Put the loose end onto a darning needle. Beginning with the first stitch in the next “round,” insert the darning needle into the stitch and draw the yarn through it, slipping the stitches off the needles as you go. Continue this until there are no stitches remaining on your knitting needles.

With the darning needle, pull the yarn tail to the inside of the thumb.

Pull the tail tightly, and the hole at the tip of the thumb will close up. Anchor the yarn tail to the inside of the mitten using your desired method to weave in the yarn tail. I prefer to use a square knot to tie in my loose ends very securely. Others weave in the tail diagonally or in the pattern of the knit for a few inches to prevent it from coming loose after binding off mittens.

As you did with your mitten thumb, use a darning needle to thread the yarn tail through each remaining stitch on your needles, pulling it off the knitting needles as you go.

Straighten the stitches, and pull the yarn tail tightly. this will close the gap at the top of the mittens, leaving only a small hole at the top.

Find the stitch directly across from where your yarn tail leaves the last stitch. In the same manner as you would make a duplicate stitch, bring the needle under both legs of the stitch.

Complete the decorative duplicate stitch by bringing the darning needle down through the middle of the stitch directly across the hole.

Pull the yarn tail (that should now be inside your mittens tightly, but not too tightly. You’ll see a duplicate stitch appear, and your mitten tip should round out a bit. With the remaining yarn tail, sew together the hole from the inside of the mitten, just to ensure it does not come loose over time. Weave in or knot in the yarn tail to secure it in place.

In many mitten knitting patterns, like my basic knit mittens pattern, you will have an open gap at the base of the thumb when you have finished knitting. Closing this gap is simple if you use the duplicate stitch. A duplicate stitch follows and mimics the pattern of the knitting to seamlessly blend with your work. Below I will show you how I close the thumb gap on mittens using the yarn tail to duplicate the stitch pattern.

Put the yarn tail that remains on the gap at the base of the thumb onto a darning needle.

Following the pattern of the stitches on the glove, make a “U” shaped stitch on the thumb side of the thumb gap where the yarn tail comes out of the mitten.  This will duplicate the stitch pattern and you’ll have a new knit stitch that closes part of the gap.

Continue to follow along the stitches, and bring your yarn tail under and up the stitching to bring the yarn to the palm side of the mitten.

Run yarn tail up, underneath and through the center of the stitch directly above the gap. This will prepare you to make a second duplicate stitch.

To make the first leg of your second duplicate stitch, you’ll need to run the tapestry needle under the stitches on the thumb side of the gap. This will allow you to both make one half of the “U” that will duplicate a knit stitch, and to close the gap of the mitten once the tail is pulled tightly.

Bring the yarn back toward the center stitch on the palm side of the thumb gap by running the yarn under two stitches on the way. Make sure you do this so the gap will close when you pull the yarn tail.

Bring the yarn back through the center stitch on the palm side of the thumb gap. Follow the stitch next to the duplicate stitch you just created to secure the yarn tail into place.

Making sure to follow the pattern of the stitches, bring the yarn to the inside of the mitten to prepare to finish your glove.

Pull the yarn tail tightly enough to close the gap, but not so tight that you distort your stitching. Weave in your end with your desired method to anchor loose ends.