I completed my first mitten, and I’m pretty happy with it. I have one question though.
This was a basic mitten pattern. The cuff was done in 1 x 1 ribbing. After that, I switched over to 3 rows of st st and then started increasing for the thumb. I eventually placed X number of stitches on a stitch holder to come back later and finish for the thumb, which is where my question comes up.
I can’t remember exactly without looking at the pattern (which I don’t have beside me now), but after completing the rest of the mitten, I took the stitches off the stitch holder and divided them evenly (sort of) on 3 needles. I say sort of because I had to pick up 2 stitches from the hand of the mitten in order to have enough stitches on the 3rd needle, and yes, that was what the pattern told me to do. The problem is that I must not have used the best method to pick up those stitches or I picked them up in a less-than-ideal spot because I ended up with 1 or 2 gaps or holes in the “web space” between the thumb and index finger. It turned out to be no problem because when I weaved in the ends, I just sort of sewed those holes shut. The yarn I used was bulky and fuzzy, so it doesn’t show at all.
But now I’m working on the 2nd mitten, and I’d like to avoid this if I can. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!! Also, I’d love to do more mittens with different yarn, and I’m afraid with a thinner yarn a hole would not be so easily hidden.
I had the exact same problem with my mittens! Hopefully someone here can help us out
Shortnsweetly, I just wanted to say that I love you signature line…
Oh yes, this is a big one, we really need to fix this so pay close attention here:
The problem is. . . . . .that both of you are far more expert knitters than you realize!:happydance: This is just what happens with the thumbs of mittens, and that’s really the solution-- to close the holes with the tail of the yarn. Now, having said that, there are a couple of things you can do to minimize the issue. One is to twist the stitches you pick up, to tighten them up a bit. Another is to pick up more stitches than are called for, and then knit them together. So if it calls for 2 stitches to be picked up, then instead, pick up 4, and knit 2 together, twice, so that you have your correct number of stitches. And then when you’re all done, close the holes you will probably still have with the tail of yarn:rofl: . It’s just hard to get rid of them totally.
:noway: You’re joking!? I’m not doing anything wrong! Wow. I’m shocked. I will try your suggestions though! Thanks! 
I agree with this, I always pick up 4 when it says to pick up 2, my only difference is that I knit my first picked up stitch together with the last stitch holder stitch, and the last picked up stitch with the first stitch holder stitch. This pretty well eliminates all the holes, although once in a while I will still have one. My mother was a knitter extraordinaire, and even SHE had a few holes.
Thanks for the tips. I’m definitely going to give each suggestion a try and see which works best for me!