Burrow Into These Warm Hedgehog Mittens
There seems to be an explosion of animal wear. Not necessarily leopard print or zebra stripes, but I have seen a lot more outfits and accessories with imitation animals either attached or used in creative ways. I went looking for a glove pattern several weeks ago and somehow stumbled onto an animal pattern that I instantly loved. There’s something so cute about hedgehogs.
Back when I was in college, I had a professor who was allergic to most animals, so his children couldn’t have pets. They eventually decided to try getting a hedgehog, which they promptly named Twinkie. Turns out, he was allergic to hedgehogs too (can you imagine?!) and Twinkie went home with a student. Twinkie lived a long and happy life, just not at the professor’s home.
I wish I had seen this pattern at that time – I could have made him some hedgehog mittens as a joke. He is a master prankster and would have gotten a good laugh out of it. Of course, you don’t need a hedgehog or much knowledge of them to be drawn to them. They have a somewhat mysterious air about them, trundling along with sparkling eyes, sniffing out their next meal or curiously exploring the world around them. If you’ve ever read a Beatrix Potter book, you’ll know she was also fond of these creatures and even wrote a story around one, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle.
If you or a friend or family member loves hedgehogs, this is the perfect gift. The free knitting pattern from Mom.me is child-sized, but if you’ve got small hands, or an online program that lets you convert patterns into larger sizes, you should be good to go. The pattern is mostly simple, with the trickiest part being the shaping of the thumbs. If you want to check your gauge before you start, grab a pair of size 8 knitting needles, some worsted or aran yarn, and knit using the stockinette stitch. 18 stitches and 24 rows later, your gauge piece should measure four inches.
To make your own pair of adorable hedgehog mittens, you’ll need to gather the following supplies: 2 balls of yarn (don’t feel like you have to stick to the earth tone light and dark browns. Your hedgehog can be any color, either all one color, ombre, or two bright colors. Experiment and don’t be afraid to reach for unique color combinations!), a small amount of black yarn for the eyes and noses, size 8 knitting needles, a tapestry needle or yarn needle, an embroidery needle, and a pair of scissors.
As knitting is only two stitches, knit and purl, there aren’t a lot of variations in this pattern. Even if you aren’t an old hat at knitting, you can try this out and, should you need it, look up tutorials on YouTube for help with the thumbs. Remember that you’re doing a right and left, so they should be opposites. You will be knitting flat and then sewing up the mittens once they’re complete. This will make it easier to embroidery the eyes and noses as well.
Intrigued? You can find the free pattern at Mom.me. The author also has a book of 35 creature-inspired accessory patterns, which is available on Amazon.
