This January I have designed a new knitting pattern for some simple handwarmers to keep you cosy! The beauty of this design is that the pattern has a subtle texture which makes them ideal to knit for both men and women. The pattern also only uses a combination of knit and purl stitches so it is really good for beginners.
These handwarmers are knitted on size 5.5mm needles using Aran wool. I used Katia Merino Sport because it is so soft and lovely to work with.
There are two sizes for these handwarmers. To decide which size to knit you will need to measure around your hand, as shown in the photo below. Casting on 33 stitches will knit up to a measurement of approximately 7.5 – 8 inches around and 39 stitches to approximately 8.5 – 9 inches. You can make them bigger or smaller either way but the amount of stitches must always be a multiple of 6 and then add 3 to form the pattern repeat.
Cast on your desired amount of stitches, then follow the pattern below three times.
Row 1 : Knit
Row 2 : Knit
Row 3 : Knit
Row 4 : P3, *K3, P3, repeat from * to end of row
Row 5 : Knit
Row 6 : P3, *K3, P3, repeat from * to end of row
Row 7 : Knit
Row 8 : Knit
Row 9 : Knit
Row 10 : Knit
Row 11 : Knit
Row 12 : K3, *P3, K3, repeat from * to end of row
Row 13 : Knit
Row 14 : K3, *P3, K3, repeat from * to end of row
Row 15 : Knit
Row 16 : Knit
When you have repeated the 16 rows above three times, cast off. If you want to make them longer simply keep knitting to your desired length before casting off. Leave a piece of wool to sew up your handwarmers with.
Fold your knitting around so that the two edges meet and the cast off edge is at the top of your tube. Stitch down one side for approximately 1.5 inches. I used the pattern as a guide and stitched together one block of pattern and two rows of knitting on either side. Take a look at the photo below for an example. Then thread your wool down along the edge and start stitching again, having left room for your thumb hole. Sew all the way to the bottom and fasten off your wool.
I hope you enjoy making your handwarmers as much as I did, now its time to make yourself a cuppa and congratulate yourself on your lovely knitting!
All about Sprout 
how can I print this as a pattern?
Hi Shirley, simply copy and paste into a word document and print from there. Hope you enjoy knitting them!
How much yarn would you need for either of the above mentioned sizes?
Hi Judi! You will need approximately 50g/handwarmer, so about 100g in total and you will probably have a little left over.
Just finished one handwarmer and now on to the next. Love the pattern. Thanks.
Fantastic! Thank you Cheryl 🙂
Sorry, I’m not a native speaker, so I have problems understanding your instructions specially when you say P and K. Would you be so kind and help me to understand your pattern? Let me tell you that It’s lovely! You really did a very good job! God bless your hands
Grettings
Hello! P means purl and K means knit. Hope that helps!
The handwarmers look so nice and warm Im going to knit some for my grandchildren
They look so easy to knitup, will let you know when Ive knitted some
Fantastic Lois!
I’m just a beginning knitter, but I can’t see how these instructions relate to the pictured arm warmers. Shouldn’t there be several rows of the P3, K3 adjacent to each other in order to form the cute blocks?
Hi Jessica, this pattern is perfect for beginners – trust the pattern – it does work 🙂
I seem to be struggling with this pattern. I do rows 1,2 & 3 fine then when it comes to row 4 I end up having cast on another 8-11 stitches?! Can someone tell me where I am going wrong here?? And clarify if rows 4,6&12 ,ean” p3, k3, p3, k3… And so on until the end of that row?!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! Xx
Hi Emma,
You don’t need to cast on any additional stitches, just knit with the 33 stitches that you cast on (or a larger number if you need bigger hand warmers). The pattern is repeated all the way through to the end of each row until you run out of stitches. There is a star on each line with a pattern repeat which shows you where to repeat from. (repeat from * to end of row)
Hope this helps!
Georgina
Hi. If i was going to knit these with a dk yarn can you tell me what size needles / how many stitches I’d need to add? It’s a lovely pattern and I’ve got a lovely red I’d like to use for them. Thanks
Shelley
Hi Shelley, the best way to do this would be to knit a tension square in your chosen wool and then measure it around your hand. Just stick to a multiple of 6 stitches to form the pattern repeat. Hope this helps. Georgina
Happy New Year, this pattern is fab, wouldn’t have taken so long it I wasn’t watching rubbish TV! Love them to bits. Thank you so much 🙂
So pleased you like them, thank you for your lovely comment!
I need to make mine a little smaller. Don’t I cast on multiples of 3 not 6? 33 & 39 are multiples of 3.
Hi Valerie, I’m so sorry that I didn’t make that bit clear! I’ve amended the wording and to clarify you need a multiple of 6 stitches and then add 3 to this amount to form the pattern repeat. Hope you enjoy knitting your handwarmers!
Georgina
I want to make these for my step daughter, she is 5, have you ever figured out the stitches for a child size hand? Thank you! I can’t wait to start these!
I haven’t knitted them for a child yet but I would imagine you would need to halve the amount of stitches. I would knit a few rows and measure to see how well it would fit around her hand. Good luck!
I love this pattern. I made several in different colors and they turned out great. I would like to make some matching boot cuffs with maybe a button (just for decorative purposes). How would I go about doing that? Yes I know I can google loads of boot cuff patterns but I would like it to match this handwarmer pattern – any ideas? Thanks in advance
Hi Yolanda,
Thank you for getting in touch, I’m so pleased that you like my pattern and have knitted it up several times. You would need to measure around your leg and probably add some stitches.
You can make them bigger or smaller either way but the amount of stitches must always be a multiple of 6 and then add 3 to form the pattern repeat.
Georgina x