If you want to hear when the retired patterns are available, subscribe to the mailing list or patreon, or keep an eye on my instagram.

Predilection noun a preference or special liking for something

This is a companion to Proclivity (the hat in the picture at the bottom of this page).

The hat came first. But when I was done with the hat, I wasn’t anywhere near ready to be done with this stitch. I wanted more of that mellow, meditative, beautiful fabric.

The hat is reversible, but I don’t have great luck making mitts reversible (there are so many ends to weave in in such a small space that reversible mitts in multiple yarns are never quite tidy enough for me, no matter how careful I am). So I decided that instead of going for reversible, I’d go for a really delightful thumb. And this totally nails it!

I also swapped the colors (using the yellow/green for the wide stripes on the mitts and the pink for the wide stripes on the hat) so that no matter which side of the hat is showing, the mitts look great with it. I suspect I’ll be wearing these a lot…just as soon I don’t have to turn on my air conditioner to do it!

And yes, you are doing a teeny tiny bit of brioche, but I promise this is about as easy as brioche gets (no increases, no decreases, no cables, no lace…if you can knit, purl, slip, and yarn over you totally have all the skills you need). You can totally do it (and you’ll be so proud of yourself when you do)!

The mitt is written in four sizes (castons of 28, 32, 36 or 40 stitches), and you should feel free to adjust your gauge a bit to fine tune the fit of the mitt. Just be sure that you’re working at a gauge that gives you a fabric you like with your chosen yarns!

I recommend working at something around 4.5, 5, 5.5, or 6 stitches per inch, and I’ve included a table to help you figure out what gauge you’ll want to use for your size. With that range of sizes and gauges, the mitt will fit a hand or arm (measure the widest part you want the mitt to cover) between 5.25 and 9.75 inches (with lots of points in between).

Oh, and just to help you plan, I used about 100 yards of each yarn to make mitts for a large adult. If you’re making a larger or longer mitt (or if you use a skinnier yarn), you might want more like 150 yards of each. I was able to comfortably get a hat and matching mitts for a large adult from one skein of each of the yarns I used.

This is perfect for you if:

• You’ve fallen hopelessly in love with that thumb and need to make it right this very minute
• You could use something mellow in your life right now

It’s not for you if:

• You don’t like charts (the pattern uses charts)
• You hate swatching (you need to swatch to check your needle size)
• You don’t already know how to brioche and you don’t want to learn (the pattern is not a brioche tutorial, but if you can knit, purl, slip, and yarn over, and you have just a teeny tiny bit of faith in yourself, you can totally do this)