The Piano Maker's Mitts by Sabine Kastner

The Piano Maker's Mitts

Knitting
July 2020
Fingering (14 wpi) ?
24 stitches and 36 rows = 4 inches
in Brioche ribbing
US 1½ - 2.5 mm
230 - 312 yards (210 - 285 m)
S, M, L
English
This pattern is available for Fr.5.20 CHF buy it now

Nannette Streicher was no ordinary woman. A gifted musician, skilled craftswoman and smart business owner, she led one of the most notable piano making workshops in 18th-century Europe. Ludwig van Beethoven, a close friend of hers, was not the only one to be full of praise for her custom-made instruments which added a new dimension to the possibilities of musical expression!


Three (or two) colours and simple variations of plain brioche ribbing are combined to achieve the unique look of these fingerless mitts. The texture of the cuff is created by swapping (or “syncopating”) brioche knit and brioche purl columns after every third round. The main part of the mitt is worked in two-colour brioche ribbing, with background and foreground colours reversed on the thumb gusset. The upper hand features another syncopated pattern.

Skills required
You should be comfortable working in the round over a small circumference and familiar with (or willing to look up) the basic brioche stitches brk, brp and sl1yo, brioche increases and decreases (photo tutorial included for left- and right-slanting brioche decreases). The optional beaded bind-off requires you to place beads with the help of a small crochet hook or a stiff thread.
The pattern is fully written. You only ever work with one colour at a time (instructions where to switch colours are provided).

Measurements
Circumference, unstretched: 15 cm/6’’ (16.5 cm/6½’’, 18.5 cm/7¼’’) for sizes S (M, L)
Length (adjustable): 18.5 cm/7¼’’ (19 cm, 7½’’, 20 cm/7¾’’)

Yarn requirements
Cuff: 47 (52, 57) m/51 (57, 62) yards
Light colour (hand): 72 (86, 101) m/79 (94, 110) yards
Dark colour (hand): 92 (108, 125) m/101 (118, 137) yards