Full-mitten charts are available on my blog.

I’ve had the good fortune to spend my holidays in central Europe twice. As I was knitting these mittens, I kept finding myself thinking of the specific traditions of the area I visited in Germany: candied nuts, mulled wine, and roasted chestnuts.

These mittens are knit in brioche stitch with cables flickering their way across the backs like little flames. They’re knitted in relatively fine yarn, but the brioche stitch makes them feel thick and warm.

I chose a possum-merino blend because the dark possum fiber adds depth to the stitch pattern and tends to reduce pilling – very useful for mittens! If you choose a fiery color, you too will be thinking of chestnut flames: Kastanienfeuer.

Sizing notes:

S: fits a 7” (circumference) palm
M: fits an 8” palm
L: fits a 9” palm

All sizes fit with a fair bit of ease: brioche stitch produces a very deep ribbing, even with fingering-weight yarn, so you’ll want the ease. My hands are just a shade on the slender side, and the S fits me. L would likely fit my husband.

Additional gauge information:

33 sts/45 rounds = 4 inches in stockinette stitch
30 sts/68 rounds = 4 inches in fire cable stitch (see pattern page for chart)