HOWTO knit smittens -- mittens you can hold hands in

Here's a downloadable pattern for knitting your own "Smittens" -- mittens for holding hands in.

Smitten designed by Julie Weisenberger (via Craft)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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gothicgeek

shudder
Anonymous

Maybe they should be called g-loves, to make them edgier.
ZenGwen

Patterns for these things have been around for at least as long as I’ve been knitting, free from places like the Lion Brand Yarn website.

And no one knits them, because they’re saccharine and ridiculous. Just *try* to get your boyfriend to use one of those things.
efnord

@patrick dodds

Warren Ellis collects what’s pretty much the diametrical opposite of unicorn chasers….
dalestinian

blech.

blech blech blech
Xopher

I think holding hands while wearing (conventional) mittens is at least as enjoyable, and much more convenient.

The name is cutesy-poo too. My sentiments are similar to Dalestinian’s, though in my case the noise that came out was the name of a Klingon dish.
NotMarc

If you can’t knit, KnÃ¼tes has been making these for ages. They call them Doublegloves, and they’re great for skiing because you can zip them together as doublegloves, but they also work as normal mittens with a zipper for ventilation or if you need your fingers to fumble in your pocket for the change:

http://www.knuetes.com/doubleglove.html
scaught

Um. I want to share a story about a girl I used to date. We used to hold hands and pull one of our sleeves over both our hands to create a similar warmth from the elements sleeve tube.

The memories are too much. I’m getting all misty. Please. Carry on without me.
hohum

@1, “Just *try* to get your boyfriend to use one of those things.” I would! I think the shared body heat would make it much warmer than the average knit glove, which only seems to help for about ten minutes, tops. Getting my girlfriend to agree would be a different matter…

On a related note, how about a knit sweater for the lady with built-in glove pieces around the belly? Or, better yet, up one floor… Somebody knit me this now!

On a more serious note, I know several people here knit, crochet, etc… As an occasionally-bored homemaker, where’s a good starting point?
Patrick Dodds

Is there some form of anti-unicorn chaser available please?
ztoop

My wife and I use our ‘lover’s mitten’ regularly. Its cozy, cute, and then our mittens match too!

The biggest problem is when we have to separate because of an obstruction on the sidewalk, such as a passing person. It is much harder to get your hand out of it, than to just stop holding hands.
Karen M

Yeahhhh…I saw something much like that in my First Knitting Book that I Ever Purchased. I think they were called “glittens” or something like that. I showed them to my husband, who said he would rather die of frostbite than wear them in public. I would guess he’s not the only person in the world to feel that way.
jringenberg

I would be more convinced if the people in the picture weren’t wearing t-shirts. Also, Restoration Hardware sells them (!) here:
http://www.restorationhardware.com/rh/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod1208091
Neon Tooth

Yahh,
Need a “whimsy” chaser stat!
gretagretchen

you can use it all by yourself as a nice muff
grimc

@patrick dodds

Is there some form of anti-unicorn chaser available please?

May I suggest this fine Greg Kihn video, specifically at 1:29?
StRevAlex

It’s Good To Be In Love.
peggah

In Norway, they sell these kind of items as love gloves. The ones that I saw at the stores were very ornate, and very expensive.
forgeweld

Pure chindogu.
alaniax

Aww so many bitter ones…
I think it’s a cute idea. And my bf is the one who sent it to me, so he must agree. ;)
Cunning

If your boyfriend loved you, he’d wear the smitten. And when you have children, they can ride on your feet when you dance (http://www.babygadget.net/2007/10/parentchild_dance_shoes.php).
Chocolatey Shatner

Hmmph: I would have thought they had their love to keep them warm.
ZenGwen

@ Hohum – now you’re tempting me with odd knitting projects. This isn’t good.

If you’re looking to get into knitting, stitch n bitch is classic. It’s got some fun patterns and is pretty easy to learn from.