crocheting mittens

[fatoldladyinpjs]

Okay, I'm a beginning crocheter. Just finished my first pair of mittens. One thumb a bit bigger than the other, but fixable. My question is about the holes for single crocheting. Maybe I'm not getting this. The single crochet in mittens comes out more like a mesh and isn't solid. Are these mittens all that warm, especially in northern climates like mine? Granted, I did use a larger hook J for practice. Do these holes get better with smaller size hooks? What hooks would you recommend? Am I supposed to use a smaller hook to do the cuff? Is there another stitch other than single crochet that would make these mittens less holey?

[Jan in CA]

I used to crochet and I believe that is normal. You can try a smaller hook, but like knitting if you go too small the fabric may be too dense. IMO I think crochet is better for Warmer weather items.

[GrumpyGramma]

I've crocheted for years but I never crocheted mittens. I never thought that crocheted mittens would be warm enough and we have mild winters. As Jan said, using a smaller hook will give you denser fabric but at some point it just becomes too stiff or too hard to work with the smaller hook. If you really like the look of crocheted mittens, you could knit liners for them. Hmmmm, maybe that's not really what you had in mind?

I have crocheted sock and sweaters, both of which are fine depending on the yarn and pattern, but decided knitting them just works out better IMHO.

[DogCatMom]

Do you have a link to the pattern, or a photo of the mittens themselves?

DogCatMom

[fatoldladyinpjs]

I did mine from a Youtube tutorial. They turned out really nice. But I think you're all right about the holes. I tried doubling yarn, but that's just too hard to work with two strands of worsted. Knitting mittens seems like a good plan to me or wearing those mini gloves underneath.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpC-aqltEog&feature=plcp

[Antares]

You might try some swatches using smaller hooks and see what you think. There are also combinations of crochet stitches that might work better, too (like a sc in first st, dc in next st across for one row and on next row, dc in the sc and sc in the dc). Different combinations of stitches will give you different results, of course. You might also try using the slip stitch throughout. It's shorter than the sc, so I would imagine it would be less holey.

And I assume you've looked at crocheted mittens on Rav, right?

[fatoldladyinpjs]

Well, I've done a lot of googling and this is what I've come up with. This stitch ends up nice and thick, no holes. It's exactly what I wanted for our cold Wisconsin winters. Thought I would share it with you for those who want warm mittens without holes. This is a crochet Thermal stitch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu2GzJHCgwE&feature=plcp

[fatoldladyinpjs]

I took a hiatus of 15 years from knitting and took it back up about 5 years ago. I'm comfortable with that now. I'm again taking up crochet. Again, I put that down for 15 years. I never was that good at it then, but at least knew the basics. I'm improving at a tremendous rate right now by watching Youtube tutorials.

This has brought me to the quest for the perfect mitten and hat for 30 below zero weather here in the Frozen Tundra. I want to be able to crochet something up quickly that I can give away to charity. I've read and tried out a lot of patterns. Most have been real duds.

What I've discovered: The double crochet hats are the quickest but also the holiest. Most of the patterns for these I have seen have been done on honking big hooks. The pattern designers' tutorials all say how warm they are. The pattern designers I have watched have all been from places like California, Texas, and Florida. Of course, their hats would be warm there. Not so much in the Frozen Tundra. Mikey from The Crochet Crowd said don't even bother making hats with double crochet. They're too holey and you may as well go out in the cold without a hat. I think he's right.

Then I had one of those Aha moments this morning. When you're thinking crocheted hats and mittens, think knitting. What have I learned from knitting? Mittens and hats done with smaller needles are warmer. What size do I make most of mine with? A size 6-8. That translates to a G, H, or I hook. What stitch is denser? garter or stockinette. For crochet, that would be single crochet or half double crochet. Finished. Done. Why didn't I think of that before? There's no need to scour the internet for fancy stitches. Keep it simple.

[Antares]

Heh! I was thinking as I read through your post, "Well, of course the double crochet on large hooks won't work for colder climates; maybe switching to smaller hooks and shorter stitches would be better." And then you came to the exact same conclusion!

I'm happy to hear you're enjoying your crochet venture--and to hear that you're making it work for your needs. Some knitters tend to knock crochet, but I always say it can do anything knitting can, but in a different way.

Thanks for sharing your wisdom as you travel the crochet road again! The tutorials and patterns you've posted are such valuable sources of information--and you did all the hard work of finding them. I really appreciate it!

So I wonder--what's next for you? Tatting? Knooking? Weaving? Spinning?

The sky's the limit!

[fatoldladyinpjs]

It's probably going to be Tunisian crochet in the round with a double ended crochet hook. I paid $10.98 or whatever it was for the stupid hook, so I suppose I'd better use it.