Norwegian mittens are fun to knit. I love the star pattern on these. The pattern is Rigmor's Selbu Mittens but with a traditional ribbed cuff, available at Ravelry.com.
The history of the Norwegian mitten traces back to a winter Sunday in 1857 when Marit Emstad and her sisters wore mittens knit by Marit with black 8-pointed star-roses on a white background to church. Soon many other church members were knitting their own 2-color mitten designs and a tradition was born.
Norwegian Mittens
Norwegian mittens have some common characteristics. They are usually 2 colors: a background color and a pattern color. The colors are high contrast, and traditionally were black and white. They have a large pattern on the back of the hand, often with stars or roses, but they can also have figures, such as reindeer or other animals. The palm of the hand has a small repeating pattern, and there is a dividing row of stitches between the palm and the back of the hand, often a 3-stitch pattern. The mittens usually have pointed tips.
The thumb also has a pointed tip. The mitten thumb on the outside has another pattern design, and the back of the thumb continues with the small repeating pattern of the palm. The mitten thumb has a thumb gore which increases at the base of the thumb.
The cuff can be a ribbed cuff with stripes of the contrasting color, or a cuff with a lacy pattern. It can also be a patterned cuff. Traditionally, men's cuffs were patterned, and women's cuffs were ribbed or lacy.
My notes:
U.S. 3, 3.25 mm. Cascade 220 wool worsted weight.
I started with a different mitten pattern, Selbu Mittens by Henriette
Hope, and it was turning out way too long, so I ripped back to the end
of the cuff and began with this pattern. I eliminated the first 4 rows
of the pattern so it wouldn’t be too long since her hands are short.
I used size 3 needles on the cuff, beginning with 44 stitches. Knit
K2 P2 ribbing: 10 rows MC, 2 CC, 2 MC, 3 CC, 2 MC, 2 CC, and 6 MC. Knit
one row in MC increasing to 52 stitches. I used size 3 needles for the
mitten, too.
It is still a pretty large mitten with the Cascade yarn, so next time
I could use a sport or DK yarn or size 2 needles. Main color: Blue.
Contrast Color: White.
Thumb: MC, front stitches, MC. Back: CC, back stitches, CC. Pick up 4 stitches, one at each end of needles.
I made beginning of round at pinky side. 26 stitches. Really fun knit!
