Taighean - Child Mittens
‘Taighean’, which means ‘houses’ in Scots Gaelic, is based on a repetitive little house motif and uses numerous shade combinations. Each house row is in a different shade, in a sort of gradient and it is offset by half a motif from the previous row. With this design, I tried to give justice to my memories of colours seen during my past travels to Scotland.
I first published Taighean as adult fingerless mitts in Colour Moves. As it is a playful design, I decided to use the same motif for children’s mittens in two sizes. The small size (2-4-year-old) uses 7 shades, while the large size (5-7-year-old) uses 8 shades of Kate Davies Designs Milarrochy Tweed.

Yarn
Kate Davies Designs Milarrochy Tweed (70% Wool; 30% Mohair; 100m / 109yds per 25g
ball)
1 ball of each of the following shades:
A Gloamin’
B Birkin
C Tarbet
D Ardlui
E Garth
F Stockiemuir
G Cowslip
H Smirr (only used for size L)

Needles and Notions
Gauge-size needle(s) of your preferred type for working small circumferences
Below gauge-size needle(s) of your preferred type for working small circumferences
Waste yarn (for holding thumb sts)
Stitch markers
Tapestry needle

Gauge
32 stitches and 36 rounds to 10cm / 4in over stranded stockinette in the round on
gauge-size needle(s)
Use 3mm needle(s) as a starting point for swatching.

Sizes
Size S to fit 2-4-year-old child’s hand, with 13cm / 5in circumference, and 13.5cm / 5 1/4in for the total length of the mittens.
Size L to fit 5-7-year-old child’s hand, with 16cm / 6 1/4in circumference, and 17cm /
6 3/4in for the total length of the mittens.

Patterns Notes
These mittens are worked from bottom to top. After the cuff, the hand is worked in stranded colourwork, integrating a gusset for the thumb. After the hand is completed, the thumb top is worked separately. Note that shade H is only used for size L (5-7y).

Mitten Blocker Templates
This pattern includes templates to make your own mitten blockers for both mitten sizes by cutting out the shapes from knitting foam mat blockers. I used the interlocking EVA foam tiles, with a thickness of 0.7cm / 1/4in. 

PLEASE NOTE: the pattern is for personal use only

Technical Editing: Frauke Urban / www.urbanyarning.com
Design, Photography and Graphics: Claudia Fiocchetti