Free pattern: Seattle gloves ARAN weight

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Last week I was contacted on Ravelry by a knitter named Becky.

She told me that she wanted to make a fingerless glove for her husband, preferably with my Seattle pattern using  ARAN weight yarn.

Since my original Seattle gloves are knitted with US#3, and Becky wants to make them with ARAN weight yarn, re-calculations and ultimately re-writing the whole pattern are in order. 

Instead of just re-calculate/re-write the existing pattern, I want to show you what it entails to do this. It's a lot of work!

What happens if...

Seattle ARAN9


Let's say Becky would have printed out my original Seattle glove pattern and instead of using needle size US#3 and recommended yarn weight, she would have used needle size US#9 and ARAN weight yarn. How would the outcome have been?


Becky's Seattle glove would have come out WAY TOO BIG! 

And if Becky would have chosen to work the Seattle gloves with needle size US#1 and SOCK weight yarn, her Seattle glove would have come out WAY TOO SMALL.

In order for you to use different size needles and yarn, you will have to re-calculate the whole pattern.

Getting technical with it

The stitch pattern that is used in the Seattle gloves is called the Basket stitch and is worked with a multiple of 8 over 8 rows.

Seattle ARAN20

In the original Seattle gloves you cast on 42 stitches and work the pattern. However, when you want to work with ARAN weight and you want the same outcome you need to cast on 28 stitches in order to get the same finished measurements as the orignal Seattle gloves.

Subsequently, the whole stitch pattern will change in numbers:

Within the original Seattle the calculations are as follows:

4x8=40 + 2 extra stitches for seaming edge= 42 stitches total

Within the ARAN weight Seattle the calculations will be as follows:

3x8=24 + 2 extra stitches + another 2 extra stitches for seaming edge= 28 stitches in total

And I also made calculation for WORSTED weight:

3x8=24 + 6 extra stitches + another 2 extra stitches for seaming edge= 32 stitches in total

Trial and error, baby


Nancy, but how do you come to these numbers?


Willingness to calculate and...trial and error! 

Most of the time I just cast on a certain number and hope for the best only to find out that the piece is too big or too small. Then I cast on again until it just fits right. See, you have to be willing to make mistakes and start anew!

Let's get knitting!

You got your ARAN weight yarn and US#9 ready? Let's go! 

For this picture tutorial I am using Malabrigo Twist Aran weight.

Step 1: k1, p1 ribbing for 3 rows and then 2 rows of st st stitch:

Seattle ARAN3













The first 4 rows of the stitch pattern will look like this:

Seattle ARAN4


Repeat the 8 row stitch pattern 3 times in total (which will yield 6 squares counted from top to bottom):

Seattle ARAN7


Top it off with 2 rows of stockinette stitch and 5 rows of k1,p1 ribbing:

Seattle ARAN8

For the seaming part use the mattress stitch aka the invisible stitch.

Start from the top down, then work from the bottom up and leave enough space for your thumb.

Seattle ARAN13 Seattle ARAN14 Seattle ARAN15

You will see that I have included two different sizes in the pattern: a size for her and a size for him...awww...

Seattle ARAN12

The men size will fit a medium man's hand. If you want it bigger, just add 1 or 2 stitches on either side and work it as stockinette stitch.

Same for the women size!

Oh, and if you might wonder how I calculated how much yards is needed... I frogged the gloves...and just counted the yards. Yikes.

I need a weighing scale, pronto.

Seattle ARAN23

Tomorrow, I will post the Seattle gloves in WORSTED weight. 

Seattle ARAN11

Thank you for reading and see you tomorrow!



Incredible the trouble you went to in order to help a knitter.     You must be a special person.

Thank you for your nice

Thank you for your nice comment. Knitters are a special bunch!

Seattle Gloves

hi Nancy, I am trying to figure out a way to knit them circular.  I think yu told me that you don't knit circular.

Circular vs straight knitting

Hi there! First of all thanks for considering making the Seattle gloves.

Yup, that's right, I don't do circular! I am of the english pattern writing school that does everything flat and then seam it later!

For this reason, all of my patterns that entail small circumferences, are all written for flat knitting. 


Seattle gloves

Love your gloves pattern. I will make some, too! You can see my gloves at my website as soon as I upload the photo! :) 

Hi Laura!

Hi there, Laura, Would love to see your Seattle Glove. Will you play the piano or another instrument while wearing them? That would be a beautiful picture. Notify me when your Seattle glove is all knitted up and photographed!

my glove creation

HI, Nancy, Here's a pic of fingerless gloves I created and knitted a few months ago. I also made several children's sizes. PS. ready to seam the Seattle Aran gloves today!

Well done, Laura!

Ooooh, well done, Laura! Your fingerless glove creation looks wonderful :)And already a pair of Seattle Arans done? Goodness, you are fast!

Thank you Nancy!

What an awesome tutorial! Much appreciated. Will knit up my husband's pair soon and send photos.Becky

You are welcome, Becky!

You are welcome, Becky! Looking forward to seeing your Seattle Aran weight gloves, and hope your husband will like them...