Octopus Point Kit in Flora

Named for a headland near the designer's home on Vancouver Island, the Octopus Point mittens are worked in stranded colourwork using fingering-weight yarn. We love the whimsy of the octopus design and hope you will too!

Sizes: XS (S, M, L)
Circumference: 7 (8, 8.75, 9.5) in/18 (20, 22.5, 24.5) cm
Hand length (not including cuff): 7 (8, 9, 9.5) in/18 (20.5, 23, 24.5) cm

Choosing your size: Stranded colourwork generally doesn’t stretch as much as regular knitting, especially when it has long floats as these mittens do. I recommend choosing a size that is roughly .5-.75 in/1-2 cm larger in circumference than your actual hand, measured around the base of the fingers, with less ease for smaller hands, more ease for larger hands. Due to the complexity of the design, the charts aren’t easily customizable. You can fine-tune the size a bit by adjusting the gauge, as long as you end up with a fabric that is solid—the stitches snugged together nicely, without gaps—yet not stiff.

Kit includes:2-3 balls of Drops Flora and Octopus Point pattern. Sizes XS and S require 1 x MC and 1 x CC. Sizes M and L require 2 x MC and 1 x CC.

Note: The medium size may need little to none of the second ball of MC. To be sure of only using 1 ball in that size, you can swap the MC and CC for the cuff portion

• Rising Tide: MC: #10 Indigo | CC: #14 Ice Blue
• Sea Foam: MC: #23 Misty Forest | CC: #01 Off White
  
• Starfish Beach: MC: #03 Light Grey | CC: #28 Magenta
• Under the Sea: MC: #11 Petrol | CC: #29 Tangerine
• Underwater Garden: MC: #5 Dark Grey | CC: #27 Parrot Green

Skills Required: Knit, purl, knitting in the round, stranded knitting, following a chart, grafting, lifted increases, decreases
Pattern: Included: Octopus Point by Elizabeth Elliott
Needles and Notions: Purchased separately.

• 2.5 & 2.75 mm needles for working small circumferences in the round, or size needed to obtain gauge
• 2 stitch markers
• Tapestry/darning needle
• Waste yarn or stitch holder for holding thumb stitches
• Wool Wash such as Eucalan

Sample photography © Gale Zucker 2024