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 2×2 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.)