How to Knit a Cosy Handwarmer for Winter | Free Knitting Pattern

This Instructable will show you how to make your own snuggly hand warmer, which is knit using super chunky yarn.

It's a good project for beginners as it's quick, knitted flat, and doesn't contain any difficult stitch patterns; it's just knit and purl stitches throughout. And if you're a more advanced knitter, it wouldn't be too tricky to convert the pattern if you want to knit it in-the-round instead.

I hope you like this project!

Supplies

I used almost all of a 200g ball of 100% Wool ‘The Hand Painted Sprinkle’ yarn from We Are Knitters, plus 10mm needles (I used circular).

If you have bigger hands than me, or you want to make the handwarmer longer, you'll need to buy more - 250g I'd recommend to be more on the safe side :)

Step 1: Start Knitting!

I first measured around my hands to see how wide the handwarmer needed to stretch to. This was about 11", so that's the measurement I haved based this pattern on.

You'll need to begin by casting on 18 stitches.

I used the long tail cast on method, but I should have used a stretchier cast on like the Old Norwegian Cast on, or at least cast on more loosely, as it's the cast on and bound off edges which will be the tightest parts of this handwarmer.

My end result fit snugly, which is what you want for this, but my cast on & bound off edges were slightly tighter than would be ideal.

The first part of the pattern is a section of 2x2 ribbing, as follows:

Row 1 (& all odd rows): k3, p2, *k2, p2

Rep from * until last st, then k1

Row 2 (& all even rows): p1, *k2, p2

Rep from * until last st, then p1

(Where k = knit, p = purl, rep = repeat)

After a few rows, wrap the knitting around your hand (selvedge to selvedge) to see if your hand will be able to fit through that size of tube. If it’s too small, you’ll need to start again and cast on (a multiple of 4) more stitches next time.

Knit a ribbing section that is 9” long (in my case that’s 13 repeats of the pattern i.e. 26 rows.)

Step 2: Finish Knitting!

Then knit the central reverse stockinette stitch section, where the pattern repeat is as follows:

Row 1) k

Row 2)p

Row 3)k1, p until last st, k1

Row 4)p1, knit until last st, p1

Repeat these 4 rows until the reverse stockinette stitch section measures around 7” long (in my case that’s 7 pattern repeats i.e. 28 rows).

If you'd like the handwarmer to be longer overall, feel free to do more repeats at this point.

Then repeat the ribbing section (see previous step), making sure you knit the same number of pattern repeats/rows as before.

Then bind off. I used the knit bind off, but a stretchier bind off would be best.

Leave a long enough yarn tail so that you can now use it to sew all the way down the side of the handwarmer and across the end.

For reference, my finished rectangle of knitting was approx. 26” x 9” laid flat.

Step 3: Form a Tube

Roll the knitting lengthwise into a tube and join the long edges together with stitch markers. Try to line up the stitches & stripes as best as you can.

Note: It doesn’t matter here because both sides are basically the same, but the side facing outwards should be the ‘right side’.

Feed your long yarn tail into the eye of a large yarn needle, then go up through the corner of the opposite edge, then up through the corner the tail originally came from. This just joins the start of the long edges together, ready to start doing mattress stitch.

Also weave in the shorter yarn tail you left at the start.

Step 4: Mattress Stitch

Use the yarn tail to sew the long edges together with the mattress stitch method. This method is a neat & strong way of seaming and creates a ridge on the wrong side of the knitting.

The idea is that you go over to the opposite edge, find a strand of yarn, 1 stitch away from the edge, and pick it up with your yarn needle. Then go over to the opposite edge and do the same, and just repeat this all of the way along.

The appearance of the edge stitch & strand of yarn depends on the stitch you used in that area of your knitting, so it's going to be a little different seaming the ribbing compared to the reverse stockinette.

I've tried to show in the photos the strands I picked up. First recognise the selvedge (edge) stitch, and try and find a single strand next to that to pick up. Don't worry too much about getting it 100% correct - after all, you can remove the yarn and redo it if necessary.

Don't pull the yarn tight after every stitch - instead, pull the yarn tight (parallel to the seam) once you have loosely stitched 1-2" of seam. This should pull the edges together nice and neatly.

Step 5: Finish the Seam

Carry on seaming all of the way along, removing the stitch markers as you go.

At the end, make sure you go through the corner of each edge and pull tight.

Step 6: Join the Ends

Fold one end of the tube in on itself, then take that end through the tube to the other side, before folding it slightly back on itself.

You then need to use the remaining yarn tail to sew together the shorter ends, all the way around the circumference of the tube. Make sure you only sew together the outer layers of the knitting.

You can use mattress stitch or whip stitch for this seam; I used whip stitch because it’s quicker and easier. It's not as neat as mattress stitch, but this seam won't be visible in the end anyway so it's all good!

Whip stitch basically just involves going into the edge on one side and out of the edge on the other edge over and over, always pointing the needle in the same direction.

Cut off any excess yarn tail and weave the rest in.

Step 7: Finished!

Push the end seam (that you have just sewn) inside the handwarmer so it is positioned in the centre. You should then have the ribbing on the inside and at the ends, and the reverse stockinette stitch section in the middle of the outside.

And that’s it; it’s finished! I hope you enjoyed knitting this pattern :D