How to Knit Gloves & Hats
Knitted hats and gloves are a great gift idea. Knitting your own gloves allows you to perfectly coordinate your accessories, because you can choose the yarn, pattern and sizes for the items. This is especially useful for people who find that standard hats fit but standard gloves are too big or small, or vice versa. This is also helpful in the case you prefer a different weight yarn for hats than for gloves.
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Instructions
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Knitting a Hat
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1
Measure around the recipient's head and measure how many stitches per inch in the yarn you will be using for the hat. Multiply the number of stitches per inch by the circumference. Cast on that number of stitches, minus one if it is an odd number. Join to work in the round.
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2
Knit in a knit one purl one rib for about an inch and a half. This allows the hat to have a bit of stretch at the brim, giving it a better fit.
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3
Knit around until the hat measures about five inches from the cast on edge for an adult hat, four inches for a child's hat.
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4
Begin decreases. Choose a number between 7 and 10 that the stitch count is divisible by. Knit two less stitches than that number, knit two together, and repeat around.
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5
Continue in this pattern, knitting one less stitch before the knit two together, until you knit two together around. Break the yarn and weave in the ends.
Knitting Gloves
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6
Measure the circumference of the recipient's wrist, and the number of stitches per inch you have in the yarn you plan to use for the gloves. Cast on that number of stitches and join to work in the round.
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7
Work in knit-one-purl-one ribbing until the cuff reaches the edge of the recipient's wrist, just before the palm.
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8
Begin increasing by two stitches in the same spot every other round, working stockinette for all other stitches. These increases will allow room for the thumb. It may be helpful to place markers to mark the beginning and end of the increase section. Once there are enough stitches to wrap around the thumb, move those stitches to a scrap thread. Continue knitting until the glove reaches the base of the little finger.
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9
Take the number of stitches and divide by four to get the rough number of stitches to set aside for each finger. Subtract two from that number to get the number of stitches for the little finger, and add the two back in for the middle finger. For example, if the hand contains 40 stitches, you will set aside 10 each for the pointer and ring fingers, 12 for the middle finger, and eight for the pinky finger.
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10
Put the stitches for the pointer finger on needles, and slip the rest of the stitches to a loose thread. Knit half of the pointer finger stitches, cast on two, then knit the other half. Continue knitting until the finger reaches just below the fingertip, knit two together around, cut the yarn and weave in the end. For each subsequent finger, knit half the stitches, cast on one, knit the other half, and pink up and knit one stitch at the base of the previous finger, and knit as the first finger. For the thumb, pick up two stitches in the hand and knit as the fingers.
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