Forgotten Man
The song "Remember My Forgotten Man" closes out the movie Gold Diggers of 1933. It is a striking production number about the plight of destitute, shell-shocked veterans of the first World War. I was inspired by that song and by a 1917 pattern for soldiers' fingerless gloves to create these functional, fitted hand-warmers for homeless men.
If you like this pattern and want to thank me with a cup of coffee, I could always use the caffeine.
SIZE
Pattern is written to fit a medium-large sized man's hand using Aran yarn and 3.75mm needles. Smaller mitts can be made by using thinner yarn and smaller needles: worsted yarn on size 3.25mm fits men's small-medium.
MATERIALS
Aran or heavy worsted wool; 160 meters/175 yards.
Recommended yarns: Triskelion Elmet Aran
3.75mm (US 5) needles (or size to get gauge)
GAUGE
20 sts/44 rows = 10 cm/4 in in garter stitch
PATTERN NOTES
For a nice edge, slip the first stitch when starting a row at the edge. If you slip with yarn in front, it creates a chain stitch selvage, and if you slip with yarn in back, it makes a nice rounded edge that looks nice with the garter stitch. Either way, do it consistently, and count the slipped stitch as 1 knit stitch in the directions.
w&t = wrap and turn. In garter stitch, the wraps disappear, so you don't need to pick them up. You can substitute with your preferred short row technique; German short-rows work very well.
Odd numbered rows are right-side; even are wrong-side.
DIRECTIONS
Set-Up
Cast on 50 stitches in waste yarn. (I recommend Woolly Wormhead's Provisional Cast-On.)
With working yarn, knit 35, place marker, knit to end of row.
First Half
Row 1: Knit 40; w&t.
Row 2: Knit to end of row.
Rows 3-6: Knit.
Row 7: Knit 35 (15 sts from end); w&t. Knit 19 (1 st before marker); w&t. Knit to end of row.
I clip a safety pin marker to the ridge just below the needle before knitting the next row. When there are 4 ridges above the marked ridge, I'm ready for the row with the wrap-and-turns. Move this marker after rows 15, 23, and 31.
Rows 8-14: Knit.
Row 15: Knit 40 (10 sts from end); w&t. Knit 24, w&t. Knit to end of row.
Rows 16-22: Knit.
Row 23: Knit 45 (5 sts from end); w&t. Knit 29, w&t. Knit to end of row.
Rows 24-30: Knit.
Row 31: Knit 40 (10 sts from end); w&t. Knit 24, w&t. Knit to end of row.
Rows 32-34: Knit.
Thumb
Row 1: Knit 29. Cast on 12 stitches at end of needle. Turn.
It can be awkward to work the thumb with finger stitches on the needle, so I move those 21 finger stitches to a holder until the thumb is finished. Also, if you use a provisional cast-on for the thumb, you can close the thumb tube with a three-needle bind-off instead of sewing.
Row 2: Knit 13, w&t.
Row 3 (and odd-numbered thumb rows): Knit (back to end of thumb).
Row 4: Knit 15, w&t.
Row 6: Knit 17, w&t.
Row 8: Knit 19, w&t.
Row 10: Knit 21, w&t.
Row 12: Knit 23, w&t.
Row 14: Knit 25, w&t.
Row 16: Knit 23, w&t.
Row 18: Knit 21, w&t.
Row 20: Knit 19, w&t.
Row 22: Knit 17, w&t.
Row 24: Knit 15, w&t.
Row 26: Knit 13, w&t.
Row 28: Bind off 12 stitches; knit to end of row.
Before working the next row, return the finger stitches to a needle.
Second Half
Row 1: Knit 45; w&t.
Row 2: Knit to end of row.
Rows 3-6: Knit.
Row 7: Knit 40 (10 sts from end); w&t. Knit 24, w&t. Knit to end of row.
Rows 8-14: Knit.
Row 15: Knit 45 (5 sts from end); w&t. Knit 29, w&t. Knit to end of row
Rows 16-22: Knit.
Row 23: Knit 40 (10 sts from end); w&t. Knit 24, w&t. Knit to end of row.
Rows 24-30: Knit.
Row 31: Knit 35 (15 sts from end); w&t. Knit 19; w&t. Knit to end of row.
Rows 32-34: Knit.
Finishing
Remove provisional cast-on and return live stitches to a second needle. Graft first and last rows together. (Again, I recommend Woolly Wormhead's instructions for grafting garter stitch.) Alternatively, you can join using three-needle bind-off.
Sew the cast-on and bind-off rows of thumb closed.
Credits
This pattern was inspired by the "Cumberland Mitten" pattern reproduced in Knitting for Tommy: Keeping the Great War Soldier Warm by Lucinda Gosling (2014). I mashed it up with one of my favorite sideways-knit handwarmer constructions: Cat Bordhi's Guadalupe Mitts. To adjust the fit for a tighter cuff and longer fingers, I adapted shaping techniques from Woolly Wormhead's sideways-knit hats, particularly her Elemental collection.