I find it so uplifting when the first shoots start peeping through the soil after a long, cold winter, and it’s always a welcome surprise when first snowdrops and then yellow and purple crocuses add their welcome pop of colour in the garden.

Why not knit the thumbs in different colours to double up the surprise! As long as you use a DK weight yarn, you could use oddments of hand-dyed, self-striping or textured yarns for your little thumb-flowers.

These fingerless mitts are worked in the round. They start and end with k1, p1 rib, and the ‘Buds in May’ stranded pattern is worked from a chart, leaving the thumb sts on waste yarn to be returned to later. Finally, the thumb is worked in a contrast colour on stitches picked up above and below the waste yarn.

Instructions are given for using DPNs, but you could use a small circular or the magic loop method if preferred.

Sizes: 17 (19, 21.5)cm or 6.5 (7.5, 8.5) ins in circumference. Length = 25cm or 9.75ins.

This design uses Stitchmastery charts.