Tutorial - How to avoid a thumb gap in mittens or mitts!

Although I really do love the mittens I knitted for myself two winters ago, the one thing about them that bothers me is that they have a little hole where I joined the thumb together in the round after picking up stitches.

Since I've knit those mittens, I've picked up a few tricks and I'd like to share with you guys my method for getting rid of that pesky gap. This tutorial goes along well with my new pattern, Slither Fingerless Mitts!

Here we see the "gap" that results after picking up stitches for the thumb - this is where we would join in the round for the thumb.

Here's what it looks like if you just knit the next stitch and join in the round - a little hole that you could sew closed later, but I prefer to fix these things while knitting because I always feel little lazy with finishing.

In order to fix the gap, I'm going to "pick up" one leg of a couple of stitches in the row below where I'm currently knitting, and then knit those two "legs" together with the first stitch on my needle, which happens to also be the first stitch in the round.

Ta-da! No more icky hole to let in cold air or to worry about later! Now you can be lazy with your finishing just like me!

Happy knitting!