When Cygnet asked me to design some Christmas mittens, I thought “how about reindeer for Christmas?” My brain instantly answered, “I’d rather have snow than rain for Christmas!” so these became snowdeer instead! Surrounded by snowflakes, snowy pine trees, and traditional Nordic motifs they can be worked in two or more contrasting colors.

Method:
These stranded colourwork mittens are knit in the round from the cuff down with a thumb gusset created by lifted increases.
They can be knitted on dpns, by magic loop, or on a short circular (in which case you will still need dpns for the thumbs and mitten top decreases).
Please note the colorwork design in this pattern is charted not written out. You need to be prepared to read and work from charts in order to enjoy knitting this design.

Sizes:
This pattern is written in 4 sizes. All instructions that differ depending on the size you are knitting are color coded and indicated with parentheses like this: S (M, L, XL).

Size - Mitten Circumference - Hand Length
S - 7” (18 cm) - 6” (15 cm)
M - 7½” (19 cm) - 6½” (16.5 cm)
L - 8” (20 cm) - 7½” (19 cm)
XL - 8½” (21.5 cm) - 7¾” (19.5 cm)

Yarn:
This pattern was designed with Cygnet Truly Wool Rich 4 ply in three contrasting colors.
You can use any 4 ply (fingering weight) yarn that you like and with which you can get tension/ gauge. Please note I do not recommend using yarns with a high cotton content as cotton doesn’t stretch as much as other fibers and this will affect the fit of your mittens.
The amounts of each color required will depend on how many colors you pick, where you choose to use them in your mittens, and which size you are knitting. As a guide for the pair pictured (size S in three colors) I used the following quantities of Cygnet Truly Wool Rich 4 ply:
MC – 402 Holly approx. 90 metres (98 yards)
CC1 – 2185 Geranium approx. 30 metres (33 yards)
CC2 – 2614 Cream approx. 40 metres (44 yards)